Velocity threshold for cast rifle boolits.

[357maximum]

anyone ever bump a thread back to life just to see what would happen?

[waksupi]

anyone ever bump a thread back to life just to see what would happen?

Yeah, then some rocket surgeon will say, "Hey! This thread is so-many years old! Why did you dig this up?"

[357maximum]

well to get ahead of that question I will say that this thread is proably THEE BEST THREAD I have read in the last 2 years....I like it, and I want to see what else can be added to it. There rocket surgeon averted.

[35 shooter]

Don't know about adding anything to all this, but i do wonder what something like the device on the bbl. of some browning rifles (forget what you call it) that you twist to adjust bbl. vibrations would do for shooting cast boolits. Especially when running high rpm or pressure curves or whatever else we run into with cast.
Might work?...Anybody tried one with cast? Sorry if that's already been mentioned, i didn't read all the way back through this time.

[bobob]

Mr. Gibson, I also use the 375449 in my Model 70 .375 H&H. I wonder if you would tell us what powders and charges you use with this boolit?
Thanks,
Doc Burgess

[Larry Gibson]

Doc

I've developed 2 basic loads for that bullet in my M70 375 H&H.

Cases are most often NS'd with a Redding NS die.

1st is for general practice and would be good for use on medium game. The bullets are cast of COWWs + 2% tin and are AC'd and aged for 7-10 days before use. I use a Hornady GC and size and lube at .377 I use an NRA 50/50 lube or 2500+. I use AA5744 powder and use 36 gr w/o filler. Cases are R-P or Winchester and primers are WLRs. Velocity is 1860 fps, accuracy is excellent (1 1/2 moa) and I can shoot that load all day long with minimal fouling (no leading) and excellent accuracy from 1st to last shot.

2nd load is for practice for my full bore jacketed bullets and is excellent for hunting elk, black bears and larger pigs. I cast the 375449 of COWWs + 2% tin and then mix 50/50 with pure lead. The bullets are WQ'd quickly right out of the mould for hardness. I allow 48 hours for aging and then size .377 and lube with the same lube and use Hornady GCs. I load those in R-P cases with WLR primers over 46 gr of 4895 (any flavor) and use a 1 gr Dacron filler. These bullets get a medium crimp in the crimp groove with a Lee FCD. The velocity is 2150 - 2200 fps (depending on flavor of 4895), accuracy holds right at 2 moa for 8 shots (2 magazine fills + the 2 up the spout for each magazine load). I have run this load up to 2400 fps and sometimes use that load for practice but accuracy falls off to 4" +/- for the 8 shot 2 magazine fills.

Larry Gibson

[bobob]

Mr. Gibson, thank you for your reply.

My lead mix is similar to yours. I used to buy extra lead when I lead lined my x-ray rooms so I began mixing lead-wheel weights 50-50 with 2% tin. I have never used AA5704, but 4895 is one of my favorite powders. I began using H4895 in 1949 when I bought several kegs at .50 cents the pound. I will load 46 grains 4895 with the 375449 and will shoot them this weekend.

Thank you,

Doc Burgess

[pricedo]

Larry, you've got that 35 Remington cranked up pretty hot....3150 fps?
I'm guessing your fingers hit the wrong key.

Dick

That's a boy !!
And like a silly fool I invested $700 in a 350 Remington Magnum.

[Larry Gibson]

Yes that was a miss type and was corrected a long time ago to 2150 fps. That was with 4895 under the RCBS 35-200-FN. I suspect, given the 26" barrel of my 35 Remington and that it's a bolt action, that over a full case of LeveRevolution that 200 gr cast bullet may very well be sneaking up on your 350 magnum's factory level performance.

Larry Gibson

[pricedo]

Yes that was a miss type and was corrected a long time ago to 2150 fps. That was with 4895 under the RCBS 35-200-FN. I suspect, given the 26" barrel of my 35 Remington and that it's a bolt action, that over a full case of LeveRevolution that 200 gr cast bullet may very well be sneaking up on your 350 magnum's factory level performance.

Larry Gibson

26" bbl ?!
I have the advantage of not having to drag a stocked culvert pipe thru the switches and alders to get the performance.

[Larry Gibson]

Didn't seem to bother me.........

Attachment 114262

[waksupi]

26" bbl ?!
I have the advantage of not having to drag a stocked culvert pipe thru the switches and alders to get the performance.

I'd probably really amuse you with my 44" flint fowler, chasing grouse!

[pricedo]

I'd probably really amuse you with my 44" flint fowler, chasing grouse!

Wow !
You might need hunting licenses from 2 different states packing a gun with a barrel that long.

[Larry Gibson]

Wow !
You might need hunting licenses from 2 different states packing a gun with a barrel that long.

Gives me a much longer effective range......don't have to sneak up on 'em so close! I liked to go down to the SE corner of Oregon and could then shoot deer and antelope in 3 states! Looking at going to the "Four Corners" and upping that by one! What's a "hunting license"....is that some special kind of cast bullet load?

Larry Gibson

[runfiverun]

I know the game warden looks at me weird when he sees a whole lead nose poking out of my rifles cartridge case.
sometimes I think they think I'm not really big game hunting I'm just out there shooting grouse, beercans, rocks, or sumthin.
they rarely ask for my hunting license after seeing a couple of rounds in the sling loops.

[pricedo]

You guys are right.
Nothing kills like those hard cast lead bullets and they don't have to be going at warp factor 9 to drop a big (possibly dangerous) animal in its tracks.
Elk are reputedly hard animals to kill and a 430 grain hc lead bullet travelling about 1725 fps from my 45-70 Guide Gun dropped my big cow elk in 2010 so fast it never even took a single step from the POI.
With the great bears you need to STOP the charge (priority #1) immediately.
If the bear dies after it has torn your head off your body the fact that it eventually died is purely academic.

[MBTcustom]

With the great bears you need to STOP the charge (priority #1) immediately.
If the bear dies after it has torn your head off your body the fact that it eventually died is purely academic.

That made me chuckle. LOL!

[Larry Gibson]

You guys are right............With the great bears you need to STOP the charge (priority #1) immediately.
If the bear dies after it has torn your head off your body the fact that it eventually died is purely academic.

There's another great advantage of the longer barrel......holds 'em off so they can't reach your head to tear it off.......

Larry Gibson

[MT Gianni]

I wonder how many Polar Bears had to run all the way up the spear before the Inuits put a cross brace on it. Sometimes longer is better,

[DanWalker]

Collected more data today. Took the Ruger scout rifle out and knocked over a decent buck antelope.(The only tag I drew this year) Shot distance:125 yards. Load: 150 grn Mihec Hollowpoint over 20 grains of 2400. Alloy: Air cooled 50/50 WW/ range scrap. Tumbled lubed in 45/45/10. He was quartering slightly towards me. I shot him through the onside shoulder. He hunched and wheeled when the bullet hit him and made a wobbly legged run for 50 yards before going down in a pile in some tall sage. I let him sit for 5 minutes and walked up to where he fell. He was still kicking weakly when I got to him and gasping for air. I put a mercy round down through the top of his spine to end his suffering. I absolutely refuse to let an animal endure one second more pain than is necessary. Had I known he was still alive after he fell, I would've shot again sooner. We skinned and quartered him in the field. Rain was coming so we didn't dawdle. I found the shank of the boolit under the hide of the offside shoulder. It had punched in, tight behind the onside shoulder, and it looked like it expanded violently on impact. There was a hole in the heart big enough to stick your thumb in. Both lungs had holes too, and the onside shoulder had an impressive hole in it as well.