Favorite caliber for Mouse-Farts what do you shoot?

[49FMarlin]

OK so you all know I'm in the beginning stage of casting my own for my 30-30,
I LOVE MY .22 springfield my dad gave me when i was 16, he bought it when he was 15,
It shoots nice and quiet with the subsonic loads, but finding ammo is a tough one, so i don't shoot it much,

Im looking for suggestions other than my 30-30 for a plinking-mouse-fart rifle or long barreled pistol+scope
that i can save up for
to shoot quiet cast rounds out behind my house, killing paper plates and garden-thieves,

don't care what size as long as i can,
cast bullets for it,
reload for it,
find brass for it,
brass case black powder is ok also,
as the powderhouse is up the street from me, (he's got a SWEET 45-70) I'm betting makes a thunder-boom

im NOT looking to spent 1000's of dollars, as i don't have them,
so lets dream of 500 and under

lets hear what you guys like to shoot and why

john

[runfiverun]

you can make quiet easy loads for just about anything.
the 300 rem ultra-mag might be out of the equation a bit but even that could easily be worked into a 1,000 fps type thing.

for something super simple and off the shelf a 300 black-out from ruger would be pretty tough to beat.
I'm shooting the LEE 230 gr mold [20 bucks for the 2 cavity mold] on top of 3.5grs of 700-x [2000 rounds per pound] with a small rifle primer [29.00 a thousand].
I run it through a 310 push through sizer, and tumble lube with homemade 45/45/10 lube.[30 bucks worth of stuff will lube about 10 million boolits]
a smaller 100-120gr plain base mold would use up a lot less lead, and duplicate the 22 lr velocity's pretty closely.

[458mag]

30-06. Lots of brass that wont need a lot of fuss. About any cast boolit under 10 grains of unique. Whats not to love?

[Tatume]

I LOVE MY .22 springfield my dad gave me when i was 16, he bought it when he was 15,
It shoots nice and quiet with the subsonic loads, but finding ammo is a tough one, so i don't shoot it much,

Hi John,

I know what you mean about the Stevens Springfield rifle. A friend gave me one that he found behind the door of his grandfather's barn after the old fellow passed away. If you push the bolt handle it locks the bolt so the gun won't operate semi-automatically, and that long 26" barrel really soaks up the sound. Those guns are accurate too!

Take care, Tom

[gloob]

55 grain cast bullets are stingy on the lead, and 223 REM brass is plentiful. As long as your garden thieves are the sort that can be dispatched with 22LR, .223 will more than do the job. Five grains of pistol powder and a SRP or SPP is accurate out of my rifle with a 1:12 twist, and nary a case will you trim. It's not 22LR level of noise, though. Hearing protection still required. I haven't tried working any lower, yet. I have also had good accuracy up to 19 grains of H335, which will also cycle and group in my semiautomatic with a 1:8 twist.

The only downside is checking 223 bullets feels like it's giving me arthritis, if that's possible.

If you want to further the top end capabilities with cast bullets, 7mm TCU might be of interest, particularly in a long-barreled pistol? I have contemplated building a 7mm TCU bolt rifle, myself. I suppose I would also consider 300BLK in the same line of reasoning... but it looks like 7mm TCU cases are easier to make, and I already cast for 7mm.

Going the other direction, you might consider 22 Hornet. It's one of the smallest reloadable rifle caliber cases, making it cheaper on powder and potentially slightly quieter. It's as close to a reloadable 22LR as you will find, I think.

[longline]

Good afternoon. I have a few favorites here. Everything I load has a focus on accuracy and as little as possible recoil. I can't take the recoil of a full load. I must say my 30 06 gets a great deal of my attention because of the many loads I can cook up safely and enjoy.
Good day all!

[bangerjim]

Yes........because you roll your own, you can make lite loads for just about ANY cal gun. Just watch semi's as they rely on the power of the cart to cycle the gun. Lite loads can jam the gun and at best will require you to manually cycle the action each round.

But I do light loads in all my revolvers and long guns with great success. I have not bought 22LR's in over 2.5 years even though they are in most LGS and shows at rediculous prices. One can cast and load most cal's for around 5 cents or so a round! Why buy 11 cent per round wimly 22LR's? And you just throw the brass away.

My 22LR replacments are 9mm, 38SPL and 45LC. Also do them in 30-30 and 30-06.

Pick your cal. Load 'em lite. Have tons of fun!

banger-j

[Shooter6br]

45-70

[Yodogsandman]

I like the good ol' thutty-thutty! Plenty of cast boolit molds made just for it and easy to load for.

Mostly, whatever you have will work! If you just have to have another rifle, the H&R Handy rifles are fun and cheap.

[MikeBitzenburger]

I have found the 30/30 H&R single shots and the 32/20 Marlin to be the most fun with cat sneeze and mouse fart loads. The 357MAG Marlin cowboy 94's are fun too though. I get the "gun-cussion" headache real easy as my battered body has aged so mousefarts are my favorite type of load. The "cowboy" load sections in the online manuals is a Godsent gift.

[bedbugbilly]

I'm shooting "mouse farts" in my 1905 Danzig GEW98 8mm - I started playing with it last spring with a 130ish NOE PB Round Flat Nose. I've tried Bulls Eye, Unique and have settled on 8 grains of Red Dot - works great at 50 yards.

I recently got a RCBS 8mm "Nambu" mold that throws a 115 grain boolit at .324 - I think that may work even better and will save a little lead along the way.

I'm having so much fun with it that I'm keeping my eyes out for another caliber that I can play with - I'm thinking a 30-06 might be nice as brass is available and I have some on hand as well as molds that will work. If I can't find one, I'm also thinking a 30-30 with reduced loads would be fun as well.

[Blackwater]

Why not that .30/30? .311" round balls rolled in LLA and seated over very small charges of fast burning powders just might surprise you, if you've never tried them. A buddy's kids used to shoot them up by the bag full.

[cold1]

I purchased a H&R single shot 223 for just using mouse farts. Lee Bator mold $20, alox lube and reddot powder. Got them as low as 650fps and up to 1100fps.

If I had to do it again I would probably get one of the CVA single shots.

[Cherokee]

My choice for those kind of loads in rifle or pistol is 32-20. 30 Carbine lite also can be a lot of fun in Ruger SA's. Plenty of bullets and powders will work.

[bangerjim]

Roundballs are EXCELLENT in lite loads! I use them a lot.

[Artful]

.38 special in Rossi Lever action
- whatever boolit you like but my smallest is Lee 105 gr SWC.
- I can still find subsonic 22LR but you have to keep an eye out.
.30-30 I use Lyman's 311316 FN

But as has been said you can work up a load for most any caliber
you cast for that will be subsonic and a pleasant plinker.

[GhostHawk]

Everything from .223 to .444 marlin with significant stops in 7.62 land on the way.

My favorite this week, another vote for the .300 BO, mine is in a slightly over 5 pound single shot.
4 grains of Red dot, a 93 grain cast boolit, a CCI small rifle primer and I can shoot for the same or less as buying .22LR with a whole lot more THUMP on the far end.

These loads are fairly quiet, easy on the shoulder, and are showing signs of potentially good accuracy.
Scope coming soon so I can stretch the range father, see if I can make some cloverleafs.

[Bigslug]

Find a .38 Sp/.357 Mag rifle with the longest barrel you can find. Load heavy bullets with fast powders. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[Digital Dan]

49FMarlin, is your .30-30 retarded? Somewhere around 3 grains of Bullseye will push a 180 grain cast bullet at something in the neighborhood of 750-800 fps. Less lead like a roundball requires less powder.

Or if you just want a dedicated mouse fart killer, go with a Handi Rifle or something similar. Any medium to small capacity case will work. .32 H&R, .357 etc, etc, etc.

[waksupi]

Do you guys use some kapok or dacron to keep the powder back by the primer?

[bangerjim]

I use TiteGroup and according to their "brag" page, it is non-position sensitive. I believe it. Excellent results on lite loads in big cases. No Dacron.

I have used Darcon fluff on slower powders in big cases and it does seem to help minimize that unbruned powder mess. And give a little boost on power. I tried Unique back B4 I gave all I had away (VERY dirty powder) and it was rather slow. I stay within the very top burn rate chart powders for lite loads with very good success.

[35 shooter]

Got some bullseye to try for subsonic in the 35 whelen, but haven't done it yet. Do have a load for it with 12 gr. of unique , no filler, and a 280 gr. boolit for 1275 fps. It's actually the most accurate load i have for that rifle, as it keeps under an inch @ 100 yds.
Truth be told, i could probably do 90% of my hunting in these southern woods with that load.

[runfiverun]

Dacron isn't a help with the fast powders.
unique does pretty well until you get below 8 grains or so then it may or may not need the help.
Dacron is good at tricking a case into thinking it is smaller than it really is, so it has it's place, but isn't needed in most applications.
most powders do well without it until you get below a certain threshold, then you need to decide whether to add the Dacron or more powder.

[waksupi]

Dacron isn't a help with the fast powders.
unique does pretty well until you get below 8 grains or so then it may or may not need the help.
Dacron is good at tricking a case into thinking it is smaller than it really is, so it has it's place, but isn't needed in most applications.
most powders do well without it until you get below a certain threshold, then you need to decide whether to add the Dacron or more powder.

Well, I have a lot of 700X, and hadn't played with light loads much. Thought I'd give it a shot in the 6.5 Swede and a .358 Win this summer. Just wanted to be sure if there would be any ignition problems.

[.22-10-45]

Mosin! Years ago made up 3/4" steel plate filled with as many 5/16" reamed holes as it would hold..poured melted parrifin wax & scraped excess off flush. Seated in primed only cases. Had birds up in barn loft..Dad wouldn't let me use air rifle for fear of making roof leak...so I waxed e'm!

[Yodogsandman]

Mosin! Years ago made up 3/4" steel plate filled with as many 5/16" reamed holes as it would hold..poured melted parrifin wax & scraped excess off flush. Seated in primed only cases. Had birds up in barn loft..Dad wouldn't let me use air rifle for fear of making roof leak...so I waxed e'm!

Another way is to pour a pan of wax and use the primed case to cut and seat it's own wax bullet, pushing it down into the wax cake.

[1johnlb]

My son and I have a competition between ourselves using a 308 issy lee Enfield to see which of us can hit the target more times, while doing the mad minute. 5 grs of titegroup and a plain base lee is cheap and fun, not to mention the ever plentiful 308 case.

[NC_JEFF]

I shoot a lot of mouse farts in 30-06. Most any 30 caliber will give you more options than you'll ever need. If expense is a factor, I'd look first at one of the many mil surp .30s, every gun store seems to have em. But, why not buy a used bolt gun, they're less expensive and usually have a scope too, plus a modern bolt gun will give you the option of loading full house loads too.

[dudel]

22 Hornet with primer and pellet gun ammo. I use a small pistol primer, and push a pellet in flush with the case mouth using finger pressure. Very quiet and great accuracy out to 25 yards.

[bedbugbilly]

waksupi - I don't know what others are doing as far as using a "filler" but in my 8mm Mauser and with my lower charges - I haven't had any problem with just dumping in the powder, seating the boolit and having it go "blam". When I was trying Bulls Eye, I started out at 5 grains with doesn't fill up much space in a 8 X 57 case. I was worried about the position of the powder and ignition but never had a problem with using 30-06 cases converted to 8 X 57 Mauser and a large rifle primer (CCI). The same goes for the other powders I've used - Unique and Red Dot.

I can't speak for other calibers but I would think that if a small amount of powder is used (as in can seeze loads) the primer flash will still set it off with no problem?

I do have some a pound of 700X on the shelf that I picked up when powder was hard to find (and it still is to some extent) but I've never tried it as I have enough Red Dot on hand and out of my rifle, it seems to work the best.

[bangerjim]

Dacron isn't a help with the fast powders.
unique does pretty well until you get below 8 grains or so then it may or may not need the help.
Dacron is good at tricking a case into thinking it is smaller than it really is, so it has it's place, but isn't needed in most applications.
most powders do well without it until you get below a certain threshold, then you need to decide whether to add the Dacron or more powder.


I have found thru a lot of messing around that a little Dacron stuffed in a 30-30 or '06 case (and even 45LC, depending on the load) does help with extremely low loads of fast powders. I am talking 2-4gn range. But one needs to determine what works best for the load and gun you are using.

700X works well the times I have used it.

If someone wants a REALLY quite low load, shoot primer only with either wax or (my favorite) cast hot melt glue boolits. About as loud as slapping a couple of text books together. Reasonably acurate at shorter ranges. Primer only works best in pistol carts.

banger

[MostlyLeverGuns]

30-30 with a round ball, .357/.38 spcl , .223 for ease of brass availability and lots of light load info. The bigger the bore and case, the harder it is to stay quiet and accurate. I use a .358 Win with very light .38 Spcl bullets for short range (25 yds) practice.

[Lucky Joe]

I shoot the Lyman 358101 in my .357 rifle, all my .38/.357 revolvers and my 9mm it only weighs 74gr. easy on the lead pile and a few grains of powder, good to go. Quiet also especially out of a rifle.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k168/Luckyjoe_01/Cast%20Boolits/GEDC2414_zpshz1q9sfh.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/user/Luckyjoe_01/media/Cast%20Boolits/GEDC2414_zpshz1q9sfh.jpg.html)

[Eddie2002]

30-06 with a 32 caliber 100 grain cast boolit over 5 grains of a fast burning pistol powder like Bullseye. Been using that load in my Remmy 700 for a few years now and keep coming back to it. It's a little loud but accurate out 50yds once I have the drop figured out, maybe 6 inches at 50yds.
Just about any rifle can have a plinker load worked up, that's the fun of it!

[osteodoc08]

I love my Marlin 45 colt CB with heavy bullet, fast powder. More quiet than 22 shorts out of a 16-18" barrel and accurate to fun shooting ranges.

[GhostHawk]

Not me, shooting Red dot in all kinds of stuff, only rounds I bothered with filler were my 7.62x54r reduced loads for the Mosin Nagant.

And yes, Bigslug is correct, .357 mag with 3-6 grains of Red Dot under a 158 gr bullet goes plenty fast, is pretty easy on the ears, and hits with a good thump. Proved today that my H&R .357 mag will chamber a .360 DW brass safely. Not really needed for the Red Dot load but if I ever wanted to kill something REALLY dead, 15-20 grains of IMR 4227 will fit nicely in those cases.

[Mauser48]

I like my baby browning 25 ACP. I have an original one that I don't shoot because its in perfect condition and has only been factory fired. I do have a carbon copy PSP stainless that is fun to shoot. I still get to shoot the baby browning without devaluing the original. I don't load for it because I don't shoot it that much though.

[Lonegun1894]

I tend to use 2.5-2.7grs of either Unique or Red Dot under a medium to heavy for caliber bullet in .30-30, .303 Brit, .308, .30-06, or .44 Mag--all in rifles. The only quiet handgun load I have is a .38 Spl case with a primer and a wax "bullet" pressed out of a pan of wax. The handgun load is fired out of whatever .357 revolver happens to be handy (I refuse to allow a .38 Spl revolver into the house for safety reasons), and is effective on rats out to 15-20 yards, but most of my shots are around my shed or the garden beds, and usually inside of ten yards.

Just remember that the larger the internal volume of the barrel, the quieter you can get it because it will act like it's own suppressor. For example, 2.5grs Red Dot under a 250gr SWC, when fired out of a 5.5" Ruger SBH or a 10" TC Contender sounds like a deep toned .22LR, but the same load is quieter than my pelletgun when fired out of my H&R .44 Mag Handi-rifle that has a 22" barrel.

[cephas53]

In the past for my 30-30 I've used Honady's .32 swaged lead bullets sized down to .311 with a light charge of Unique. Now i cast a soft 115 gr. for it and haven't used a filler.
Question for those who use wax bullets in rifles. Do you enlarge the flash hole in the case?

[bangerjim]

In the past for my 30-30 I've used Honady's .32 swaged lead bullets sized down to .311 with a light charge of Unique. Now i cast a soft 115 gr. for it and haven't used a filler.
Question for those who use wax bullets in rifles. Do you enlarge the flash hole in the case?

I shoot HMG cast boolits all the time. I ONLY drill out the flash holes when using in revolvers. as the primer back-out will cause wheel jams!

In my long guns....no drilling needed that I have ever seen.

Be sure to mark you drilled brass!!!!!!! I paint the head with a red Sharpie to tell.

banger-j

[mdi]

One of my funnest, easy shooting, cheap to feed guns is my Handi Rifle in .223 Rem. I have a 3-9x40 scope on it and load it with cast bullets (45 gr. RNFP) over a few grains of WC820. A bit faster than a .22 rimfire, slower than a .22 Mag. and .223, very accurate and quiet...