Best 25 cal mould for hunting deer with bob?

[Tippet]

I'm thinking I'd like to make the jump from casting for pistol to making some rifle hunting boolits. Anyone have any tips for choosing a mould for my .257 Roberts? Favorite deer gun. Igather the thing needs to be gas checked, and I'd persoanlly like to get a 4-cav- but I'm drawing a blank at choosing the actual boolit to use. So I'd sure appreciate any help.

[Bullshop]

What twist barrel? I have a 120gn FNGC from NEI that may be a good hunter if it would spin true in your barrel.
BIC/BS

[Tippet]

Tell you the truth I don't know the twist rate, never checked. I'll do that today. My grandfather built it in the late 40's on a vz.33 action, the things a frikken laser with any weight from 87 gr to 117. Never tried anything heavier, but I should. Seriously, this old thing is eerily accurate. I've killed all my deer with it.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n226/tayloroid/vz33-4.jpg

[Bret4207]

The problem with the under 30 cals is frontal cross section. Even with a FN you don't have much macinery to do the damage you need. Anything in the 100gr plus area will penetrate fine, but shot placement is critical. You either have to break major bones- the head,neck or shoulders- or punch a hole in the heart. Either way you're dealing with a 1/4" hole. Expansion is an iffy thing too and I'm much more comfortable with a good flat nose.

With that out of the way I'd try finding something like the Cramer 43 which is a 100 gr FN or the Lyman 257 306 or 325 You could also see if Mountain Moulds does 25's and what his program allows.

[StarMetal]

I'm with Bret on this one. Just not enough bullet (when it's cast, not jacketed) to be humanely effective. You'll go and do it and get a deer and then I'll tell you that one can kill a deer with a 22 short too.

Joe

[Tippet]

Oh, I was about to protest loudly that I've dropped plenty of 'em with my bob, but then I saw you qualified it with "cast, not jacketed". OK Fair enough. Never mind most every one has been a heart-shot, your point is still well taken. I sure appreciate the info. Guess I'll look at 30-cal moulds, I'm set on getting an animal with my own cast boolits. Damn I do love that gun for deer though.

[Tippet]

See this is why I love this place

[pdawg_shooter]

I have taken 4 deer with a 25-06 and cast bullets. I used a 115gr sized to .251 and patched up to .259. The alloy has a BHN of 14 and the velocity is 2870fps. BTW it took 4 shots for 4 deer.

[rugerman1]

Taylor,Sweet rifle yer gramps built there:drinks:

[Tippet]

Yes it is, thanks Mark. A genuine tack-driver and not hard to look at either.

Wow, well which is it guys, is there a 25 cal mould out there that makes boolits to expand reliably?

Pdawg what mould are you using? 2870 is faster than I expect from my jacketed bullets in that weight.

[Newtire]

Tippet,
Unless you are going after deer that hold perfectly still and give you the optimum shot, I would say that the 25 is a bit on the small side with cast. I'd be looking at .32 or .35 minimum. You don't want to send one off to die and lose it or lose it to some other hunter for that matter.

[Tippet]

Maybe I'll have to wait for a good shot. Biggest rifle I have is 30-cal

[9.3X62AL]

I'm firmly in the "30 caliber or larger" camp when it comes to cast boolits for deer hunting with rifles. Were I to try for deer with a 30 caliber rifle and castings, the bullet would be heavy-for-caliber, soft-pointed, and gas-checked. Or heavy-for-caliber, very soft alloy, and paper-patched.

See the stickied thread on this site covering BruceB's soft point casting method.

[dk17hmr]

Always thought about a pointed bullet with a HP large enough to put a .177 bb in it, make it out of soft alloy and I would put money on it expanding morer than enough to cleanly kill deer.

[Tippet]

The problem is if you get the lead soft enough to ensure good expansion, it might come off in the bore. That's why we add tin and/or antimony to it to harden it.

[dk17hmr]

The problem is if you get the lead soft enough to ensure good expansion, it might come off in the bore. That's why we add tin and/or antimony to it to harden it.

Right but you dont need to practice with soft lead. Use a harderd lead to work up a load and sight in your rifle. Only need 10-20 of the softer bullets to see if it still hits point of aim and for hunting.

[Tippet]

I don't think I want to intentionally apply lead to the inside of my Grandfather's barrel. Also I believe in practicing with the same stuff I intend to use for real.

[Bret4207]

You can do it, you just have to be patient and wait for the right shot.

[bruce drake]

Use your Gramps' rifle in cast for squirrel and rabbits. You'll just expand the opportunities you have to use it through out the year. Those 25 caliber boolits will drop them like a stone.

30 caliber cast boolits work just fine to drop deer as well.

Bruce

[runfiverun]

i think the 30 is the minimum with cast for deer also.
i use the 7 for varmints,yotes, etc with cast.
kep in mind that j-words didn't come along till the faster 30 cals did.
yeah i know the 7 mauser was first, but it dealt with full patch and heavy weight bullets.
plus the powders at the time were pretty crude.
had someone said 140 to paul the world would have stopped right there.

[beagle]

I hear what you guys are saying about small diameter bullets but I have an old M722 "bob" and it shoots the RCBS 25-120-SP HP like a house afire and I'd not be aftraid to try a deer with it.

That bullet weight 122+ grains ready to launch./beagle

[303Guy]

Tippet

I'm with you on this one! It's your 'sweet heart' rifle and for good reason. I too want to use my 25 (303-25) for hunting. I'm trying to find a way to make it work. I'll be using paper patched boolits with smooth sides. I have a few 121grainers and a few 118grainers to range test. 'Test tube' tests show plenty expansion with a fairly hard alloy - and less shattering than I expected. I'll be testing my actual hunting PPCBoo's on feral goat first. I don't think I would attempt to take a red deer with it though. Not unless I can prove to myself beforehand that it'll work!

[jhalcott]

While I think you would be better off using the 30 caliber with a 170 grain bullet. IF you can find a 115 to 120 grain cast, and you have a 1/10 twist rather than 1/12. it IS possible to take deer with the 25-06! The only 25 bullet mold I found that is recently made is a 90 grain RN. I'm STILL going to push you towards the .30 cal though. It seems that RCBS has a 120 grain mold that MIGHT fill your needs.It has a small fn and a gas check also!

[Tippet]

What's a "small fn?" A flat-nose? Yes I found that mould plus the sizer die and top punch, and I'm ready to pull the trigger. Just need to locate someone to hollowpoint it for me.

[Bert2368]

Maybe you could try soft pointing before you spend money to permanently alter a mould?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=11749

[Tippet]

Thanks, I don't think I want to immerse my new mould in pure lead. I think that might screw it up. Not to mention it seems like an agonizingly slow process. I think I'll stick with the original plan of finding an alloy with the right hardness to allow expansion but prevent lead fouling.


If I could buy a HP mould off the shelf I would, but to get one I'll have to have it hollowpointed. The trick is to find someone who's had it done and is happy with the result, who can recommend the shop they used.

[HORNET]

Forum Member Buckshot has hollow-pointed molds for several members on here. They have all seemed pretty happy with his work. Eric at http://www.hollowpointmold.com seems to specialize in this conversion, again with several people reporting good results.

[wheezengeezer]

I have taken 4 deer with a 25-06 and cast bullets. I used a 115gr sized to .251 and patched up to .259. The alloy has a BHN of 14 and the velocity is 2870fps. BTW it took 4 shots for 4 deer.

Is .251 bore dia or larger?My 25 wont pass a .250 easily.Sounds to me that a softer bullet PP will expand and keep the bore clean.

[303Guy]

I have the impression that an alloy suitable for both our needs is going to be soft enough to expand regardless of nose shape. My concern would be excessive expantion. That is to say, to reduce rather than to encourage expansion. Too hard an alloy is going to shatter on impact and that we do not want. An alloy that extrudes rather than cracks won't be needing any kind of expansion enhancement at our velocities.

This is a rather hard alloy.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-402F.jpg

A bit softer but not by much.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-408F.jpg

[Tippet]

Wheeze 25 cal bullets are .257 in diameter. He's using a paper-patch design so the paper makes up the difference with the .251 boolit.