bolt rifles

[bigted]

guess im kinda sad in the observation prospect. i never noticed that there is an open area that has no home here on the forum. that would be :

BOLT GUNS AND CAST BOOLITS.

now why do you suppose that is? i know this will be in the wrong place but if not here ... then where? there are tons of folks that shoot lead boolits outta bolt guns and have need to schmooze it up with other areas here in the beloved "Cast Boolits Forum".

cant we get a place where the bolt shooters can compare notes as to what works and what dont? i own several bolt guns myself and primarily dont shoot cast in them [ashamed to say] because im not inspired by others stories and experiences. i do read about the singleshot, levers, bpcr, pistols and shotguns as well as other postings about paperpatching both blackpowder as well as smokeless powder guns but alas ...

no BOLT GUNS AND CAST BOOLITS

what say yee? is there reason for not having a spot for our bolt shooters or do we feel that it is covered fine as is?

[tdoyka]

i've just always assumed it was factory rifles. i don't know. since i don't use bolt actions (i have a '98 springfield armory but that falls into military) anymore, so its up to others. i really use single shots and revolvers and every once in awhile military and lever action rifles.

[Moonie]

That got tried with semi-auto's not to long ago and it didn't go anywhere even thought lots of members thought it a good idea. But now if you want to load shot shells in rifle cartridges that might fly...

[bigted]

LOL ... guess i have my answer ... judging by the amount of enthusiasm here i would just guess that is a reason there is no "cast boolits in blot guns" thread. ho hum ... guess i will need to continue as i do and wait n see what develops. ... ...

[waksupi]

Bolt guns are the natural home range for cast boolits.

[wallenba]

My opinion, based solely on my personal experiences, is that I have fewer problems with cast boolits in bolt guns than autos. My SKS doesn't like them, nor my 30 carbine. I just lump them with factory rifles like the others though as far as a category.

[Reverend Al]

Now who in the heck would want to shoot cast boolits out of a bolt action rifle?



(Well ... me I guess ...)

[bigted]

Now who in the heck would want to shoot cast boolits out of a bolt action rifle?



(Well ... me I guess ...)

oh thats a real peach. i like the looks very much ... please do give some details and load info for this good lookin rifle.

i have the scope but have not found the deal on the rifle yet. lookin to setup an early US sniper rifle with the look of yours with maybe a heavy barrel in 06 or maybe 308 winny.

[Reverend Al]

I "fell" into this one actually. A friend of mine bought it a local gun show for the scope it was wearing at the time and didn't want the rifle, so he sold it to me CHEAP! It's a sporterized (targetized?) military mauser 98 with a medium heavy re-barrel in .30-06. Decent trigger just the way it came too! I already had the 15 power Unertl scope on hand (I have two of them) and since the rifle was already drilled and tapped for the target bases it was a no-brainer to slip one of them onto this rifle. (It's also drilled and tapped on the front and rear receiver for a conventional scope so it could actually be mounted with optics either way.) This is a "back burner" project and although I've had it for several years I only just got it out to the range to zero the scope a week or so ago. For now I just put some of my M1 Garand loads through it for rough zeroing which are 150 grain Winchester bulk soft points loaded over 47.5 grains of IMR4895. Shot those fairly well actually ... but now I need to load a few boolits and see how it shoots with cast ...

[izzyjoe]

Very nice rifle, love those old Mauser sporters. I've seen a few at gunshows with a good price, but didn't have the coin to do anything about it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

guess im kinda sad in the observation prospect. i never noticed that there is an open area that has no home here on the forum. that would be :

BOLT GUNS AND CAST BOOLITS.

now why do you suppose that is? i know this will be in the wrong place but if not here ... then where? there are tons of folks that shoot lead boolits outta bolt guns and have need to schmooze it up with other areas here in the beloved "Cast Boolits Forum".

cant we get a place where the bolt shooters can compare notes as to what works and what dont? i own several bolt guns myself and primarily dont shoot cast in them [ashamed to say] because im not inspired by others stories and experiences. i do read about the singleshot, levers, bpcr, pistols and shotguns as well as other postings about paperpatching both blackpowder as well as smokeless powder guns but alas ...

no BOLT GUNS AND CAST BOOLITS

what say yee? is there reason for not having a spot for our bolt shooters or do we feel that it is covered fine as is?

Hmmm, this, the Factory Rifle forum has no sticky's to complain about and only get's about 1 or 2 posts a day, so if you were to make a post, it'll stay on the 'front' page for 3 or 4 weeks...tell me again why you want another forum specifically for Bolt Rifles ?

I say...The Factory Rifle forum is the spot for castboolit factory boltgun shooters. Start posting !

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My two cast boolit 'Factory' Bolt guns...

Savage Axis, 243win



Winchester Pre-64' Mod 70, 30-06

[Earlwb]

Using cast bullets is always been a problem with any gun. You are limited in how fast you can propel a cast bullet down a barrel without getting excessive leading to happen. Too fast and the bullet tends to melt into the rifling in the barrel. Using a gas check helps some with velocity but not a whole lot though. One needs to plate or put the lead bullet into a metal jacket of some sort.

Now then the semi-automatic action guns work at certain muzzle velocities and gas pressure. They tend to have a narrow range of operation for gas pressure. Cast bullets operating at lower muzzle velocities and lower gas pressures to keep the leading down do not work well in semi-auto guns in that respect. This is mainly with rifles as with rifles the muzzle velocities are much higher than with most pistols. Now you could use cast bullets with a semi-auto rifle in a single shot mode though as long as the bullet velocity remains below that where leading will start to occur. So bolt action, lever and single shot rifles tend to be best with cast bullets.

Now some semi-autos designed for sub-sonic bullet velocities will work fine with cast bullets though. That is a thought for some people that might be handy.

If I remember correctly having unplated cast bullets going much over about 1400 fps starts to cause leading issues.

[Don Fischer]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the vast majority of bolt action rifles, factory rifles? And don't most rifle cartridge's using cast bullet's also have bolt action home's too? I have two rifle's I shoot cast from now and then. M788 in 308, factory rifle and a 1903 Springfield. The Springfield has been sporterized but the barrel and action where produced in a factory! Imagine if you will, a forum for each different braand and model factory bolt action!

[bigted]

I spose you could include ALL guns in this area then. The single shots are mostly factory ... The levers are mostly factory as well. The BPCR rifles are for the most part factory weapons as well.

I get the point tho. No interest in the bolt gun having a specific area. I withdraw my question and suggestion. I too will use this area for my bolt gun cast comments and questions

[DonMountain]

I get the point tho. No interest in the bolt gun having a specific area. I withdraw my question and suggestion. I too will use this area for my bolt gun cast comments and questions

All of my bolt guns are military. So thats where I post stuff about them and look for info about all of my bolt guns. Aren't all military guns bolt action type? Oh, yes. And the Trap Door type.

[dh2]

I shoot a lot of cast boolits in bolt action rifles Rem. 700 and 98 mauser mostly but have never given thought to have a category for them because there is plenty of talk on here about them

[Earlwb]

My first cast bullet bolt action rifle is a old 8mm Siamese Mauser. It works pretty good with cast bullets in the 185 to 225 grain range. I haven't shot it in quite a while though. But when I was young I used to use it for Elk hunting. At the time in autumn you could have drizzle, rain, snow, ice etc., along with warm days, cold days and cold nights. So one's rifle action could freeze up on them when out hunting. But the Siamese Mauser had a nifty sliding dust cover to help keep the action from freezing up on you. I remember some of the other guys with their fancy rifles would have problems all the time when out hunting or just getting their rifle to work in the freezing morning the next day even. I still have the rifle too. When I was last shooting it at the range, I asked my wife if she wanted to have a go at it and she refused as she was watching the recoil's effect on me at the time and it scared her.

Of course the pistol scope was a relatively new thing I added years ago, but before then I used the iron sights instead as they don't fog up on you with the wild weather swings at the time out hunting. I had also added a sporter stock to it to replace the old military stock too.

Attachment 175332

[northmn]

Frank Marshall had an article in one of my Lyman loading manuals and talked about this. One of his favorite hunting rifles was a 788 Remington 30-30 with cast bullets. He also mentioned how the "bolt gun" was a very good rifle for accuracy at the range and could generally beat the other types.
I used a SMLE #4 with a 208 grain cast bullet to take my first deer with a rifle in that class. Before I was brain washed into thinking you needed a bigger gun like the 45-70 I had used. Shot a lot of cast out of collectable military bolt actions. The Russian rifles work Ok with them but had some awful tolerances. One carbine had a bore of 317. They are easier on these old classics.
Lots of bolt calibers are not all that great with cast. A 7mm shooting times western for instance. But rifles like the 22 hornet work great on small game with cast. Some of it may be partly related to bolt action calibers and perceptions. 30-06 lends itself to cast, especially with the 284 220 grain old. My old SMLE worked fine and the cast could be loaded similar to the old classic 215grain load. 30-30's are similar. I think Marshall was able to jump the bullet weight up in the 788 30-30.

DEP