Mini14 Cast Boolits. Any Experience Out There?

[seabreeze133]

Has anyone tried cast boolits in the new series Mini14? In particular the 16" bbl Tactical model.

We shoot 2 gun matches occassionally and have about a ton of linotype and for anything under 100 yds it would seem worth a try.

If so, what boolit would u recommend?

Have lots of H335 and have used it w/success in different calibers.

Thanks

DB

[Fat-beeman]

I been shooting a 223 using:killingpc shot gun powder working up slow till groups tighten. so far 2 inch at 100 yds best seems to be blue dot and unique. 2400 works if stiffer loads in ar 15 light loads wont recycle.
Don

[Larry Gibson]

Has anyone tried cast boolits in the new series Mini14? In particular the 16" bbl Tactical model.

We shoot 2 gun matches occassionally and have about a ton of linotype and for anything under 100 yds it would seem worth a try.

If so, what boolit would u recommend?

Have lots of H335 and have used it w/success in different calibers.

Thanks

DB


I've some experience with cast in an older Mini14 with a 10" twist. Not sure what the twist is of your Tactical. Suggest you try a heavy cast bullet like 225462. Size at .225 and GCs are a necessity. Lars Carauba red is a good chice for lube in this application. H335 is probably not a good powder to use with cast bullets. You'll want a powder that ignites more easily and gives more consistent extreme spreads. Most extruded powders work better. I'd suggest H4895; start at 18 gr and work up in .3 gr increments until reliable functioning is achieved. I also suggest a 1/2 gr dacron filler. I got 100% funtioning and accuracy equal to M193 (US made) using the 225462 cast of WWs and WQ'd over 18 gr of H4895 with a 1/2 gr dacron filler. Velocity was 1910 fps out of the 18.5" barrel of my Mini14. 4350 and 4831 also showed promiss but I did not work with them that much in the Mini14 to make a decision. However they (AA4350 and H4831SC) do quite well in 9" twist ARs.

Larry Gibson

[Franklin Zeman]

Mike Venturino had an article in either Handloader or Rifle a few years back on using cast bullets in a Mini-14. He had loads that worked the action and were decently accurate.
In Lyman #43 there are no .223 loads listed, but there are loads for .222. I would expect their .222 loads would be safe used in a somewhat larger case like a .223. For slower powders they list these using a 48 grain gc:
12 grains 4198 for 1915 fps
10 grains 4759 for 1870 fps
10 grains 4227 for 1929 fps
They did not show a primer or the weapon and barrel length for this data. All caveats apply.