Hey all - I'm firmly on the fence (which is uncomfortable) about whether I should dive headlong into casting for some rifles of mine.
Here's my biggest issue: I'm aware of the limitations of cast. I'm thinking primarily about my .308 AR; I would like to shoot it more, but j-words are expensive, and I think I'd feel much more free to shoot it more often if I were rolling my own. But, there is a velocity threshold for cast, and so I know I'd be dealing with a considerably less potent loading than I would with j-words.
Which really is OK - I've read elsewhere here that when hunting with cast, people are adjusting their acceptable range of engagement to be sure they've got the power to kill ethically. But deep, deep down inside me, the 2% of me that is a survivalist wants my guns, and the ammo which I craft for them, to be delivering at the fullness of their potential. At the same time, my 2% survivalist is secretly delighted that I'd have the ability to create my own boolits in case the wheels come off of society. Which has a .000007% chance of happening.
Another "flaw in the slaw" as the late, great Roscoe P. Coltrane would say, is that I primarily shoot these rifles suppressed - which for me means powdercoated boolits and no gas checks, since if one came loose it would mean the end of a *very* expensive suppressor! I've never used gas checks and honestly I'm fairly ignorant of when a gas check would be used but my general idea is that they help even the push on the rear of the bullet, so if I didn't use one at higher velocities, this might limit me further in accuracy and velocity.
So - I suppose the biggest question I have for those of you who cast for rifles is this: do you do it so you can shoot more, rezeroing your rifle for these reduced loads? I would imagine casting for rifles gives a satisfaction of its own even at the expense of full cartridge potential, and if you ever did need full cartridge potential, you would just rezero...
Trying to figure out if I would be best to stick with j-words for my rifles and cast for my pistols and subsonic rifles instead!
Sorry that this has hardly any focus at all! I really appreciate any responses.