I am just getting into cast bullets for rifle. I have a couple years experience loading 45 ACP with cast. I have 6 months experience casting 45's. I have probably sent 1k of that I cast, and cast 5k. For rifle I am still getting my feet wet. I have only sent a few dozen of them. So far they were all Lee C309-200-1R. I have another mold as well but I don't think the profile lends well to hunting. It is NOE 310-165-FN-H3.
My rifle is a 30-06.
The first one I bought was the Lee. At the time I thought if I couldn't go fast, I should go big. Now that I am learning a bit more, I am thinking the rounded nose profile won't lend well to hunting. I understand that a flat meplat would create a better wound channel. I am hunting white tails in northern Wisconsin. They aren't very big up there.
More recently I have been debating a ranch dog option. There are a lot of places I could order that design. It seems pretty popular. I borrowed my friends Lee C309-170-F. I wasn't too impressed with the size of the meplat. It might be an optical illusion because the bullet diameter is small to begin with, but the meplat on the 170 doesn't seem very big. Another option I found just tonight was MP .308 Hunting HP GC. That one is only 154 grain when HP.
Am I over thinking this? Should I just use the Lee 200 grain? I am confident in my shot placement. I don't want to wound a deer and let it get away though. I would rather buy a new mold if that's an issue.
The MP and ranch dog options would come in either four or five cavities. So that would be attractive. But with how often I shoot my rifle, I honestly don't think the number of cavities is that important. It just seems so futile to cast with a dual cavity vs those six bangers. My 45's though, it would drive me nuts casting those with a dual cavity. That 170 I borrowed from my friend was actually a single cavity. Probably older than I am. Two cavities seems so much more tolerable than one.
Another option would be hollow pointing my 200's. I don't want to go that route. It is an extra step. By the time I get the equipment, I might as well have bought another mold.