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View Full Version : Best cast bullet rifle -- selected by elimination



Oldfeller
05-01-2020, 01:06 AM
I just went through my rifles, checking for rust, lubing and cleaning the bores. I do that at least every 2 years, generally setting aside the ones that will never be shot again for a trip to the pawn shops (easiest fully legal gun disposal system ever invented).

What remains are distilled, best for a purpose guns. Since I shoot cast mostly, they are the best of the best cast boolit shooters.

My eyes suck, and I've got occasional muscle tremors that come on with fatigue so if I mention a group size that is larger than normal understand that I used to shoot better than this.

But it is what it is ......

Best standard rifles for cast boolit shooting are:

8mm Mauser (aftermarket trigger)

M95 Steyr (trigger reworked with springs and honing)

Savage 110 in 30-06 and 7mm-08 (aftermarket triggers on both)

In this selection I still have a few scoped guns, but I find that diabetes is making my "scoped vision" more and more unclear and erratic. My Steyr and my Mauser now have a simple single dot (old style large round things left over from all the years past) mounted well out on the barrel. Putting the dot way on out there gives me better barrel triangulation (longer sight radius) and it reduces the size of the red dot compared to the targets.

Scopes for my older diabetic usages run more towards side wheel focus adjustment (54x very high magnification very high clarity rifle scopes) and multiple focus 24x adjustable air rifle scopes.

Range trips of late say I can shoot the red dots about as good as I can a scoped rifle, which simple says the eyes and the muscle tremors really aren't there for much better any more.

Pistol sights are total blurs, both of them. I can't see the bullet holes hit, so I empty the gun and am somewhat thrilled to find an 8" spread on center when I go out to the 25 yard target.

44Blam
05-01-2020, 02:12 AM
Glad your able to go out and shoot a bit!

I have a love/hate relationship with my 8mm. Its an fn49 Egyptian model. It shoots bullets great, I've hit 3' targets at 600 yards with it. But cast... Mmmm... I've shot some cast at highish velocities and leaded the heck out of the barrel... And then spend a good amount of time cleaning...

I kind of want to sell that thing. :-/

Bad Ass Wallace
05-01-2020, 05:10 AM
My favourite 'cast bullet guns" are the 30.06, 45/70 and the peewee 25/20. Call it vanity, but I have my "J" boolit rifles and and my casties that never see any copper. Tje benifet of all this is of course the barrels become highly polished and will last a lifetime.

https://i.imgur.com/CLCjPT7l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Pv5TKjUl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6AFUHJMl.jpg

waksupi
05-01-2020, 11:30 AM
Glad your able to go out and shoot a bit!

I have a love/hate relationship with my 8mm. Its an fn49 Egyptian model. It shoots bullets great, I've hit 3' targets at 600 yards with it. But cast... Mmmm... I've shot some cast at highish velocities and leaded the heck out of the barrel... And then spend a good amount of time cleaning...

I kind of want to sell that thing. :-/

Your bullet is the wrong size, then. The bore sizes vary considerably in 8mm's.

W.R.Buchanan
05-02-2020, 02:12 PM
My take on this subject is that the best cast boolit shooters are the Larger Bore Rifles and Pistols. I personally don't think that cast boolits come into their own until you get to .40 and above. The reason is the "Frontal Area" of these boolits which is much greater than smaller calibers which have to make up for power lost with higher velocity.

My favorite Rifles are a Marlin 1894 CB .44 Spec/Mag and a Marlin 1895 CB .45-70. Both these guns have Lyman Receiver sights on them and I can consistently get <2 MOA out of them. Both are used for Cowboy Silhouette.

Next step up is the shotguns. Both Mossberg 500's and a Browning A5. All of these guns shoot slugs very well and you can't argue with the power of a 1oz.+ shotgun slug at 1200-1300 fps. They are essentially .73 caliber and pinpoint accuracy is not absolutely necessary.

The Frontal Area of these boolits delivers a serious wallop to whatever they connect with as thus a less than perfect hit still is devastating.

My.02

Randy

444ttd
05-02-2020, 05:28 PM
i guess about 10 or 12 deer i have shot with my 1898 spr armory(bubbasized) in 30-40 krag with (.311") 165gr ranch dogs going 1925+/-fps that drops deer dead in their tracks. my son has the longest shot(my own is 140ish yards) ever taken with a cast boolit was 193 yards(laser range finder) taken by a krag with 165gr rd.

i have only shot one doe(last year) with the win m94 in 35/30-30 with 200gr fn gc and it was 25ish yards away from me and she ran after the shot about 20-30 yards till she gave up the ghost. i have shot deer with my tc encore in a 23" MGM barrel with 255gr keith, 275gr ranch dog, 280gr wfn/lfn gc and 300gr fn gc(1624-2000fps). all the deer ran after the shot about 20-50 yards. the furthest was at 63 yards and he ran about 20-25 yards.

this year it will be either 35/30(200gr fn gc) or a 9.3x57(280gr fn gc) or a 8x57(215gr karabiner i think) or a (.313")7.65x53 argy(185gr lee r hp). decisions decisions!!!!!!!

Good Cheer
05-02-2020, 06:33 PM
My big brother just got a Henry .44 Magnum.
With his favorite SWCGC and 296 he's chrono'd close to 2000FPS, no leading and good accuracy.
He's some kinda happy with his purchase.

I'm not a .44 Mag fan but between .433 round ball, adaptability from FFg to the slow smokeless powder, light weight and heavy molds, that's a pretty hard to beat cartridge.

robg
05-03-2020, 09:23 AM
308 win savage 116 seems to shoot 150/160/180gn gc boolits well with little effort