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Thread: *Best* all-purpose cast cartridge?

  1. #81
    Boolit Buddy davidheart's Avatar
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    Haha.... Oh boy nagant... Can't say I will have the ability to go down that road any time soon. I have three babies (>8yrs old) with a fourth due any day now and meat in the freezer is money not spent at the grocery store. We're not poor, but funds need to be spent wisely.

    The weight restriction Rich include scope. I have a 4x scope that weighs 8oz with rings but I could also save for a 2.5x Leupold that weighs 6oz.

    I was thinking compact rifle (17-20 inches) in either a bolt action or lever. Single shot rifles don't weigh much different for some strange reason. There's a guy I heard about (can't think of the name right now) who modifies Marlin 336 and Win 94's to weigh ~6lb. If I snag a 30/30 and go 32 Special or 375 Win by JES, his rebore will actually remove metal inside the barrel, reducing weight further.
    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1

  2. #82
    Boolit Master
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    If you are thinking along those lines I would,personally, go with a 3530 rebore in a nice light M94 Winchester. I like the 375 because of the light weight and handy ness. The 375 caliber does not have the ready availability of light weight plinker bullets of the 35 cal. I am considering buying another Lee mold to mill the base off to get a lighter book it, no need with a 35. Interested in where you wind up.
    Oops , didn’t see the scope, Marlin would be better scoped.
    Last edited by rking22; 03-14-2019 at 12:58 AM.
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  3. #83
    Boolit Buddy davidheart's Avatar
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    I thought I'd update you guys. I ended up purchasing a Remington Model Seven in .308. Stainless model with black polymer stock. It ended up weighing 5lb 7oz from the factory. With scope it weighs 6lb 3oz. I decided to go with the .308 based on BrassMagnet's recommendation (off-thread). The .308 cartridge will be more efficient than the 30/06 for powder capacity and the abundance of available quality brass is simply silly.

    It's not what I set about for as the "best" all-purpose cast cartridge. I think the winner for that would have been the .32 Special and perhaps I will still pick up a Win 94 in .32 Sp one day. We shall see, but I thought I should let you guys know what I finally ended up with. Thank you for all your help!
    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1

  4. #84
    Boolit Buddy Time Killer's Avatar
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    I think you made a good choice. That or the 30/30 would have been mine, I have both. The availability and the amount of 308 shells and brass make it an excellent choice. If you have not already read it look up the Cast-Bullet-Loads-for-Military-Rifles-Article. it gives excellent load data for small gallery to hunting cast loads. With very efficient powder loading's.
    Last edited by Time Killer; 06-21-2019 at 02:06 PM.

  5. #85
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    A good choice IMO. Both rifle and cartridge.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  6. #86
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    I'm going with 327 FM in a henry. I'm betting with a heavy cast bullet, it will do fi e for black bear here in PA. And deer, no question. Shots will have to be limited to within 100 yards and as always, placement is key. And there is always the ability to use 32 s&w long or 32 h&r mag for the smaller stuff.

  7. #87
    Boolit Master curioushooter's Avatar
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    357 mag carbine.

  8. #88
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
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    350 Legend, AR platform. Several proven cast picks and a few J-word pills to throw at prey or just plink. Very cheap to shoot, on par with a .223. Can't beat the modular construction and wide boolit choice.

  9. #89
    Boolit Master
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    Glad you resurrected this thread. I am curious how the op feels about his choice, after about 7 months and a deer season?
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  10. #90
    Boolit Bub Stuckcase's Avatar
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    300 black out
    Super versatile for your initial description.
    Rifles can be had with short threaded barrels for a later option of adding a hush can.
    Can load from 100 to 240 gr lead in the same gun. Your pick your poison.
    Si Vis Pacem Parabellum
    "For every tree that does not bear fruit is thrown in to the fire"
    Mathew 7:19

  11. #91
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    Probably gonna get tarred and feathered for this. I've 2 308's and two 7.62x51's. One is a 40x single shot. Why Remington stamps 7.62 Nato on the barrel is beyond me. Anyway having said all that. I've found it way easier to get an accurate load with just about any 30-06 than the 308. Me and a buddy who passed a few years ago spent one whole summer shooting 308's, comparing notes,trying all combinations of cases,powders,and primers. The only constant was the bullet the 168 grain Sierra Match King.Art was an experimenter and kept detailed notes. When he went to neck turned cases he was a happy guy. Then he went to a wildcat cartridge the 30-47 and his groups really shrunk. Best I could do with any of the 308's was 1.5". We even kept long on weather conditions,barrel temp,and how many round down the tube. Had 1300 down the barrel on my Rem Sendero, and 1100 for my Savage 110FP. My Sako 75 Hunter now long discontinued will easily get 1" groups. This is all with jacketed bullets. And my dwindling supply of Lake City '06 national match dated 1963 will get 1" out of the Sako. One other thing I've heard that Sako barrels are harder than most factory barrels. Sure must be some truth to that statement as a visual inspection of all the barrels showes less wear despite close to 950 rounds down the tube.

    So my vote for the best all around cartridge would be the 30-30 and the 30-06. I've an old post '64 model 70 match rifle in 30-06 that I'm dying to try with cast bullets. Frank

  12. #92
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    My Savage 12 likes the 168 AMax bullets and Varget or Reloader 15. Finding the right charge of powder is a bit of a chore but it is now in the 1/2MOA range and getting better. I am trying the heavier bullets again now that I have narrowed down the powder. I only did ok with the 155gn bullets.

    I have noticed from others that different rifles, even with the same length/weight of barrel, cab prefer different weight bullets. Some like heavy, some light.

    Overall I do not disagree with a best all around. The 06 is probably the best of all time.

  13. #93
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    I do shoot a couple 308's a great deal, mostly Matt's 185 gr GC pointed (.310) over 18 grs 5744, a thousand plus each year in a couple Savage 99's. I use jacketed bullets to hunt antelope , deer, and elk.
    I will use 150 Hornady's with Varget for deer and antelope. I have killed 3 elk with the 308 and 165 grain Noslers over RL15 though I prefer a 358 or 45-70 on elk. The 308 is just a very good and capable cartridge. the 30-06 does not provide enough extra performance to warrant the heavier, longer action, might as well have a 300 Win Mag.

  14. #94
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stuckcase View Post
    300 black out
    Super versatile for your initial description.
    Rifles can be had with short threaded barrels for a later option of adding a hush can.
    Can load from 100 to 240 gr lead in the same gun. Your pick your poison.
    Sadly, I have to disagree with you on your pick due to the better overall *performance with the 350LGD over the 300BLK. Brass, bullets, powder, primers etc. are nearly equally priced round for round, drop at 300yds in the same BUT energy is 25% greater. Apples to apples, I would never give up 25% more energy considering they both are AR capable and the 350LGD is a great lever action gun to boot.

    Just my opinion of course....

    *Suppressed loads

  15. #95
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I wonder how the OP made out. The .308 was a poor choice if he could not get his .30/06 to shoot cast. He likely has the same problem I do. I do not cast well enough to get accurate cast bullets (2 MOA). I gave up as the destination was not worth the journey.

    For squirrels...a decent .22 is as good as it gets.
    For game, the .30/06 he has, with good jacketed bullets, is all anyone needs...I use a .308
    For fun, a .38/357 lever action with cast is perfect. Even my crappy cast bullets will work OK in one.

    The "all round" rifle is never best at each task. Doing it with cast makes it tougher.
    Don Verna


  16. #96
    Boolit Master
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    You don't have to be a good caster to get decent rifle accuracy. It just means you have more rejects.

    I sort out the badly blemished bullets as I cast, especially if the base is off at all.

    Once they get past that I examine them again and sort them by weight. The heaviest ones are kept for the more accurate loads. I keep the weight within +/- 2gn (eg 173 to 177).

    Gas checks installation is probably the next most important step. It MUST go on perfectly square. Various ways to do this. My method is not perfect but works for me so far. I use the Lee sizing die and run the bullet with gas check up until it just touches the die. Then I tap down from the top with a 1/4" rod to seat the gas check firmly. Then run the bullet through the sizing die to crimp the gas check on bullet.

    All of this gets me down to MOA or just under. I have a ways to go to get less than that.

  17. #97
    Boolit Master
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    32spl or 30-30 for sure

  18. #98
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by charlie b View Post
    You don't have to be a good caster to get decent rifle accuracy. It just means you have more rejects.

    I sort out the badly blemished bullets as I cast, especially if the base is off at all.

    Once they get past that I examine them again and sort them by weight. The heaviest ones are kept for the more accurate loads. I keep the weight within +/- 2gn (eg 173 to 177).

    Gas checks installation is probably the next most important step. It MUST go on perfectly square. Various ways to do this. My method is not perfect but works for me so far. I use the Lee sizing die and run the bullet with gas check up until it just touches the die. Then I tap down from the top with a 1/4" rod to seat the gas check firmly. Then run the bullet through the sizing die to crimp the gas check on bullet.

    All of this gets me down to MOA or just under. I have a ways to go to get less than that.
    I find that if I push the base down into a hole I machined in a 1/4" sheet of steel I have tapered 1°, I can even up the base for the GC so they fit flat. I them use the LEE sizer to press them on and flatten them to the base and crimp them on the base as the boolit is sized.

    The few (less than 1%) that gall the GC beyond base get trimmed flush and segregated to 'plinking' ammo.

  19. #99
    Of course you know what I am going to say...44-40...you laughing yet?

    https://sites.google.com/view/44winc...l-backpack-gun

    It can be loaded light with 160gr bullets for rabbit/varmint...heavy for Deer and even heavier for medium size black Bear with 240gr bullets. Can even load it up with "shot" if needed.

    Attachment 256681 Attachment 256682

  20. #100
    Boolit Master
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    Don't overlook the old 45-70 cartridge. I've taken a lot of squirrels and tin cans with very light loads of Unique and round balls in my single shots. It takes the heads right off. Needless to say, you can also load it to stop anything that walks this earth. Also had good results loading with birdshot.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check