After reading the very informative article by C. E. Harris (as posted by rebertbank) I have tried to use cast bullets in my 8mm Mauser rifles, a Turkish Mauser and a Yugo M48. Both of these rifles perform reasonably well using surplus ammo, but the lower cost of cast bullets is very attractive.
I used a Lee C324-175-1R bullet, gas check, Lee liquid alox, and sized to .323. The charge is Harris’ universal load…16 gr. of 2400 powder. This combination seems to perform reasonably well at 100 yards, but I have encountered two problems.
First, there seems to be an excessive amount of gas blowback which can be felt on my face and seen by the powder residue flowing back from the mouth of the fires case. I do not experience this gas blowback when using cartridges loaded with FMJ bullets. Is the 16 gr. powder charge to small in that the case neck and mouth are not sealing within the chamber, or what is causing the blowback?
Second, the 2400 powder seems to be excessively dirty. There is a cloud of smoke when the round is fired and a large amount of residue is left in the chamber, bolt, and surrounding parts. Is there a similar powder that could be substituted for 2400 that is cleaner burning yet produce the same results?
Any ideas or suggestions which might help resolve these problems would be very much appreciated.