WTB WTT 30 cal, .358, and 8mm soft gas checked bullets for hunting

[Scooby]

Hi, I have been having major recoil issues lately with a shoulder problem. I would like to try to load 3030,308, 8mm Mauser, and 357 magnum with soft lead gas checked boolits for hunting deer next year. I have unique, bulls eye, trail boss, and some other handgun/shotgun powders available to load with. I saw these online however I thought I would try the members here first, plus he uses 93/3/3. I am no expert by far but I was thinking 2% tin and maybe if needed 1% antimony, but however I am all ears I've cast millions of hard cast pistol bullets but never a soft checked bullet for hunting.



I have soft "pure" lead to trade, range lead, maybe some type lead. could also buy outright if need to.

Thank you for your time.

[sghart3578]

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[Rainier]

I have some plain based 160gr hollow points (thanks Erik at Hollow Point Molds) that are powder coated and sized .358 if you'd like to try some for the 357 Magnum. I also have some Lee 309-170 RF that are gas checked and powder coated that should work for the .308 - they weigh about a 178 grains.

[RogerDat]

94/3/3 is an alloy that should be tougher because the Sn and Sb are in equal measure so they can alloy well. Lyman #2 is 90/5/5 so think of this /3/3 mix as a softer version of that Lyman #2 with a /5/5 alloy.

In that .357 you might want to try Titegroup. Very concentrated so you have to pay attention not to squib or double charge since the amounts used are smaller than some of the bulkier powders but to me it seems to have a smoother less jarring recoil than say Unique in the 357 snubbie and also in longer barrel models. YMMV but it might be worth a try.

I found in an 8mm mauser the Lee 323-170 1R gas checked then powder coated and sized pushed by 25.5 or 26 grains of IMR 4198 to be mild, especially compared to factory. I never tried it at longer ranges or for hunting but it was an accurate plinker, and with it's blunt nose and decent amount of weight I would expect it to be effective as a hunting round. I'm pretty sure those loads were toward the lower middle of acceptable loads of 4198 but you would have to check the manual to see if that was the case.

With PC and a gas check you can certainly go with softer lead, at least up to a certain velocity. Not sure how one finds out other than to try it and see when (and if) lead starts getting scraped off in the bore.

There are also plain base gas checks that might be of interest if you already have a cast bullet you like and just want to GC to allow for a bit more oomph.

[Scooby]

As far as what i'm shooting them out of, 3030 marlin 336 from 1996, savage 842 bolt. 308 original BLR from 1969, Ruger American compact. 357 S&W 8 3/8" barrel and a ruger 77-357 rifle. Would the powder coat keep the bullet from expanding on impact? I worked for a local commercial caster for 6 years that is why I say I cast millions of bullets, however he uses 6/2/92 which to me is hard as can be. does the hp make much a difference for expansion? I am having recoil issues with the 308 IMR4895 43gr 150 gr Noslar blastic tip, great bullet but tired of ruining meat and getting pounded isn't fun any more. I want to make the change before I develop a flinch, I have been having this problem shooting sporting clays also. I have a 450 lube sizer however I have honestly never hand cast any boolits besides slugs, REAL bullets, and round balls. I always intended to get molds for the calibers I mentioned but wanted to try some different projectiles before I bought molds and had to do the buy and sell process before finding the right mold. Thanks again. Any help much appreciated

[tja6435]

I put a limbsaver recoil pad I had laying around onto my 77/357, it really, really reduces the recoil from the 'Freedom Arms and Rifle only' load I run through it. The recoil used to be more tolerable in the FA83, now the rifle gets that award

[Rainier]

Would the powder coat keep the bullet from expanding on impact?

I can't imagine that it would though I've never recovered one - think of powder coating as a flexible polyurethane jacket. I used a Lee hardness tester on them and they are about a 14 bhn. I also apply the "hammer test" - basically smash a couple of boolits from each batch with a hammer to insure I didn't screw something up and that the powder coat stays on. A real recoil-friendly load for both my GP100 and Puma 92 lever gun is 6 to 7 grains of W231 - never chronographed them but the book says you should be in the 1100-1200 fps range with a 10" barrel. I've loaded .38 special cases with as little as 3.1gr of W231 but I'm not sure that is what you'd want for deer hunting.

For the .308 there are several threads calling out reduced loads using both shotgun and pistol powders. My Lyman Handbook calls out starting loads of 16gr of 2400 or 10gr of Unique - if you find accuracy near either of those loads they should be semi-mild for recoil and work on deer at reasonable ranges.

Hope that helps!

[Gamsek]

They expand well. This all was at subsonic velocity using pure lead with 5%tin,and a trace 0.3% of antimony (yes, my alloy was verified at scrap yard)
It looks OP posted photos of MP Molds versions of 311410 and MP 312-159 (308 Hunting) which are 129grs and 151grs with HP and GC, this is what I got when using that alloy and Hornady GC.

Excellent boolits, very accurate and I have killed 3 smaller animals this year with 312-159.


this group was just recently shoot with 311410 at 80m, no GC, which actually gave better results because they were 0.311” instead of 0.3095” (I get that when I attach GC and size).

[brewer12345]

Scooby, did you have 357 ballistics in mind(certain minimum speed, FPE, etc.)? I am still in the experimentation stage with 357 rifle loadings (using a Rossi 92), but I will be trying out a gas checked cast (Lyman 358156) load and a jacketed (Sierra 158 RNFP JSP). The latter has a reputation as a very tough bullet and I will be driving it with Lil Gun, which is supposed to be able to get velocities of up to 2000 FPS from a rifle.

[Scooby]

This is my favorite bullet to load in 357 the load I use is one Master Cast used to load as his hunting round,
it was developed to cycle Desert Eagle pistols and is quite a hand full, but very accurate out of my 686 on a ransom rest. I actually haven't spent much time with the 77/357 yet. I would also like to contact ruger and see if I can push it anymore than I am however then I would have to mark the brass to keep it away from my revolver which to me defeats the purpose of having rifle and pistol in same caliber.