Easiest Cast rifle round???

[Mabbus4]

Hi everyone.

Let me start out by saying that I am pretty new to the reloading world. However
I currently reload only .380acp, 9mm, and .32acp. I am now looking at getting a rifle that I can shoot cast rounds out of that is pretty easy to reload for. From what I have read the faster traveling rifle rounds (.223, etc) are more prone to leading using standard ww lead and or reclaimed lead. Im looking for something easy to reload and cast for.

I have read that possible something like the 45-70 round is pretty easy to reload for with cast rounds due to the slower velocity. I have also thought about finding a rifle that shoots 38/357 rounds or 44mag due to the rounds being straight walled. Not sure how practical those are for any real world use besides paper targets (ready to be informed on this one)

I currently do not reload for any revolver type firearms. So I am pretty newbie about what is different in the reloading process with the possible rifle choices that would use a revolver type action. I already reload for my 9mm pistols so I have also thought about something like a 9mm carbine as well. But then i miss out on the longer range rifle capability. (havent done much research to see if it would lead the barrel any more than out of my current pistols I shoot from. If not then I could just keep reloading 9mm.

Whats your thoughts? Thanks guys!

[x101airborne]

First of all, welcome!
The 45-70 is one of the most easily cast for rounds available. But that is not to say that the revolver cartrige rifles aren't just as easy. If I were wanting a rifle to cast for easily, I would go for a 30-30 or a 7.62x39 with the 308 bore. These cartriges at full jacketed velocity are just over 2000 fps and you can get there with cast quite easily. So you would not be comprimizing performance as compared say, to a 300 win mag. There are tons of 30 cal molds and these are two of the most common cast loaded rounds around here. If I were wanting to keep rifle ranges possible and an easily cast for round, I would go with one of these two.

[DHurtig]

I cast and reload for 38/357. 44mag, 30-30 and 45-70. All are pretty straight forward. I like loading for straight wall cases as I can use carbide dies, which eliminates lubing and cleaning after. I have a NEF survivor in 357 which is probably shot more than any gun I own. Wide choice of bullets, cheap to cast and reload for, it's a blast to shoot and is legal for deer in many states.

The same things apply for the 44 mag, but it eats a little more powder and lead. Thje 45-70 can be loaded from mild to wild. Everything from bird shot, to collar buttonbullets and round balls clear up to 500+ grain rhino stompers.

Of the tapered cartridges I think the 30-30 is about as easy and versitile as they come.

Best wishes in your endeavors, Dale

[Silvercreek Farmer]

A 357 or 44 mag picks up quite a bit of velocity out of a rifle barrel and is plenty practical for hunting out to medium ranges. I wouldn't expect one hole groups, but they are plenty accurate enough to get the job done. Less expensive brass, easy on powder, easy to reduce for plinking or ramp up for hunting, and tons of load data available. You will probably need gas checks for the midrange-higher end loads.

[runfiverun]

here's a list of rifles i load cast in.
223-45/70.
they have all been pretty easy. some have just required more trying than others.
the easiest have been the 223,358 win,& 30-30 [as far as going fast anyway]

the leverguns have a place in the world as hunting rifles, they have been pushing cast boolits out thier bbl's since day one.
look at a 44 mag's down range energy with a 240 gr boolit pushed along at an easy 1500 fps
now compare that to a 150 gr 30-30 at 2200 fps.
not much difference except the heavier boolit retains more momentum.
or look at a 357 mag pushing a 180 at the same 1500 fps.

[beagle]

Kind of depends on your needs. If hunting is your goal, go for an 06 or .45/70. Both are easy loaders and there is loads of data, brass and moulds out there.

For general plinking, targets, varmints and the ocasional surge to deer, I like my Marlin M1894 .357. It's my "walking around" rifle here on the farm and is ready for home defense at any time.

Loaded with either .357 Mag rounds or high speed .38 Specials, it's a great shooter and there's nothing easier than loading .357/.38 Special rounds./beagle

[williamwaco]

+1 on the .30-30.

If you want more punch for hunting consider the .38-55 or .375 Winchester.

These are really a lot of fun in any lever gun.

[Mabbus4]

Thanks everyone for all of the replys. I guess I am looking at what size rifle caliber i can easily cast to help me decide what type of rifle i need to get for it to be my go to gun in a shtf situation that I can reload for with cast rounds. I hope things never get to that. But I like having the capabilities to hunt a few deer, home defense, and walk about the woods, farm etc with ammo i produced. So whatever I decide it will be the main rifle caliber for me. (at least for now...lol) So the .223 and the 7.62 are in the easy to load list?

I like the idea of the .223 due to its brass availability. but does it have to have a gas check?

Also what type of rifle do you have in mind for the 7.62 or the .223? I thought that it was best not to use lead in any of the Ar / Ak models due to small pieces of lead getting into the piston or gas chambers. So am I limited to single shots and lever actions?

I guess it would be helpful to know also that I do have a budget for this rifle if that helps. Budegt is as cheap as possible of course, but would like to stay away from the single shot models. Any ideas of some diamonds in the rough rifles out there? or Surplus rifles that can fire lead just fine?

[Harter66]

Mabbus,
The 32 Winchester spcl is a good round also. 38/357 is an excellent choice too it can be had in bolt actions,levers,singles,and you already have a couple of light moulds for it if your casting for your 9mm or 380. The 1894 CB Marlin I had is plenty accurate,and steps up pistol loads by 400 fps.

[mpmarty]

Were I just starting out as you are, welcome by the way, I'd stick to 45/70 and or 358 Winchester both of which are very cast friendly and flexible enough to meet any reasonable needs.

[captaint]

I just noticed in an ad that arrived today, that Cabelas is having a sale ? Imagine that. Anyway, they have case hardened receiver Win 94's - and available in 38-55 as well as 30-30. That would be a fun lever gun in 38-55. They are 1000 bux though. Just a thought.. enjoy Mike

[waksupi]

I'm a big fan of the .358 Winchester. But, if you are on a real tight budget, a milsurp 8X57 will fill your needs nicely.
If you do a lot of reading on this board, you will soon find that leading is not a concern if you take the advice here. If you are getting leading, that just means you haven't learned all the lessons of shooting cast boolits! I have no idea how many hundreds of rounds have went out of my .358 win without cleaning, but it is a bunch, and the bore is pristine.

[mdevlin53]

One plus for the 30-30 is i have never had to buy brass, around this time of the year i pick up 20 to 30 once fired cases every time i go to the range. I have several hundred just in the past year. I shoot the 30-30 in a lever gun as well as a contender so you can do some different things with the cartridge. I also have a couple of 38-55s and they are fun to shoot but mold selection is much less than the 30 cals.

[Three44s]

I'll just tell you what I did:

I started working with Savage bolt action rifles of the newer persuasion ..... the barrel headspaces with a jam nut. You get the tools and you are your own boss!

Then along the way, I bought a .338-06 barrel used over on the Savage shooters forum .......... Woooo Hoooo!!

Now I also bought a .35 Whelen there that I have not tried and many will tell you that it is even better ...... all I can say is that if it is .......... I don't know how I will stand it ....... because this .338-06 with a plain jane Lee 225 gr. is really nice!!! It is also very efficient with J-words as well.

Generally speaking the bigger the bore the better for cast. The .338 bore is not bad at all with cast and you've got every '06 case just "waiting" to be liberated!!! LOL!!

I have been told by one or two members on this forum that the .416 Taylor is REALLY where the fun starts ...... it's on my "bucket list" ..... that's for sure!!!

Three 44s

[Silvercreek Farmer]

A little discussion on the .223

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?171877-Tell-me-about-casting-for-5-56

[frkelly74]

My first cast boolits were in a 30-30 handi rifle. Good fun. Easy to have success with.

[geargnasher]

.30-30. Lots of reasons I think it's the easiest, including the rifles typically chambered for it, and lack of special knowledge needed to get decent results with "stock" reloading equipment.

Gear

[noylj]

The main thing is that loading for a bottleneck case involves steps not needed for straightwall cases.
I enjoy shooting cast in 7mm TCU, .30-30, and .30-06. However, these bottleneck cases require me to check case length after resizing and trimming to the same length. Then, you get into neck reaming and outside neck turning and things get complicated if you want to go that far. Then you have to watch out for signs of case separation.
Any straight wall case is easier to reload for. The cases, in my experience, do not grow and, often, with lots for loading will actually shrink a bit. For a rifle, I would prefer a case with a rim for headspacing that will allow roll crimping. Thus, a .45-70 becomes nearly ideal (though the bullets cost more or use more lead).

[turmech]

To meet your needs the 30-30 is hard to beat, as many have said. Many pro's to starting with one such as: Both new and used guns, brass, dies, molds are quite possible more readily available than any other cartridge. I have heard many say (and I can believe it) that more deer have been killed by the 30-30 than any other cartridge. Cast can be pushed to or near jacketed velocities. If I could only own one rifle it would be a 30-30.

The only downsides are it is a bottle neck case (not really a downside but adds a little more than a straight wall case). Most molds will use a gas check.

A rifle in 357/38 will have the advantage of a straight wall case. Components and molds both GC and non-CG are readily available. Guns are not as easy to come by as the 30-30. For punching paper, home defense and cost per round might be better than the 30-30. Still good for deer hunting.

A rifle in 44 mag/spec will give many of the same advantages/disadvantages as the 357 with more power. Molds selection is a little trickier than the 357 or 30-30.

[AviatorTroy]

30-30 is a great choice. I and many others like the 30-40 Krag due to its long neck. .303 Brit is great with cast. Most any surplus military rife, aka 8x57, 30-06, 7.7 Jap, all of them are going to be pretty easy to get to run with cast.

As for sidearms I don't reload .357 but I do .38 and .45ACP, matter of fact those two right there are very forgiving and fun to shoot cast in as well.


I noticed someone recommended 7.62x39. For some reason I have never had any luck reloading that at all. But the 2 molds that Lee sells for it work fantastic in a .303! Lol

[frkelly74]

It is bottle neck, yes, but it is a long neck section that makes it behave much like a straight wall case.

[Finarfin]

32-40.

[HARRYMPOPE]

30-06

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

38-55

[captain-03]

Any caliber that has a larger first number than 2. Those little .224/.225 bullets can be a pain to start with!! Bigger is better for the first go-around ...

[wistlepig1]

30/30, easy and most fun you can have with your cloths on!

[Slow Elk 45/70]

For the beginner, in a rifle, 45/70 , 444 Marlin , 44 Mag ,. the 44's can use the same boolits. there are lots of molds for these calibers.... the 30-30 , 308 , 30/06 are all on the next level...smaller boolits , harder to start with IMHO....welcome aboard... you will have to develope your own prefrences..Good Luck

[DrCaveman]

30-30 or 30-06, you can cast quite a few boolits that would work with either. I'd say that a 30-06 bolt action would get you more overall versatility but a 30-30 lever would get you shooting more and seeing success with less time investment, if plinking or short range hunting was your goal.

Since you can also plink and short game hunt with the '06 I'd say start with that. Acceptable loads with 30-30 should be cake after you make a few sub moa loads for the '06. Granted the '06 will still win accuracy matches at 100+ yds but that is the nature of the cartridges.

[DrCaveman]

I'll add that a 150 gr 309 flat point cast will work: as cast, sized to 309, tumble lubed, pan lubed, gas checked or not, in front of 5 gr bullseye up to 50 gr 4350 from less than 1000 fps up to 2600 fps. That's pretty flexible and easy on the caster/loader I'd say. Just depends whether you want to go th extra mile, but you wouldn't have to.

[Elkins45]

358 Winchester is my first choice because you can form 500 rounds of brass for $80 by starting from milsurp 308/7.62. Add to that the fact that the RCBS 35-200 boolet is likely the only one you would ever need for either target or hunting applications. The 35 Whelen is my second choice, although cheap 30-06 cases to form Whelen brass from aren't as easily found as 308/7.62.

I prefer fooling with fatter boolets because they are usually easier to cast and the also are easier to load for those of us with arthritic fingers and bifocals. So a nice 44 magnum rifle has a lot to recommend it. If you don't have a lot of cash to spend a surplus 8x57 with a good bore makes a nice cast platform as well.

[Win71]

The four that I am partial to are: .45-70 (H&R Trapdoor & Marlin 1895 SS), .38/357( Marlin 1894 CS), .32 Win. Spl.( Winchester model 94 carbine) and 32-40 (Winchester model 1894 rifle).

[Trey45]

Almost any rimmed rifle cartridge. Rather than headspacing on the shoulder they headspace on the rim, if you wanted to download them this makes it easier. This doesn't limit you to nothing but rimmed rifle calibers though. There's plenty of rimless that are conducive to handloading lead.

I can't believe no one mentioned 7x57.

[badgeredd]

My choices would be 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 30-30, 45-70 for various reasons, First is mold/boolit selection. Second is availability of brass; thirdly, typical chamber sizes; fourth would be types of loads with accuracy; and lastly powder selection choices. I load from 22 Hornet to 45-70 with a lot in between. None are really hard but some require more details be scrutinized. Milsurps are great except the oversized bore, necks, and throats often require more work. All of the cartridges I listed can quite easy to shoot full velocity with the minimum of work. All can shoot plain based but will require gas checks for full house loads. All can use a multitude of powders.

The down side of my choices is that the firearms for multi shot capacity may be somewhat pricey with the exception of the 30-30. IMHO, that makes the 30-30 the top pick. YMMV.

Edd

[Finarfin]

Bottlenecks are for sissies. Always go with one originally loaded with black powder, that's way cooler.

[Blammer]

35 cal something or other will be a good choice for rifle relaoding cast for a newbie, it's what I would recommend.

44mag and 357mag in a rifle are very practical where I live and hunt. 100yd shots are the max and either of these in a rifle will fit the bill. Plus they are fun to shoot!

[alrighty]

Thanks everyone for all of the replys. I guess I am looking at what size rifle caliber i can easily cast to help me decide what type of rifle i need to get for it to be my go to gun in a shtf situation that I can reload for with cast rounds. I hope things never get to that. But I like having the capabilities to hunt a few deer, home defense, and walk about the woods, farm etc with ammo i produced. So whatever I decide it will be the main rifle caliber for me. (at least for now...lol) So the .223 and the 7.62 are in the easy to load list?

I like the idea of the .223 due to its brass availability. but does it have to have a gas check?

Also what type of rifle do you have in mind for the 7.62 or the .223? I thought that it was best not to use lead in any of the Ar / Ak models due to small pieces of lead getting into the piston or gas chambers. So am I limited to single shots and lever actions?

I guess it would be helpful to know also that I do have a budget for this rifle if that helps. Budegt is as cheap as possible of course, but would like to stay away from the single shot models. Any ideas of some diamonds in the rough rifles out there? or Surplus rifles that can fire lead just fine?

I will give my .02 in what I think you are looking for.If you are looking for a rifle that will provide food and security in a shtf situation I would suggest a rifle in the .30 caliber class.A 30-30 or a .308/30-06 is very easy to load and a couple of molds will do what you want.A light 110-130 grain light load would be excellent for hunting small game.A larger weight 150-210 mold will provide enough energy to take care of larger game or threats.A bolt action or a lever gun will work , just use your preference.Also with a 30-30 or a .308/30-06 brass should be the easiest to scrounge.Another thing worth considering if you have a prepper mindset is the availability of surplus pulled .308 rifle bullets.You can easily stock up on a few thousand pulled jacketed bullets fairly cheaply.Google Wideners and GIbrass for surplus powder and pulled bullets.

[gwpercle]

I cast and reload for a lot of rifles and the 30-30 heads the pack in easy. Brass is plentiful, cast boolits offer many choices and lots of data in the manuals. A single shot or bolt action would be great but nothing wrong with a lever. I reload and shoot the 30-30 more than any other rifle round. You can do loads for bunnies up to deer, its a fun versatile round.

gary

[wv109323]

I am going to jump in here and say .38/.357 Lever action or the .35 Remington. This caliber has a lot of molds available enough power to handle all but the heaviest of tasks. With Boolits I would not go after the larger bears.

[cbrick]

Mabbus4, welcome to Castboolits. I hope what you got from 2 full pages of answers is that the reality is that rifles are actually pretty easy to cast for. Don't try to set velocity records right off the get go, most all of the calibers already mentioned can be held to under 2000 fps easily.

One of my favorite rifle calibers is the 308 Winchster, more 30 cal molds than you can count and very easy to find good loads for. Doesn't need fancy alloys, air cooled WW will work fine.

It'll probably come down to your intended use for the rifle though but your choices are nearly limitless.

Rick

[geargnasher]

30-30 or 30-06, you can cast quite a few boolits that would work with either. I'd say that a 30-06 bolt action would get you more overall versatility but a 30-30 lever would get you shooting more and seeing success with less time investment, if plinking or short range hunting was your goal.

Since you can also plink and short game hunt with the '06 I'd say start with that. Acceptable loads with 30-30 should be cake after you make a few sub moa loads for the '06. Granted the '06 will still win accuracy matches at 100+ yds but that is the nature of the cartridges.

The "nature" of those two cartridges has nothing to do with their accuracy potential with cast boolits. Ease of achieving near-maximum velocity with accuracy, yes, but both can be made to consistently shoot sub-MOA to the subsonic transition range in just about any decent rifle, including leverguns.

Gear

[btroj]

A 30-30 just screams to be shot with cast bullets. Reasonable powder capacity, pressure and velocity max that works well with cast, long neck, and rifles that are usually very cast friendly. Bullets are big enou to easily work with. Cartridge has long been shot with cast so good data is abundant. Huge selections of cartridge appropriate moulds.

For a rifle it would be hard to beat a 30-30 for cast.

[rbuck351]

35Rem or 358Win with the RCBS 35-200 is probably as easy as it gets to get top velocity and accuracy and plenty of power/range for hunting. The 30/30 is good but I think the 35Rem is even better with the 358Win being better yet with heavier boolits.

[MBTcustom]

I am a huge fan of the 358 winchester (and some members roll their eyes saying "here we go again")
It's the ultimate efficient, easy to cast for, easy to get cheap brass for, easy to find the right boolit for (RCBS 35-200-FN just plain works!!!) cartridge.
Now, I will concede that its not the only one out there. Here is my short list of "gotta have someday" cast boolit cartridges.
.22 hornet
7mm Waters (thats a 30-30 necked down to 7mm)
30-30 (already got one)
7.62X39 (if you find a bolt gun that shoots the AK round, its actually right where it needs to be for cast)
303 British (good for cast. A little on the fast side of what I am comfortable with, but if you get a good one, its just awesome)
35 Remington (already got one but brass is hard to find and cant be made from anything else)
358 Winchester (Got three of em, and love em to death)
45-70 (probably the easiest cartridge to cast for and get good results)
Any strait walled cartridge that starts with a .4?? is going to be a sweetheart to cast for.
Also, any rifle chambered in a rimmed pistol caliber (ie 38sp, 357Mag, 357Max, 44-40, 44sp, 44Mag, 45Colt, "maybe 500S&W")
Anyway, that's the gospel according to goodsteel.

[bearstopper]

I prefer .35 Remington over 30-30. Cast the Lyman 204 gn GC bullet for it, and its fun to play with .357 bullets in it also.

[1Shirt]

I agree with Beagle, but would add the 30-30 as well. I like long necks for cast!
1Shirt!