Browning 1885 45-70 favorite commercial cast?

[michaelcj]

Not set up for casting. Any one suggest a favorite commercial cast boolit in the 350gr range?
Rifle is ca.1996 and very accurate with factory jacketed loads.

[Clay M]

Sorry, favorite and commercial are oxymoron's .I have no favorite commercial cast bullets, or even ones I like at all.
In fact the ones I bought or were given , I melted down.
Wish I could help you but I can't.
I am sure you can find some that will go bang.
Casting is what it is. Many get into it as a form of economics, like reloading.
To me casting bullets and handloading is an art form.
Tailoring your bullets and loads to fit the gun , and not vice versa.
I only care about accuracy, so that is where I come from.
Oh and by the way..welcome to the cast bullets forum.;)
I would encourage you to get into casting .It is a rewarding hobby.
Sorry I could not be more help, but I believe I have saved you a lot of time and money.

Making accurate loads isn't magic.It is about controlling the variables..
When I cast my own bullet I control the alloy, the lubricant ,as well as the size and hardness.
I also control the temperature in which they were cast, which equals the consistency of the weight of each bullet.

If I am going to spend money on commercial bullets then they will be Berger,
Sierra, Hornady, or Nosler.

[Doc Highwall]

I would say that you should slug your barrel and then see if you can find a bullet that is .001"-.002" larger then your barrels slugged dimension. Then I would make sure your die expander is only .001"-.002" smaller then your cast bullet size.

Example: your barrel slugs .458", buy a bullet that is .460" and use an expander that is .458"-.459" diameter so as not to size down the bullet when it is seated in the case.

[Paul_R]

I had one. First off forget about wide meplats. They wont chamber. Those Brownings have zero throat and a very abrupt transition from chamber to bore. Most people after accuracy with cast bullets have their chambers reamed with a throating reamer.

That said, anything with a nice round profile should work OK as long as it's sized right. As DH said, slug your barrel.

[michaelcj]

Thanks guys

[Clay M]

I would say do what Doc Highwall suggested, and try a box. I will suggest you use a lower velocity load along the lines of black powder velocities to start with.
The biggest problem I got into with commercial bullets was leading of the barrel,
mainly because of the alloy and the type of lubricant they used.
Lubricant is a big thing , especially when you get into higher velocity loads.

Another problem which was point out is the short throat in the chamber, therefore; many styles of cast bullets won't chamber in your rifle.

I know from experience that the Saeco #017 350 gr will work.

[michaelcj]

Thanks fella's Looks like with this rifle I may as well stick with reloading the Jacketed bullets that I have on hand. Already know it is very accurate with those and… My godson used it to take his Buffalo [American Bison] a few years ago so it is "effective" with those loads as well.

[EDG]

You should slug your bore and find someone that will furnish bullets about .001 to .002 larger than the groove diameter.

Best accuracy is usually with soft cast bullets shot at about 1100 to 1300 fps.

You can find bullets to experiment with at Sage and on gunbroker. I think Track of the Wolf and Buffalo Arms also sell cast bullets but all are kind of pricy.
You ask the sellers what they recommend.

[NSB]

I've bought cast bullets that shot more than good enough for hunting purposes. I'm sure the fun of casting has a lot to do with people doing it just like it's fun to catch trout on a fly you tied instead of buying it. However, you can still catch lots of trout on store bought flies. I've shot Montana Bullets cast at .459" and even Oregon Trail Laser Cast at .459". They will shoot just a "tad" over an inch out of my Winchester High Wall and the Pedersoli Sharps I had (had three of them so far). They did shoot best at around 1300-1450fps. I had the best results with 405g bullets and found the 300 and 350 grain didn't shoot nearly as good. I think if you find that you can get cast to shoot well and enjoy shooting the gun you'll probably want to cast your own more than you do now. FWIW, I shoot jacketed most of the time and I've killed deer with both. Good luck.

[oldred]

You might try Track-Of-The-Wolf, they have a couple of Lyman cast bullets at decent prices but I just checked and unfortunately both are out of stock at the moment, if they look interesting they should be available before long.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/list/Item.aspx/128/2

[montana_charlie]

Not set up for casting. Any one suggest a favorite commercial cast boolit in the 350gr range?
There are three groups of pre-cast bullets here ...
http://www.buffaloarms.com/cast_bullets_pr-3867.aspx

[michaelcj]

Thanks all.

[Clay M]

A lot of people who own the repro Browning and Winchester rifles have the chamber throated for cast bullets..
This is a great idea if you only plan to shoot cast, but the rifle will probably never shoot jacketed bullets as well again.

I like being able to shoot both, so I leave my chambers standard.
I have always been able to find cast bullet designs that work well without changing anything.

[NSB]

A lot of people who own the repro Browning and Winchester rifles have the chamber throated for cast bullets..
This is a great idea if you only plan to shoot cast, but the rifle will probably never shoot jacketed bullets as well again.

I like being able to shoot both, so I leave my chambers standard.
I have always been able to find cast bullet designs that work well without changing anything.

I'm not sure where you got that info but I've had a couple done (by Turnbull) and they shoot just as good now as they did before....in fact, much better. Now I can load even the longest bullets and they chamber and shoot very well indeed. I think you might have this bass-akwards :grin:

[Clay M]

I'm not sure where you got that info but I've had a couple done (by Turnbull) and they shoot just as good now as they did before....in fact, much better. Now I can load even the longest bullets and they chamber and shoot very well indeed. I think you might have this bass-akwards :grin:

Maybe so, but my rifles shoot great as is, so I don't really need to spend the money.
Everyone also complains about the chambers in the Ruger #1's but mine shoot fantastic with cast bullets so why change them?
I would change the trigger on them but nothing else.
Any rifle I own that will shoot MOA with jacketed or cast bullets ,I am reluctant to change..
But I agree if I were sending my 86 to Turnbull ,I would get him to work on the chamber while he had the rifle.

[NSB]

Maybe so, but my rifles shoot great as is, so I don't really need to spend the money.
Everyone also complains about the chambers in the Ruger #1's but mine shoot fantastic with cast bullets so why change them?
My Winchesters and Browning's will also shoot MOA with cast bullets ,just as they came. In fact my Browning Traditional Hunter in .38/55 will shoot 1/2MOA at 100 yds with the RCBS 250 GC bullet

The OP wasn't about Ruger #1s, it was about a Browning 1885 in 45-70 caliber. All Miroku made 45-70s have chambers made to the original chamber specifications......virtually no throat at all, NONE. Your Ruger is chambered differently and has some throat in it. You can verify this by googling chamber specs for the 45-70, I'm not making it up. My comments are based on the OP's question about his gun, a Browning, not a Ruger. I'm not a fan of No. 1s after owning one about thirty years ago. I'm not trash talking them, some people just love them. I'm more into a somewhat traditional style gun such as High Walls, Low Walls, Sharps, etc. I find it's a lot easier for me to speak about something I actually have and own rather than something I really don't have any experience with. My comments are based on owning several Miroku made guns. Not try to ruffle any feathers here, just trying to answer the OP's question.

[Clay M]

I own six Miroku guns. They are 85's,86'sand 95's

and yes the older Ruger #1's made thirty years ago I am not a fan of. The new ones shoot very well.

I can give you the loads I shoot in them if you like, but I am going to shoot now..

Later

[michaelcj]

Thanks Clay and All the others…. Knowing that I'm not in the position right now to set up for casting…. I was just hoping that someone had a nice load with an available pre-cast boolit that worked well in a similar ["the same"] rifle….
I don't need to find one and it is more of a "hey that might be kinda neat thing to try" situation for me.

I appreciate all the feed back and the specific info on the ca1996 Browning [Miroku] 1885's.

Clay, if you wanted to PM me a couple of ideas, that would be great. I am NOT looking for "hot" loads even in cast…. Not really looking for BP loads either [that's why I have my ML's]…...

Thanks again all

Mike

[Clay M]

I am very happy with my Miroku rifles..as far as accuracy..I have owned original Winchesters in all those calibers and models and these rifles shoot as good or better than the originals..
I do agree that if you are going to do a lot of long range shooting with heavy bullets you would be better off having the chamber throated..
I use my Sharps rifles for that.

I will PM you some information Mike

[EDG]

I have more than a few 45-70s and none have ever been changed from the factory SAAMI throat.
I have no problem chambering 500 grain bullets in my rifles and they are the most accurate bullet weights
I own both Brownings and Rugers and my chambers are all of the SAAMI configuration.


I'm not sure where you got that info but I've had a couple done (by Turnbull) and they shoot just as good now as they did before....in fact, much better. Now I can load even the longest bullets and they chamber and shoot very well indeed. I think you might have this bass-akwards :grin:

[michaelcj]

As I mentioned to Clay in our PM's I would not consider altering the throat of this rifle.

[NSB]

I have more than a few 45-70s and none have ever been changed from the factory SAAMI throat.
I have no problem chambering 500 grain bullets in my rifles and they are the most accurate bullet weights
I own both Brownings and Rugers and my chambers are all of the SAAMI configuration.

You're doing better than most. You don't say what guns you have 45-70s in, only that you have some. It's pretty common knowledge that the original throat was short, almost to the point of non-existant on the original 45-70. It took about ten seconds to find this http://www.leverguns.com/dimensions/images/4570.jpg