Wow! What a great thread! Thanks,
goodsteel.
I've been a bit out of the picture but am trying to get back into things, so this was a great start (although I've only waded halfway through). I only have 303's and am trying to relate what the 358 can do to what a 303 can do. I paper patch so I can drive softer alloys a little faster (I only have one rifle with a bore good enough to shoot cast seriously) but one the boolit is launched, it's the same as a plain cast.
I am finding that stronger alloys are needed for higher velocity due to nose slump and base upset into the entry cone of the chamber resulting in a damaged boolit. I did a test with alloy strength and found a balance between enough upset and not enough. Trouble is, I had to use shotgun powder in the test to get a low enough velocity to capture the boolit intact.
Attachment 73296
See how the second boolit mid-section upset into the grooves? Even the knurling has been ironed out right up to the ogive. The knurling is there to grip the patch - there is no knurling in the middle because the file doesn't reach there as the boolit changes diameter there. I have a soft alloy in which the nose upset into the bore in front of the patch.
How would that flat nose perform on deer?