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Hip's Ax
08-18-2006, 08:54 PM
I had a conversation today with a shooting friend at the range, we were talking about cast bullets. He stoops over and picks up some nice fresh once fired 30-30 brass someone left and points out to me what a nice caliber 30-30 is for shooting cast. This got me thinking, what rifle chambering lends itself best to shooting cast? So, what do you think, 30-30? 35 Remington? 38-55? 45-70? Or maybe something way out of the box like 7.62x39? Perhaps the pistol calibers, like 45 Colt?

13Echo
08-18-2006, 09:05 PM
The answer? It depends. Ask the schutzen crowd and you'll hear the 32-40, 30-30, various wildcats, etc. For pistol I like the .45 Colt but there are no flies on the various .44s, and .38/.357s. Only for big bore rifle would I select an all around best, the venerable .45-70. It is an excellent hunting, black powder shilouette, and long range target cartridge and very easy to load for with BP as well as the new fangled smokeless stuff. It may not be the absolute best in all catagories but it does everything well and there is a good selection of bullets for all purposes. Guess that's why it's still around after 133years.

Jerry Liles

Jack Stanley
08-18-2006, 09:17 PM
I tend to favor the .308 Winchester but if given the choice of the 30-30 , the .30 Krag , the Brit or Savage .303 or the '06 I would not be hard to please . A plus one for the 45-70 , if that was the only choice I'd be happy with that .

Jack

TedH
08-18-2006, 09:58 PM
I'd vote for the 45-70 as well.

canon6
08-18-2006, 10:04 PM
I load cast for 357(rifle) but my all time favorite is 45-70 Doug

DOUBLEJK
08-18-2006, 10:30 PM
The one I'm playin' with at the time...:-D
Lately thats been the dash jobs 32-20 n 38-40....
But ifin' yer askin' fer the BEST caliber for shootin' boolits it'd have ta be my .358Win in a 99F can't find a load it don't shoot well...
But I'll keep lookin'...:drinks:

felix
08-18-2006, 10:59 PM
Any caliber with the proper twist will do fine, thank you. You say you want a commercial factory job? Factory twist? Factory caliber? Fun to shoot FULL tilt? 32-30 hands down. ... felix

drinks
08-18-2006, 11:52 PM
AKA, 8x51R or .32 Winchester Special!

porkchop bob
08-19-2006, 12:17 AM
45 ACP in moon clips with S&W 625 and 45-70 with Marlin Guide Gun will handle most anything that walks. Both are easy to cast and accurate. Bob

PatMarlin
08-19-2006, 01:48 AM
358 Winchester the holy grail of cast calibers.. :mrgreen:

Bass Ackward
08-19-2006, 07:13 AM
358 Winchester the holy grail of cast calibers.. :mrgreen:



:groner:

Lloyd Smale
08-19-2006, 07:55 AM
Ill vote for the .35s they can be loaded down to recoil like a .22 and to me there about the smallest caliber i feel confident going after big game with using a cast bullet. The .30 caliber crowd might get on me a little for this but in my experience the .35s hit a little harder then the .30s

Char-Gar
08-19-2006, 08:14 AM
There are many cartridges that do well with cast bullets and we all have out pets. However, from pure design strandpoing, I would agree with your friend for t he following reasons, vis-a-vi the 30-30.

1) The case has about ideal capacity to push cast bullets at velocities from "cream puff" to "redline with a number of powders and good load density.
2) The case is rimmed, doing away with the problem of cases losing headspace due to shortening on the shoulder.
3) The long neck holds most cast bullets without droping the base into the boiler room.
4) There are more great 30 cal molds around than any other caliber.
5) the 1-12 barrel twist in most 30-30 rifles work well with cast, although it limits the rifle to the weight ot the bullets it can use.

For the record, my other favorites are the .308, 30-40 and 30-06. The best one is the one I happen to have in my hands at the time.

PatMarlin
08-19-2006, 09:26 AM
:groner:



Did we forget our meds this morning?... :mrgreen:



...

sundog
08-19-2006, 10:11 AM
I think about stuff like this ocassionally..., maybe I shouldn't. The .32 Win Spl is a dandy. Most I've seen come standard with a 16 twist. If I had some resources (mostly scratch), I'd build a 14 twist bolt gun or single shot in 32 Win Spl to accomodate a little bit bigger boolit (~190-200 grains instead of the old standby 170) and use a case full of whatever powder it would accomodate.

Steelbanger
08-19-2006, 10:28 AM
These days I'm kind of liking the 38-55 best. There, somebody had to say it. Run 'em out slow or crank them up, either way it meets my accuracy standards. But the old 30-30 and 45-70 have spots on my list of favorites too. Looks like my favorites are dash calibers too.

Bass Ackward
08-19-2006, 03:15 PM
I'll say a 375 Rem Ultra Mag.

Not because I have shot one.

Not because it pushes any buttons.

But it never get's any mention on these boards and by golly, it feels left out.

This is probably Pat's next caliber. :kidding:

Bent Ramrod
08-20-2006, 01:32 AM
I'd say, on the balance, the .30-30, .30 Remington or the .30-40 Krag. All three have long necks for maximum support of the bullet, have "medium-medium" powder capacity for reasonably high loading density with a great variety of powders, and the selection of .30 cal bullet molds is so vast it would take the most dedicated crank two or three lifetimes to check them all out.

My personal favorite caliber varies from moment to moment, of course. I don't have a 6.5 or 7mm or a .50 caliber, but the rest of the sizes are pretty well covered.

robertbank
08-20-2006, 10:31 AM
I like my -06 with cast as it is more comfortable to shoot. That said in rifle the 30-30 is my fun rifle, in pistol I have to go with .45acp/9MM and .45LC. I shoot 8,000 - 10,000 rds of my own cast .45acp/9MM bullets wach year. Maybe 200 rifle bullets a year.

Take Care

Bob

Ed Barrett
08-20-2006, 11:01 AM
I have to go with whatever I have in my hand at the time. I load everything in cast from .22 to .458 in cast and if they don't shoot well at first it's fun trying ti make them shoot well. Almost forgot I've got a heavy .177 mold from a group buy I guess that would count too. The idea is to get one gun you can always fall back to for a hunt or target killing and experiment with the rest.

Last Spike
08-20-2006, 11:18 AM
At this point, I can't say. I'm just thankful that there are many calibers available to try out and have fun with.

Bucks Owin
08-20-2006, 03:09 PM
Handgun calibers? Big. The ".429 mag" and up....(I like the .45 Colt)

Rifle rounds? Cast boolit: .45/70
J-boolit: .270 WCF

There. I have spoken, it's all settled.....

Dennis [smilie=f:

Oh, and to round out the gun cabinet? A .22 rimfire of some kind and a .12 ga shotgun. (Only because 16 ga ammo is hard to find...)

guninhand
08-20-2006, 06:58 PM
I think the answer is that there cannot be a best caliber. Think about it. Suppose you get a .30 cal cast bullet to shoot oh so perfect from a particular barrel, even take a real life example from the CBA record book. Now if you were to scale up that bullet or scale it down and keep everything else in the same exact proportion, it seems inescapable to me that you would go a fair bit in either direction and still keep the same keen accuracy, because there would be no significant change in the physics involved.

bmblong
08-20-2006, 07:57 PM
Right now I'm stuck on the 44Mag. It's good in a handgun or rifle.

felix
08-20-2006, 08:04 PM
Guninhand, what you say is true, but we as entertainment shooters don't have the time and money to make it true. Ignition characteristics mostly, but any one parametric characteristic can make the water murky. ... felix

9.3X62AL
08-20-2006, 08:06 PM
Tough call for me.

The one I seem to shoot most is the 45-70, having gone through about 14# of WC-860 alone over the past few years in the Ruger #1. That's right around 2K rounds, and other powders got test drives and workouts during that time.

The 30-30 used to get a lot more use than I give it now, same story with the 30-06 and 8 x 57. All are good, accurate performers for me.

The 243 and 250 Savage have been shot a lot lately.

But for weirdness' and accuracy's sakes, the 9.3 x 62 has really got a hook into me for the past 4 years or so. This caliber will be first to get the Bruce B Softpointing Regimen, and I think it gets the nod for deer season locally if the boolits work out downrange.

wills
08-20-2006, 08:32 PM
Of course there is always everyone’s favorite the good old reliable .31-62 WCF.

PatMarlin
08-20-2006, 08:48 PM
But for weirdness' and accuracy's sakes, the 9.3 x 62...

You're amoungst friends Al, and your secrete's safe with us.. :mrgreen:

waksupi
08-20-2006, 10:20 PM
Well, I may have mentioned in the past, I like the .358...
However, after some thought about it, I will say the 8X57 is probably the supreme cast bullet round.
Military surplus rifles can be had very reasonably, built on good actions. Bore size is large enough for most American big game. Good heavy bullets can be had. It isn't very finicky, it appears. It fits right in the .338 Federal, .358 class. The only thing that has held it back from more popularity, is the metric designation, that throws off shooters in this country. And the desire for the mega fast chamberings of today.
If need be, I could be very happy with just a 8X57.

gregg
08-21-2006, 01:24 PM
Some really good post here.
Looks like LOVE THE ONE YOUR WITH to me ;-)

BOOM BOOM
08-21-2006, 02:51 PM
HI,
LOVE THE ONE YOUR WITH, YEP! I really enjoy the 7MM/06, the 44 mag then the 357 in pistol. T:castmine: :Fire: he 30/30 is good to.

Marlin Junky
09-04-2006, 05:12 PM
Several .35's have been mentioned but why the .35 Whelen didn't receive more votes is a mystery to me. Is the case too long?

I like the .444 in lever actions because it is an extremely accurate big bore with a slightly smaller appetite for powder and lead than the 45-70. With 300 to 330 grain boolits it can have respectable trajectory to 200 yards. The .405 WCF in a Winchester '95 might also be interesting but there's a pretty steep investment curve associated to getting a '95 in .405 WCF into action. The .405 is pretty esoteric which implies brass and bullet molds will be expensive. I guess that's why I stick with the .444.

On the bolt action side, I'd love to build a little bolt gun chambered in .32 Remington some day and not too long ago, I bought a bunch of .32 Spl brass from Midway so one day I can turn the rims for my 12" twist .32 Remington. A fast twist .32 Spl on a 336 action also appeals to me but it may cost more than a bolt gun conversion.

MJ

StarMetal
09-04-2006, 05:34 PM
You didn't have to buy that 32 Win brass because the 32 Remington is available. Lot of work and don't forget you have to cut an extractor groove too, besides trim the rim down.

Joe

onceabull
09-04-2006, 05:43 PM
M-----J----: Considering something similar to your fast twist 32 Sp.on the Marlin 336,but leaning toward a necked down 35 Remmie case,and rechamber/rebore on a beater 30/30 barrel..I thinking 30 & 32 remmie brass will be going to premium $ over time...Comments welcome, Onceabull :mrgreen:

waksupi
09-04-2006, 05:52 PM
Several .35's have been mentioned but why the .35 Whelen didn't receive more votes is a mystery to me. Is the case too long?

I like the .444 in lever actions because it is an extremely accurate big bore with a slightly smaller appetite for powder and lead than the 45-70. With 300 to 330 grain boolits it can have respectable trajectory to 200 yards. The .405 WCF in a Winchester '95 might also be interesting but there's a pretty steep investment curve associated to getting a '95 in .405 WCF into action. The .405 is pretty esoteric which implies brass and bullet molds will be expensive. I guess that's why I stick with the .444.

On the bolt action side, I'd love to build a little bolt gun chambered in .32 Remington some day and not too long ago, I bought a bunch of .32 Spl brass from Midway so one day I can turn the rims for my 12" twist .32 Remington. A fast twist .32 Spl on a 336 action also appeals to me but it may cost more than a bolt gun conversion.

MJ

You my have hit the problem with the .35 Whelen. It is a fine round, and I know Shuz and Pilgrim have ventilated various moose (meese?) with the round. However, they are operating in the same velocity range as i am, in the .358 Win. It is easy to load 100% case capacity with the .358. I've not had experience with the Whelen, but suspect there would be some empty case to fill up, or not.
I just shot my .358 Win. With 48.5 gr. WC852, hundred yard group was around 3.25". I went up to 49 grains, and the group dropped to around 1 3/8". This load comes up the neck, and the loading block was tapped, to settle the powder. The Bator Light (237 gr. ready to go from my mold, with lube and check) was loaded to the base of the neck. I'll go up to 50 gr. in half grain intervals, and see where the compression works the best. I would estimate velocity around 2280 fps. in the 49 gr. load, going from previous chrony'ed loads..

Bret4207
09-04-2006, 06:04 PM
My votes- 35 Whelen/358 Win, 357 Mag/38 Spec, 32-20 and 25-20. Honorable mention to the 44 Mag/Spec.

Marlin Junky
09-04-2006, 06:23 PM
You didn't have to buy that 32 Win brass because the 32 Remington is available. Lot of work and don't forget you have to cut an extractor groove too, besides trim the rim down.

Joe

I didn't have to buy the .32 Spl brass either, I just wanted to have it around in case I could find a use for it whether it be a lathe project or to use in a 336. When I bought the .32 Spl brass, Midway had it on sale for about $24/100. I remember paying right around a quarter a piece for the stuff which I thought was kind of foolish considering 30-30 brass is somewhat less but I wanted the .32 headstamp. I also saw the .32 Remington brass Midway was offering at the time. Is Midway still selling the same imported .32 Remington garbage for a buck-forty a shell?

MJ

Marlin Junky
09-05-2006, 05:24 AM
Waksupi,

Yeah, I'll probably own a little .358 bolt gun long before a .32 Remington. In fact I'm starting to break out in a .358 rash as I type this.

Hey, Marlin... how 'bout following Remington's leade and bring out a Limited Edition .356 XLR for aught-7.

MJ

PatMarlin
09-05-2006, 10:16 AM
I'll talk to dad.. :mrgreen:

ssgt
09-05-2006, 11:18 AM
Me? I really like my 35 Whelen with a compressed charge of IMR4895...Then there is the 45/70, no dust on that one! Oh, Im also partial to the 45 Colt, then theres the 30 WCF and the 45-110 and...um....maybe I had better re-think this cast bullet thing! :coffee: :-D

mag_01
09-05-2006, 06:01 PM
:coffee: ---I have to say 30-30 and 308----why---hard to find a boolit or powder that dose not perform well-----easy to load easy to shoot----Fav. rifle is M39---7.62x54R---cant miss and in pistol 45 Long colt--very forgiving caliber---again cant miss------------------:Fire: :Fire: :Fire: :Fire: -----Mag_01

Ranch Dog
09-05-2006, 11:13 PM
Why the 444 Marlin, it makes it be all it can be!

Topper
09-06-2006, 11:26 PM
My favorite two 30 cals for cast boolits are 150gr in the 30 Herrett & 180gr in 30-06.
For pistol, 300gr cast for 41mag in Ruger BH and 14" TC barrel.

felix
09-07-2006, 10:19 AM
The Whelen? If I could handle its FULL TILT loads, that caliber would be my pick. If I can't shoot full tilt for 30-50 rounds per outing, I have to slide down the scale until that objective is met. Thus, the 32 special (for a factory job) is my best pick. I really like Sundog's suggestion by using a 14 twister for 200 grainers in the 8mm bore, but then the velocity will fall short of 2100, an ideal value for boolits. The mauser case size then would be in contention. I would still like to extend the neck on the case, but that would be a custom dealie not appropriate for this thread intent. ... felix

jballs918
09-07-2006, 10:31 AM
im thinking the 358. there is so much that you can do with this caliber. from a 90 grain wc to a 180 full tilt magimum. it also can be used in a rifle or it can be used in a pistol seems pretty good to me. also im keen on the 32ws also. alot of the same things as the 30-30 but a bit bigger bullet. and not ot mention you can use 30-30 shells for it