Hunting with cast?

[RyanJames170]

What is the general rule of thumb on hunting larger game like deer with cast bullets in the .277-.316 bullet diameter range, as far as bullet weight, sectional density, HP, no HP, and lead hardness.

For instance if I wanted to use a 270 Winchester fir hunting and used a cast bullet what would I want to use, how hard/not hard would I want to push the bullet,

trying to come up with some ideas on potential hunting loads for a few different calibers.

[Nobade]

Cast hard, anneal the nose, drive them to 1800fps or more if you can, and most importantly put it in the right spot and it will get the job done.

[Hickory]

Everything that Nobade said. Except I would fine tune the boolits alloy to 1-2% antimony, 3-4% tin and the rest pure lead.
And of course it would be a gas check boolit. At 1800 fps.

[gwpercle]

We have a section titled "Hunting with CB " go over to that section and do a little reading and looking at the photo's of other members experiences . They post loads and tips on boolit hardness and HP or solid point performance . Mighty impressive information .
It was here I learned the value of 50-50 mix COWW & soft lead in the 30-30 hunting boolit , when hard the boolit shatters ...when softer they mushroom like a J-word and drop deer with one shot .
Head over there and do some reading .

The Hunting section is in the first heading titled General , right below "Frequently Asked Questions" and above "Our Town"
Gary

[ABJ]

I always opt for the heaviest for caliber I'm shooting with and the largest flat nose I can get to chamber. Example I have 30's and 35's. My longest shot will be 100 yards so my first choice would be the 35 with a 200 grain gas checked flat nose. I also have 30-30 and 30-06. First choice is the 30-06 with a 200 grain gas checked flat nose. If hunting at shorter ranges I use the 30-30 with a 173 grain gas checked flat nose.( see the pattern here).
Lots of debate on how soft or hard your alloy needs to be. I can only attest to what has worked for my family. 2% Tin and 4% Antimony has been our alloy for years. We hardly ever recover a bullet and when we do it is 90% or more weight retention. Flat nose bullets kill better than round or pointed nosed if shot into the same location. This alloy is not hard enough to do a lot of fragmenting and not soft enough to get a consistent mushroom of the nose. We almost always get two holes with lots of internal damage. Our alloy is pretty close to COWW with tin added and on a Lee tester is about 14/14.5 Brinell hardness. Most or our loads are running less than 1850 fps and zeroed at 100 yds.
I cannot answer your question about the 270, but the hollow point will need to be alloyed for both your launch velocity and impact velocity. For me there are two many variables with cast hp's when flat noses will do the job quiet well. Plenty of deer are killed with handguns in the 1000/1200 fps range just as quick as the above mentioned rifles but the calibers are mostly 44/45, with 240/300 grain SWC's and round flat nose styles. This is where a hp might come in handy in a 20:1 or 16:1 lead/tin alloy.
You made reference to a .316 bullet, so I'm assuming that might be a surplus 30 cal. If so I would chose that over the 270 to start with.
Hope my experiences are of some use to you.
Tony

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Your cast should be a balance between hardness and velocity. I use an alloy that runs about 1700fps with a gas check but soft alloy (about 4% tin, 2% antimony.
Recovered boolits show good expansion.

https://i.imgur.com/cArT9w1h.jpg

[RyanJames170]

.316 would be 303 British or 7.62x54R

[MT Chambers]

I'd hold out for the heaviest, flattest point, and accurate, then try dif. alloys.

[sigep1764]

W748 in 270 with a cast boolit will get you to 2000fps and a little beyond if the accuracy holds out with the RCBS 270-150. It has a pretty good meplat and would do the job. Im sure it wouldn't be the first deer taken with cast in 270. Speed has always been a virtue of the 270 so sending it a little harder should help.

[brewer12345]

I'd hold out for the heaviest, flattest point, and accurate, then try dif. alloys.

Ding! I don't fool around with alloys. Nothing harder than COWW air cooled and cast with some tin, softer is better if your accuracy holds up. Or cast round balls and use a muzzleloader, as pure lead balls tend to pancake when they hit.