Recipe for Max Velocity Rifle Bullets

[denton]

Hi all... I'm new on this board.

Every once in a while, I do cast bullets for my revolvers, but I'm not a very experienced bullet caster.

Lately, I've been thinking about beating the cost of projectiles for my rifles by casting for those.

I've seen all kinds of suspicious claims about driving cast bullets at 2700 FPS and need to understand what's really possible and practical. Depending on what I find out, I might be tempted to actually hunt game with my old Finnish Mosin. But generally, the bullets will be for pleasant, cheap days at the range. Oh... and I might also load for my 7.62x39 SKS. The grandkids like to shoot that, and the $.08 ammo is long gone.

What I have on hand: Pure lead, clip-on wheelweights, some old-time linotype metal with one letter per slug, Lee Alox, Lee 30 cal mold, 30 cal gas checks, Lee Production Pot. Of course, I can easily add stuff like Johnson Paste Wax or Motor Mica. I have my own pretty good equipment for testing hardness.

If I don't want to spend a lot of time cleaning out lead, and want good accuracy, what's a realistic metal and lube recipe, and an upper limit on MV?

[carpetman]

denton--welcome to the board. Cast bullets don't perform the way jacketed ones do. Many say that you need atleast .40 cal and a heavy bullet for good hunting performance. That combo you wont drive at 2700 fps and you will have a rainbow trajectory making them a shorter range proposistion. I drive my .243 cast at 2900 fps, but the deer ran off. That has not been the case on many deer with .243 using jacketed bullets. Your grandkids would probably enjoy shooting .22 cal cast---if you don't have one, now you have a good reason to get one---not an excuse--an absolute reason.

[Bullshop Junior]

You wont get any kind of velocity with lee alox. You need a better lube like Bullshop speed green.
BTW I have shot cast boolits at 4300 FPS

[DLCTEX]

If you want high velocity you need to consider paper patching your boolits. That would be the easiest way to attain those higher velocities IMHO. The 30 cal. and larger are easier to get the results you want, but good results are to be had from smaller cals., sometimes easily, sometimes not. As for your Mosin, it may shoot better with cast than jacketed due to a better fit being possible. Keeping speeds in the 1700 fps range makes it easier to get good results, consumes less powder, and can make the shooting experience more pleasant for shooter that are recoil and muzzle blast sensitive. The SkS can be made to shoot cast successfully, but will need loads tailored for it to be accurate and reliable without leading problems. The information you need is in the archives here, or can be had for the asking. I have taken only one deer with cast so far, hope to improve that count soon, and one shot with a 30 -30 through both lungs dropped it after running about 80 yds. Many others here have had great results with cast. Read and learn from the wealth of knowledge here. DALE

[StarMetal]

With the alloys you have you can make a pretty decent alloy called 50/50 with is lead/wheelweights.

The lubes you have, in my opinion, are bad especially for faster loads and I'm not talking super high velocity. You want to get some of the better stick lubes and pan lube if you don't want to invest in a luber/sizer and dies.

Don't believe what you hear about obtains that top velocity that you have to use paper patched bullets. That probably is the easier solution, but not the only one.

Joe

[docone31]

If you want to push those puppies, go with paper patching.

[runfiverun]

paper is easier for the h/v especially if you want success pretty quickly.
for the moisin i'd start with the fattest boolit it'd chamber with water dropped ww's.
and shoot for 1700-1900 fps a box of 100 j-words is gonna last a long time if you only use them for hunting.
btw a 1900 fps 170 gr boolit is accurate to 300 yds.
a hunting boolit a target boolit and a h/v boolit are all different things....

[carpetman]

Bullshop Jr--You been pushing that Bullshop Lube lately--did you buy some stock in the company?

[Ricochet]

BTW I have shot cast boolits at 4300 FPS

I'd be interested in hearing more about that.

[Bullshop Junior]

Bullshop Jr--You been pushing that Bullshop Lube lately--did you buy some stock in the company?

Well, there is only room for one best lube, and I think I know what one it is.
And the guy who gets the money for it is a good friend of mine.
Have you ever tried it?

[Bullshop Junior]

I'd be interested in hearing more about that.

Hint - No lube. 22 Cal.

[Bullshop Junior]

You can push them boolits out of a 7.62X54R wide open with no paper IF you use a gas check, the right alloy, and the right lube.

[Marlin Junky]

...You need a better lube like Bullshop speed green. BTW I have shot cast boolits at 4300 FPS

You're going to make a claim like that and not back it up with load data and barrel/chamber specifics so others might try to reproduce your results? You sound like a snake oil salesman to me.

MJ

[35remington]

I can shoot cast bullets at 4300 fps too. Getting accuracy in so doing is another matter.

[Uncle R.]

Hint - No lube. 22 Cal.

Awwww - usin' them little platic sabot thingies is cheatin.
<
Uncle R.

[stubshaft]

2900fps is plenty fast for me.

[looseprojectile]

When shooting a cast boolit in something like a Mosin Nagant rifle I usually take the easy route. That would be load a heavy for caliber boolit to somewhere less than 2000 fps and consider your rifle to be something like an old rifle such as a 32 40 for killing power. That is the easy way. Cast boolits kill very well. There are many ways to shoot lead boolits faster that also require more involvement.
Years ago when I didn't know anything I would pull jacketed bullets from M2 ball ammo and seat a gas checked lead alloy boolit and got good accuracy and no leading. Why would anyone do this?
I'm sure that you will find a boolit and load that will fill your needs with some poking around here. There are some here that shoot game with cast boolits and do well with them. Most are shooting holes in paper and accuracy is what we are after. Paper doesn't need a lot of power. Good luck with your choice.

Welcome to the confusion

Life is good

[StarMetal]

looseprojectile makes a very good point. I would consider a 200 gr bullet or heavier doing 2000 fps more in the league of the 30-40 Krag original load. With that said I took the Lyman 314299 which casts out a little over 200 grains for me and shot it in my Finn 39 7.62x54R to a tad over 2000 fps and a very small 10 shot group. I posted it elsewhere here on the forum. I used Accurate 4350 powder.

A very good bullet for the 7.62x39 is the Lee 312 155. It was made specifically for that cartridge. As the nomenclature states it's 155 grain and it makes a good cast deer round.

Joe

[Leftoverdj]

With any luck, Lee C312-155-2R will also work in the M-N. H-322 is probably the powder to use in the 7.62x39.

Were I planning on hunt with them I'd cast the nose of pure lead and body of WW then water quench. It's a little more work and takes two pots and a homemade dipper holding about 60 grains of lead, but it sure does the job and you only need a handful of them.

[Ricochet]

Hint - No lube. 22 Cal.

Sounds like a sabot.