Ft/lbs mean nothing. Two Ram's slamming their horns together, generate 5400ft/lbs of energy and they are neither hurt nor dead. It's not the ft/lbs, it's the size of the wound channel through the vitals that will accelerate death.
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Confidence.
If my 45-70, i am fine with my cast bullets. For my other centerfires, i prefer premium jacketed stuff for bigger game like elk, but deer size game, any decent cup core works.
If I find myself trying to numerically compare one load to another or one cartridge to another I prefer Taylor Knock Out formula. I think it more accurately reveals cartridge effectiveness than ME and better matches what l've seen in the field over the years. Because it tries to introduce sectional density into the mix.
I have no trouble using the silver stream for hunting.
fpe, fps, ME, energy and velocity at 100 yards, expansion......well, they're all numbers and I suppose useful for comparing cartridges on paper. When applied to real world hunting, they all fail somewhere in the calculation, any calculation. The "standard" fpe calculation, Taylor's KO factor and Keith's "pounds/feet" formula are all flawed at some point. I'll trust my experience over numbers on a chart.
Yeah you can't show a deer the math and tell it how wrong it was for running away from the "perfect shot" lol
I started casting for my 10mm carbine last year. I still use jacketed bullets for my main deer loads in 6.8x43. I have been reloading over 45 years.
The reason for the casting 10mm is that bullets of all kinds for reloading are getting harder to come by. I purchased a 10mm upper for my Glock as a first step in using as my main ‘hog’ killer on the ranch. I consider Texas Hogs a sizable adversary. In order to make this work, I needed to acquire lead, cast bullets, powder coat them, and then load them for killing hogs in the 16” carbine. I needed help!
I joined this site and began asking questions and learning. I also knew a member here from another site that became my ‘mentor’ in many ways. He shared some of his knowledge and experience with me and was always there to answer the tough questions. I was blessed in many ways.
After approx a year, my dream has come true. I have been able to build a PF45, attach the CCU to it, and make my own bullets to reload. I have killed hogs out to 120 yards. My carbine is topped with a Sig Romeo 5 and a detachable night vision monocular for night hunting.
Lee 401-175-TC
I like lead for most everything. Have yet to shoot anything with a lead bullet that took a second step save for one hog.
Does lead expand a lot better or more violent then jacketed bullets?
That depends on a lot of things. A pure lead bullet will expand much easier than any jacketed bullet ever made of a similar design. More violent? I doubt you could create a cast bullet more ready to come apart than a jacketed varmint bullet. The biggest advantages for me in handguns are that I can get a significantly heavier bullet for the same size, meaning same or faster velocity, and with unlimited designs, I can get them to shoot more accurately. Rifles are such a huge topic. Shotgun slugs are mostly lead, but the few jacketed slugs out there aren't that great. They can shoot good, and they kill, but they are really poor performing bullets for the most part.
If they are hard, say 22BHN and you shoot them fast, say 2000fps they will fragment. I've some personal experience with this.
If you consider a bullet jacket and how they can be made thin or thicker for a attempt to control expansion. Comparatively you can make the alloy harder or softer for similar results. Like if you push a varmint bullet fast at big game it is less likely to be effective. Too soft of a lead boolit will end up much the same way if pushed too fast.
Thank you sir!
I have shot deer, antelope and elk with home cast. Because of the field I currently hunt, the distance, neighbors and time of day the animals come out I currently use jacketed.
I do the majority of my hunting with my cast boolits. In fact, there are times I've shot animals with j-words and wished I had one of my boolits instead.