You got confident's in those boolits you cast?

[justindad]

The quality of ammo I produce cannot be purchased. Yes, I am very confident in my ammo.
*
That should mean nothing to you though. You need to prove out with experience if you’re ammo outperforms factory ammo.

[OverMax]

Good to see there are many who hunt with their cast and are confident taking big game with it. As for me I do home cast have done so for a long time but I chose not to take my cast afield during this States modern rifle deer season. I do have reasons why I chose not too._ Weather temps & extreme bullet velocities.

[Digital Dan]

Haven't hunted with a jacketed bullet in 20 years. No need at all. Last deer I put down was taken with a 300 gr pure lead paper patched chunk of lead from a .44 Mag.

[35 Rem]

I've been casting since the late 1970's but until recently (2017) never tried to hunt with any of my bullets. I originally cast to shoot cheap and did so mostly with revolvers. I didn't trust cast to expand on game at the low velocities you are limited to even with a rifle so I never even tried to test for expansion with my 30-30 cast loads. Not sure why I didn't now. MAybe it was the influence of all the shooting i did with the larger 22 centerfires and how slow 2,000 ft/sec sounds in comparison. Anyhow when I found this forum with real world reports of hunting with cast in rifles I decided to give it a try. So far I have killed 4 deer using cast in my 35 Remington and I trust it absolutely as much as any rifle I own. i load the 35 Remington 200 grain cast bullet loads to full jacketed level and get 2,050 ft/sec out of it. Deer run the typical 30 to 50 yards they do with most anything else and then drop. I've yet to recover a bullet.

I have a good load for the 7.62x39 with a NOE 150 grain Ranch Dog and also 30-30 with a 173 gr Ranch Dog - both loaded to approximately 2,050 ft/sec that i want to use on deer this Fall. I see no reason why they won't work well. You give up nothing for 100 - 150 yard shot with cast. When I hunt with cast bullets I hunt in spots where I can't see beyond about that range most of the time.

When I hunt huge fields, I'll have a flat shooting jacketed bullet gun in hand.

Forgot to mention starting to use my own cast bullets to deer hunt during muzzle loader season. Finally got a deer last year with one. It's the Lee 44 caliber 310 grain flat point cast with 50/50 pure lead /clip on wheel weights. Loaded into a 50 caliber muzzle loader I get real good accuracy with it and it did the job on a doe last year.

[charlie b]

There is no reason not to hunt with cast bullets. Every animal on earth has been hunted successfully with solid lead bullets. I would trust my own cast bullets more than commercial products.

[OFFSHORE]

Yep I cast and obviously hand load .

I set a goal to get every load legal in Nevada at 1000 ft lb at 100 yd in rifles .

Killed 1 mulie at about 105 yd with a 1 off paper patch 200 gr 06' that was walking a pretty fine line of legal it was a matter of everything being exactly right at the necropsy the very soft bullet left an almost identical wound tract to the Hornady #3033 of years past . I'd hunt that set up again here in Arkansas.

I've moved sideways I suppose , the 06' had a fast twist that I measured a dozen times at 1-8.5" it hit a wall at 1850 fps , I needed 1900 to make the 1000 ftlb but I figured the altitude at the shot made up for it .

I have a 30-30 now that will run the Ranch dog 312-165 FP 2200 fps MV with a sub jacketed start load .

I worked a load up for a 32 Rem with 32 WS data 2300 fps with a 175 is faster than the start jacketed speeds . I took it hog hunting but didn't get to try it out .

I don't have to be down at the low end I shoot a 358 Win that also makes jacketed speeds with a 35-250 and a 45-70 .

I won't need the 300 yd flat shooting loads any more so as long as I can make my personal base line I can't see any reason not to use them.

In 45 Colts with 250-265 gr SWC or RNFP I've killed 5 hogs 135-165# live weight . Killed them dead enough for me just over 1000fps . Except for that one that was juiced up and running already it went another 200 yd before it piled up in a pool of foamy blood .

I have just started tinkering with the 358 Win in a 23" 1-12 twist barrel, my mold is the Accurate 36-240K. . .would you care to share any load data for the 358???

[Edward]

Have not used store bought in 46+yrs , why use 2nd best over custom size/BHN(hardness) for any critter squirrel to moose at any yardage I plan to shoot ? Jacketed is for the occasional shooter or someone not concerned with practice ( financially) independent ,and not concerned with out of stock waiting . Except those shooters smart enough to (hoard ) when able /Ed

[DonHowe]

I have hunted deer with cast and jacketed bullets. Never harvested one yet but I have killed some. Either type bullet put in the right place will make em dead.

A whole bunch of this comes down to whether you Have to get that deer or if you will take the shot if offered within a set of previously determined parameters (range, angle, etc).

[Kraschenbirn]

Don't hunt these days, but when I did took down my share of white tails using .58 cal. Minie's cast from a Lee mold. Also cast the R.E.A.L boolits my buddy used a .50 cal. Hawken repro. Don't recall either of us tracking a kill more than 25 or 30 yards. If I were to take it up again (and IL game laws allowed it), I wouldn't hesitate to use my Trapdoor carbine with the same 405 gr. RNFPs I use for punching paper and ringing steel.

Bill

[Hannibal]

As others have said proper shot placement and sufficient energy on the animal are the two most important things. A big bore won't compensate for a bad shot.

[405grain]

I wish that I could hunt with cast bullets again, and am longing for the day when I can. I started casting back in the early 1980's and hunted deer and hogs in the coastal range with cast bullet loads. It put a lot of meat on the table and made for lots of hunting adventures. But because I live in Kommiefornia they took all that away from us. People here are not allowed to use any ammunition for hunting that contains lead. This even includes muzzleloaders. This, and other things, are the reason that I can't wait to move out of here. I loved hunting with boolits that I made myself. They were as effective as jacketed ammo. Since I was good at woodcraft and stalking, getting within 150 yards or less of game was never an issue. A year from now I should be living in another state, and then I can go hunting again with cast.

[Land Owner]

To the OP:

Our ancestors sat around campfires, melted lead, poured molds, stuffed rifles and pistols, shot and killed buffalo, elk, caribou, bear, deer, et al, and one another, with equipment and components significantly less in all aspects than everything available today AND passed to us their acquired knowledge.

Do we have confidence in our own cast boolits for taking game and defending freedom? With absolute certainty! Next question...

[waksupi]

There are casters, home reloaders and big game hunters so it's known. "All in one."
But, how many of you B/G hunters -and especially those home casters that actually rely on their rifle cast. So too drop the beast their allowed to harvest State wide only once a year? Curious I am: Your'e cast boolit? or some others bullet?

I've used them for big game for over 30 years. Make them myself. Deer, antelope, bear, elk, buffalo, and small stuff. I trust my bullets over jacketed bullets, as I have enough experience with them to not need to question what the performance will be.

[sharps4590]

There are casters, home reloaders and big game hunters so it's known. "All in one."
But, how many of you B/G hunters -and especially those home casters that actually rely on their rifle cast. So too drop the beast their allowed to harvest State wide only once a year? Curious I am: Your'e cast boolit? or some others bullet?

After reading the rest of the thread I'm confident I understand what you're asking.

Yes, I trust my cast projectiles implicitly and have completely since about 1990. From 36 cal. muzzleloader, 25-20 and 32-20 for small game, up to coyote size. 45, 50 and 54 cal. muzzleloaders and the rest of my cast bullet rifles of all calibers and cartridges. I'd trust my 45-90 on any game on the North American continent and a lot of Africa. It isn't fast but I never much bought into velocity and expansion. 480 grs. of 25-1 alloy over 80 grs. of BP has flattened everything I've put it on.

[todd9.3x57]

As others have said proper shot placement and sufficient energy on the animal are the two most important things. A big bore won't compensate for a bad shot.

energy(ft/lbs) is a myth created by gun rag writers' dream and bullet manufactures to sell you something.

i quote, he says it best.......

"You're quite misinformed on the nature of 'energy.' Bullets do not need a certain 'energy' threshold to expand. They need a certain impact velocity, in conjunction with hitting a target medium with a certain density. 'Energy' can be calculated, precisely, but it is incidental. The density of the target medium is important, too. Obviously it has to be denser than air, but there is a difference going through the ribs of an 80lb. whitetail, vs. the shoulder of a mature elk.


You will keep reading about this 'knockdown' and 'energy' and so forth in the mainstream gun press, even though it is barking up the wrong tree. Gun writers seem to be mostly lazy and it is easier to repeat the misinformation of the past, and the latest marketing communication, than it is to try and understand some basic physics and the rather complex science of fluid dynamics (ie. wound channel).


There is a holy quest to put it all into a simple formula, preferably a formula that meets the author's pet theories, but it can't be done. It is one of the reasons there are about as many theories on the subject, as there are authors pushing their simplistic notion of what actually works."

-MikeG

[Hannibal]

You knock down a bear with a .22 mag shot in the shoulder and then I'll believe you.

[mnewcomb59]

There are a large amount of anti-science folks on here. "Its just a theory!" They will refuse to compare cartride effectiveness between calibers other than gut feelings, etc. and derail intelligent conversations. Some guys get all worked up when numbers and formulas are discussed. There are even guys on here who insist one caliber penetrates less/more than another, then when you show them video evidence of a ballistic gel shot they will still refuse to understand. Don't waste your time on those guys. Put your sound logic out there in writing and people will find it from google searches far into the future.

[fastdadio]

You knock down a bear with a .22 mag shot in the shoulder and then I'll believe you.

Time to do some reading;
https://www.ammoland.com/2020/10/bea...-for-survival/
https://survivalcommonsense.com/worl...caliber-rifle/

[Land Owner]

You knock down a bear with a .22 mag shot in the shoulder and then I'll believe you.

What purpose is solved by debating a non-lethal shot into a bear from an underpowered caliber? If the 22WMR is all you have, shoot the bear in the head. Hope for the best and prepare for the rest. Next question...

[jimb16]

I've taken deer with my home cast 12 ga. slugs, 265 gr. .45 colt rounds and .490 RB from my flintlock. Do I have confidence in my cast bullets? I give them a resounding YES!