Hunting w/cast, different than what I'm using at the range?

[Friends call me Pac]

I am shooting a Rem 700 in 30.06. My bullet is a NOE 311165 RF w/GC poured with Lyman #2 alloy. It drops from the mold straight into a bucket of water. I lube the bullet w/ Ben's Red. I do not resize the bullet. The charge is 2400@ 16.0 gr. This group was at 100 yards. The square is 2x2". I don't know how fast it is going since I do not have a chronograph. Would this load be ok for deer at 100 yards or is it basically a paper punching load? Do i need to go with a powder that will fill up more of the case for hunting? I feel like the bullet is fine just don't know if the powder load is what I should be using for hunting deer. Any help or advice would be appreciated since the only hunting I have done with cast before has been with my .50 hawkins and I want to use a cast load that should kill deer just fine providing shot placement is correct..



http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/100_0597_opt_zps9a6a30ce.jpg (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/pactac/media/100_0597_opt_zps9a6a30ce.jpg.html)

[AlaskanGuy]

I cant tell what kind of accuracy your getting, cuz the pic diddnt come through, but your boolit is fine.... I have used that boolit.... Let me just say this, any boolit in this class in my opinion, that groups well that you can shoot straight and allows you to put lead into the boiler room of a deer is gunna kill it just fine sir... If you feel good about it, why not test the boolit on some wood... That is what i do... Set up a test of a 4x4 or something and shoot a boolit into it, making sure to setup a trap so you can capture the boolit once it passes through the wood, and check it out... Lots of guys use milk jug's filled with water, but the 4x4 is just as good.. Or you could add 2 4x4's and see what happens... The idea is to find something that expands well and shoots straight with the penatration that you need. I do this kind of testing with all new bullet designs before i decide to use them for gathering supper. Give it a try, you wont be sorry. Believe me, you will impress yourself on what your testing info provides...

Alaskan

[btroj]

Would be fine. Put it thru the lungs and a deer won't go too far.

I would prefer a bit more velocity than the 1600 or so you are getting but that load will work.

[Wolfer]

I started at 16 gr and worked up until accuracy started falling off. Accuracy was very good at 20 gr but 21 gr opened up to about 3 or 4 in at 100 yds. My alloy is softer than yours so you might go higher.
20 gr gets me above 1700 fps and performance on deer is excellent.

[richhodg66]

This is the copy of the Ranch Dog bullet, correct? For what it's worth, I killed a decent buck last year with that bullet using it in a .308 and probably not much faster than your load there. The bullet went in pretty far back in the rib cage (last couple of ribs) and came out in front of the off shoulder. It was cast soft. Didn't hit much bone and the exit hole wasn't big. Didn't leave a blood trail to speak of ether, but the buck died fast.

[Friends call me Pac]

I'll head to the range and see what happens with a bit of load developement with this bullet & powder. I started at 16gr and it shot well enough on paper and I didn't plan to hunt with it this year so I just never took it any further. I did develope a load for a NOE 311299 roundnose for shooting at a bit more range on paper targets with the same powder. From what I have read the flat nose is suppose to be a better hunting bullet but the round nose is fine if you make the nose a two part fusion with two types of lead. That sound correct? I am using a bolt rifle so I can use either type tip.

About 90% of my deer hunting is bow only but this year I will be able to use my rifle on a friend's land a few times. I have one doe in the freezer and would really love to kill one with a cast bullet next. Just wanted to make sure the load was adequate for a clean kill before I tried. I'll up the gr load until accuracy goes downhill then I should know where the sweet spot is and should be good to go.

The bullet I'm wanting to use is a ranch dog version made by NOE.

[richhodg66]

I think if you're a bowhunter, hunting with cast in an '06 ought to be a cinch for you. If it were me, I'd cast them a little softer and try to push them a little faster, but what you have should work fine. That Ranchdog bullet was designed for hunting, I've used it only once, but it worked well for me and from what I've read, it works well for a lot of others too.

[jhalcott]

If you keep the ranges reasonable where ALL shots go into a 4-6" circle, you won't have a problem. I've used similar loads with COWW alloy bullets to take deer out to about 150 yards. [B]iggest problem I've found is getting some one to DRAG the deer for me!

[Friends call me Pac]

Spent the afternoon getting the best group I could get with this bullet/powder combo. I started with 16.0 gr and continued to work up until accuracy began to drop back off. 23.5 gr of 2400 gave me a bit over an inch at 100 yards. I'm happy with that. Now I need to find that deer.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/100_0278_opt_zpsed39ac03.jpg (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/pactac/media/100_0278_opt_zpsed39ac03.jpg.html)

[Blammer]

Oh yea! either one will flatten a deer for sure!

[Wolfer]

Paco Kelly takes his water dropped boolits and stands them up in a shallow pan with water above the crimp groove. He then plays a propane torch over the noses until they change color. Detempering the noses is what he calls it. He claims they'll expand on a jackrabbit.
I'm 100% certain that if you put the load you have on a deers shoulder you will be needing your knife shortly. Not talking theory here. Woody

[Lefty Red]

Paco Kelly takes his water dropped boolits and stands them up in a shallow pan with water above the crimp groove. He then plays a propane torch over the noses until they change color. Detempering the noses is what he calls it. He claims they'll expand on a jackrabbit.
I'm 100% certain that if you put the load you have on a deers shoulder you will be needing your knife shortly. Not talking theory here. Woody

I tried that, but ended up just putting them in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour to hour and a half. Yes, it sure makes them flatten out, either way.

Lefty

[Friends call me Pac]

Last night I noticed two screws were loose on my scope rings. I went back to the range to double check my zero at 100 yards and sure enough I was low and right. Got it rezeroed and have the screws tightened up. I was dead on at 100 and picked out a dirt clod about the size of a softball on the 200 yard berm. I hit about an inch or two to the right but well within the size of a deer's vitals.

After getting the rifle sighted back in I went to a small parcel of land that I can hunt on. I had a doe come up behind me as I was sitting against a big oak. I tried to get turned around for the 30 yard shot but no luck, she busted me. Maybe next time.

[Ben]

I am shooting a Rem 700 in 30.06. My bullet is a NOE 311165 RF w/GC poured with Lyman #2 alloy. It drops from the mold straight into a bucket of water. I lube the bullet w/ Ben's Red. I do not resize the bullet. The charge is 2400@ 16.0 gr. This group was at 100 yards. The square is 2x2". I don't know how fast it is going since I do not have a chronograph. Would this load be ok for deer at 100 yards or is it basically a paper punching load? Do i need to go with a powder that will fill up more of the case for hunting? I feel like the bullet is fine just don't know if the powder load is what I should be using for hunting deer. Any help or advice would be appreciated since the only hunting I have done with cast before has been with my .50 hawkins and I want to use a cast load that should kill deer just fine providing shot placement is correct..



http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/100_0597_opt_zps9a6a30ce.jpg (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/pactac/media/100_0597_opt_zps9a6a30ce.jpg.html)

Put the cross hairs on that deer and pull the trigger.
That load will put meat in the freezer.

[357maximum]

You are a bowhunter 1st , gunhunter 2nd....that is a huge bonus for your success rate to come. your doe would have died just fine...better luck next time, but it will work if you do your job......no doubts.