Please weigh in on why you cast for rifles

[lobogunleather]

Started casting pistol bullets about 43 years ago when I was a young cop trying to feed two hungry kids and keep the mortgage current on skinny paychecks. Only way I could afford to shoot.

Became interested in cast rifle bullets about 35 years ago. Started casting for .30 caliber rifles (.30-06, .30-30, .300 Savage, .308 Win), at first for practice ammo but soon transitioned to hunting with cast bullets as well.

Later years provided opportunities to acquire a number of rifles from 19th and early 20th Century, most in obsolete or obscure calibers requiring that I reload to have ammo. Cast bullets were the best choice for keeping those old rifles shooting without undue stress. Now regularly cast and load for .45-70, .45-90, .45 Sharps Express, .44-40, .32-20, .25-20, .33 Winchester and a few others.

I have come to enjoy reloading and casting every bit as much as shooting and hunting. Most interesting parts of the sports, and it has allowed me to learn far more about firearms and ballistics than I would ever have been able to otherwise.

[Kraschenbirn]

I'd cast muzzleloader and handgun boolits for years...even helped a buddy start up a commercial boolit casting shop...but didn't begin casting for CF rifle until I became interested in BPCRs. First go was a Trapdoor carbine, followed by a Highwall in .38-55, then...because the days of 'cheap' milsurp .303 Brit were past...bought a Lee 312-185 and a box of Hornaday GCs and the rest, as they say, is history. FWIW, my CB loads for that old Longbranch #4mk1 will easily match milsurp ball for accuracy...for about $.12 a round.

Bill

[MT Chambers]

For folks wanting to shoot cast in the 30/30 at 2200 fps, like jacketed velocity. Sure it can be done but you may find that 1600 fps or so brings much better accuracy.

[jimb16]

For me, its a combination of reasons. I'm cheap for one. for another, I want to be self-sufficient. Third, I am vain! I want to be able to BRAG about the accuracy of my home-rolled!

[ascast]

OP- I suggest you beg or buy some bullets and data from some of the posters in this thread and test drive them. See if you can get 500 or so. Get those shot up and rethink it all.

[TXGunNut]

"Limitations of cast"? A cast boolit doesn't have to go fast to get the job done; on game or on paper. If you're shooting thru a can you've already slowed it down more than necessary for CB's. If you're a long range hunter you may be able to make a case for hunting with j-words. Or you could just get closer...or learn to shoot. I haven't had much use for j-words since my first CB kill. Yes, a bit biased...but CB's keep my freezer full and my range trips interesting.

[smoked turkey]

There are several reasons I can think of to cast my own boolits. My list will not necessarily be anyone else's list. I like to shoot the larger caliber rifles both for target work (informally and not competition), and for hunting whitetails here locally at short to medium range. Also, to be perfectly frank I don't tolerate recoil too well. A slower moving cast boolit is much kinder to my old shoulder and my hearing protection can usually be ear plugs instead of ear plugs and ear muffs together. Cost saving has been mentioned by many. It is true that cast boolits across the board are some cheaper than j words. However I doubt that anyone here has 'saved" money by casting their own boolits as compared to buying them. However if quantity of shooting is important to you and it is to me, I know that for the money I spend for casting equipment I get to shoot a lot more than if I were buying either precast boolits from someone or j words at the local gun shop. Most of us would not shoot as much as we do if we had to buy j word bullets. I could go on and on but I'll say just one more thing and then I'll be done. I simply enjoy the boolit making process. For me it is as big a hobby as shooting. I would be very bored of this hobby if all I did was go to the store and buy factory ammo and go shoot it up, leave my brass on the ground and go do it all over again.

[runfiverun]

'threshold on cast'...
the only threshold is the ones you place on yourself...
I usually find the limitations are with the rifle itself, i then look for solutions to it's problems.

[varminter66]

Why do I caste boolits? ... because I have a masochistic streak that reloading cannot satisfy!! All those variables will keep me banging my head for the rest of my life!!

[Wolfer]

I started casting for a cap and ball revolver in the early 70s while still in my teens. I always considered cast as ideal in pistols but not in rifles.

Years ago I lived in Sedalia when Sierra bullets moved to town. I bought enough factory seconds to last the rest of my life. The point is I don't have to shoot cast. I have jacketed for most of the calibers I shoot.

When I lived there I didn't own an 8mm so I have no 8mm bullets. I bought a mold just to play around with. I took a liking to the low noise,low recoil yet quite accurate and pleasant to shoot rifles. I was pretty skeptical about hunting with these loads but gave it a try anyway. A pretty large pile of critters later and I'm no longer a sceptic.

I now cast for every rifle I own that's 7mm and above. It's brushy where I hunt so ranges tend to be short. If I lived in more open country I would possibly shoot more jacketed. I've just found that for most of my hunting I don't need it.

[JimP.]

i only shoot 45 cal rifles, casting lets me have more boolits to shoot, i have numerous 45-70's, a 45-75 centenial lever rifle and a 450 Marlin, all love cast boolits 350 gr to 500 gr. love it.

[zubrato]

By casting for rifle, you save some cash but the real benefit is the incredible accuracy you can squeeze out of the rifle.

I felt the same way at first, I'm neutering my loads and not getting the same stopping power by lowering speed. I find that to be untrue, remember that cast is a different animal and you dont need that same speed to achieve the same or even better terminal ballistics.

FMJ's and FMJ HP's need that extra speed to reliably fragment/expand but not so with cast.

also this times a million:

I simply enjoy the boolit making process. For me it is as big a hobby as shooting. I would be very bored of this hobby if all I did was go to the store and buy factory ammo and go shoot it up, leave my brass on the ground and go do it all over again.

[EMC45]

I'm cheap. At one point of my reloading journey I swore I would never cast, let alone cast for a rifle. I swore that knowing the cost savings and scrounging for wheel weights for a buddy that cast bullets. It wasn't for me..... I realized very quickly, one cannot be an absolutist in the reloading hobby. I have broken multiple "oaths" that I have sworn.

[Harter66]

I cast for rifles and for an AR . Granted a 6.8 and a 308 aren't in the same class but I have a load and a bullet that meet the requirements of the NDOW for big game . 1000 ftlb @100 yd it's a breeze in jacketed 3-5 powders , no problem. But target ammo is $11-13 /20 the least expensive hunting type bullets run $25-27 /100, factory ammo to hunt with is $20-35 /20 and a recent run of my numbers including brass depreciation, mould cost per bullet ,gas checks ,powder ,primer , dies,sizer and buying known lead was $34/100 for the first 500 . Then it drops to $26/100 as I figure the tools are paid for and should load 5-10,000 more . Now as I see it guys are demonstrating 2400 fps with select 120 gr bullets with jackets and 2300 in 130 gr. My best load is at 2070 fps 130 gr 279-124 NOE shoots a 10 shot group of 1.5 in . I got 2240 fps with Hornady 120SST and a best 5 shot of 2" . Both loads meet the standard, both were tuned to hit best group and maximum velocities . The SST does it with 3 powders like getting wet in the shower . The cast takes more finesse and the sweet spot is .3 gr wide . 1 powder (as available) made the cut.
As I see it the only sacrifice here is long range BC and bullet selection. I can slow this load way down and still get good function and accuracy.

For an average savings for target ammo of $16/100 and hunting ammo $84/100 gaining the advantage of not having to choose which load to shoot to stay on top of hold overs etc.
308 gives you all sorts of options for bullets from 60-250 gr and BCs as high as .540 if you have the twist to shoot them .
I don't see how you can loose .

[Hick]

Slightly off topic, but even if you do not have the capability to cast, there is a large world out there of rifle possibilities with CB's. That's why, even though I don't have a suitable place to cast at the moment I buy as much or more cast boolits as jacketed. There's just so much more fun to be had. Casting my own, I know, will open even more possibilities, but by slugging the barrel and carefully selecting what I buy I still save lots of money and gain many of the benefits of cast.

[Outpost75]

I am an old school guy who shoots guns made of wood and blued steel. I burned out on 5.56s by the mid-1980s because I made my living on them. I don't own an AK or AR anymore. Most of my rifles are classic boltguns, Garands and cowboy rifles.

I do most of my shooting within 200 yards. I don't need full power jacketed loads to practice reduced scale National Match Course with the Garand or my .30 caliber boltguns. With the cost of replacement barrels and gunsmithing these days I don't care to put a new barrel on my competition gun after coming back from Camp Perry each year. I can practice with good cast loads and shoot a few jacketed rounds with Sierra Matchkings for the few matches where I go back to 600 yards and need the full power stuff.

I deer hunt and kill several critters for meat each year. Shots are seldom over 200 yards.

My cast loads in .30-'06 approximate .30-30 energy and bring home the venison.

I am retired and on a fixed pension. Cast gives me the most bang for the buck and I can shoot as much as I want, without worrying about having to yank a barrel and rebuild and rebed a rifle. This seems like simple common sense to me.

In my high volume plinkers, rifles and revolvers I have standardized on 7 grains of Bullseye, 1000 rounds per pound, with appropriate cast, plain-based bullet in .303 British, 7.62x54R, .30-'06, .44 Mag., .44-40, .45-Colt.

Works for me!

[PaulG67]

I cast boolits because I like to shoot cast boolits. I started 30+years ago and am still doing it. I cast for everything I shoot.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

economy and the ability to tailor load for different purposes mostly. I like big bore rifles, and hunting in Africa. Price a box of J-bullets for a 425 Westley Richards some afternoon. For the price of two 50 round boxes I got an Accurate Molds mold made, plus a custom Lee luber/sizer, and some gas checks.

[claude]

Because........................................I can. One day the bug just bit, and I've been infected ever since, this whole thread is like sitting in an AA meeting and listening to confessions of sorts. Hello, my name is Bubba, and I cast boolits........

[theTastyCat]

Thanks to the thoughtful wisdom shared in this thread, I've completely changed my thinking about rifles and cast. Can't wait to jump in! I think I'll start with my AR10...