Boolit cal

[white eagle]

What would be the smallest caliber you would consider for hunting purposes
say critters that wouldn't think of eating you
for instance would you use a cast boolit in 7mm to hunt with ;-)

[turbo1889]

To answer the question strictly as asked:

The smallest I would use would be 17-cal as in all the way down to air-gun pellet; I'm thinking rabbits and small game birds of course. They are very good eating and a 17-cal pellet can easily get the job done.

To answer the question I think you are asking (smallest for deer size game):

For chest shots that would be 25-cal/6mm, the specific cartridge used, the way it was loaded, the boolit type especially nose shape, and shot placement would all have to be on par as well to go that small of course. For eye-ball shots I'd go all the way down to 20-cal with the right cartridge/gun/sights set-up that was capable of delivery eye-ball shooting accuracy. You can do it with 22-lr why not a slightly smaller diameter but longer and harder cast boolit from one of those ultra mini wildcat center fire rounds?

[white eagle]

deer is what I do indeed intend to hunt
say would 30 cal be a cut off ??????
and does the faster twists of the smaller bores also effect the use of cast ?? :popcorn:

[6.5 mike]

Cruise missle in a 6.5x55, & of course shot placement.

[turbo1889]

I don't think 30-cal is the cut-off. For taking down game with cast boolits the 7mm caliber can do a lot, so can the 270-cal. and then there are a lot of stuff in-between the 27-cal/7mm and the 25-cal/6mm like the 6.5x55 just mentioned above that can do the job if the boolit choice and load is right.

[Larry Gibson]

Another consideration is the size of the deer you are hunting. There is a great disparity in the size of deer across this continent. Due to the limitations of cast bullets in general I think it wise to take the deer size into consideration. If hunting the smaller whitetails or black tail deer that run maybe 125 lbs on the hoof then the smaller bores are effective given proper alloy and bullet placement. On the other end of the stick I would prefer something of larger caliber for the bigger whitetails and mule deer.

I've used CF calibers with cast bullets from .257 through .461 on medium size deer (whitetail and mule deer). Not to say the smaller bores don't do well but I prefer a minimum of .30 cal. with a minimum of 150 gr bullet of a maleable alloy (50/50 WW/lead works very well) at 2000 - 2200 fps. As of late however I'm finding a 200 gr FN .35 cal cast bullet to be my most desireable choice. Cast of 50/50 alloy, correctly HP'd and pushed at 2150 -2200 fps it makes for excellent "deer medicine" out to 250 yards. Rifles can be light and handy with correct twists for best accuracy and recoil is very manageable. The .35 Rem, 358 Win and the 356 Win come to mind with the RCBS 35-200-FN bullet. With such you can hunt deer across the continent with confidence that the bullet, put in the right place, will do the job handily.

All that is not to say that if you or anyone used a smaller bore with complete satisfaction (that means you know your and it's limitations and have no doubt it will do the job and has done the job) then by so means continue in it's use. However, if it has not done the job or you have doubts then use a larger bore.

Larry Gibson

[6.5 mike]

The weight factor of the cruise missle is a big reason I would chose it, most of our shots are 50 to 75 yds, & our deer are in the 100/125 lb range.
If I where to pick an overall cast boolit gun it would be the 35 Whelen, great choice of boolits & shapes to suit whatever you needed to do.

[Bret4207]

Local lady took deer and bear for decades with her 25-20. That would be the minimum for me, but not by choice. 35 is perfect, 30 pretty darn good. Anything under that depends more and more on perfect placement and a nice flat nose.

[Dean D.]

State law limits minimum caliber for hunting where I live. I feel comfortable with smaller than they specify but heh, ya gots to be legal.

[Moonie]

I'm torn at the moment on using cast for hunting with my new 6.8 SPC AR. My preference is cast for everything however with this one I'll have to do some serious load development for cast to see what will and won't work properly. Not enough time for this season however. J-words it is for me this year in it.

[runfiverun]

for deer 7mm is about my comfort level minimum.
the cruise missile in the 6.5? maybe ,if i had time to work on the alloy and test it.
which is what i would want to do in the 7mm also.
it's hard to make a reliable substitute for diameter.

[sqlbullet]

I don't know that we can answer for you. We don't know your hunting environment, your skill level, and what types of shots you want to be able to take.

I don't hunt much, but as a kid growing up in rural Indiana, we slaughtered our own beef. I have killed many a cow with a 22lr. Most locals require many times the actual power needed to take an animal. There was a time where the 25-20 was considered a solid deer cartridge.

[Doc Highwall]

[QUOTE=sqlbullet;1048071]I don't know that we can answer for you. We don't know your hunting environment, your skill level, and what types of shots you want to be able to take.

I also think for most shooters 30cal and 35cal would be great for deer size game and as your casting knowledge and shooting skill increase you could consider smaller calibers. I have 6.5mm-cal for my smallest and I have 45cal for my largest and what I am hunting and where I am hunting will dictate what I take. I have hunted in Maine where there are bear and I could not see much more then 15-20 feet in places and my first choice is my 45-70 with the RCBS 45-500-FN that weighs 527 grains with 30:1 alloy out of my mould. Here is a picture of the RCBS 45-500-FN along with Lyman's 457125 that also weighs 527 grains out of the mould with 30:1 alloy.

[Blammer]

7mm will by my minimum dia for deer sized game.

and here is what it looks like. The 'flattened one' is what I hope will happen when I find a deer with it. :)

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/7mm/DSCN8207.jpg

[Von Gruff]

I have the spectrum covered with my 7x57 and 404 Jeffery. 160gn at 2415fps in one and 350gn at 2365 in the other will cover everything from the small Fallow up to the largest Wapiti.

Von Gruff.

[mroliver77]

A .22 with a 70gr boolit going 2200+fps will anchor many different animals provided the right alloy is used.
Jay