Any cast bullet rifle shooters here?
- Thread starter jphendren
- Start date
Paul5388
US Veteran
I suppose you could always shoot .22 Mag duplicates out of a Hornet or .223 with the remaining stock. 
Or, you could try some different powders. Maybe like 9.0 gr of Red dot or 700X, 9.5 gr of PB or Green Dot and last but not least 10.0 gr of SR7625 (these are all .225 Win max loads with a 55 gr cast bullet, so they certainly aren't overloads in your larger case).
Sometimes you have to play with the velocity before a given cast bullet will shoot right. The loads I mentioned will probably be in the neighborhood of 2200 fps and that may still be too high.
Or, you could try some different powders. Maybe like 9.0 gr of Red dot or 700X, 9.5 gr of PB or Green Dot and last but not least 10.0 gr of SR7625 (these are all .225 Win max loads with a 55 gr cast bullet, so they certainly aren't overloads in your larger case).
Sometimes you have to play with the velocity before a given cast bullet will shoot right. The loads I mentioned will probably be in the neighborhood of 2200 fps and that may still be too high.
jphendren:
Varmint and Small Game Rifles and Cartridges, Revised and Expanded Edition, 2001, Wolfe Publishing, ISBN 1-879-356-33-3. On pages 56 through 59 you will find Jim Carmichel's 1970 article "Cast Bullets in the .222 Rem." Carmichel explains in some detail what he did, but gives no group measurements for 100 yards or farther. He does mention one-inch groups at 50 yards being sufficient for close range small game hunting, but also mentions groups at 100 yards without specifying group sizes.
Carmichel has a 1969 article "Cast Bullet Loads for the Sixes" on pages 134 through 136 of that same volume. I suggest it because he discusses some details of load development that he omitted in his 1970 article.
I recommend the articles because Carmichel is one of the gunwriters in whom I have long had confidence. I have no experience casting bullets or working up rifle loads for cast bullets.
Varmint and Small Game Rifles and Cartridges, Revised and Expanded Edition, 2001, Wolfe Publishing, ISBN 1-879-356-33-3. On pages 56 through 59 you will find Jim Carmichel's 1970 article "Cast Bullets in the .222 Rem." Carmichel explains in some detail what he did, but gives no group measurements for 100 yards or farther. He does mention one-inch groups at 50 yards being sufficient for close range small game hunting, but also mentions groups at 100 yards without specifying group sizes.
Carmichel has a 1969 article "Cast Bullet Loads for the Sixes" on pages 134 through 136 of that same volume. I suggest it because he discusses some details of load development that he omitted in his 1970 article.
I recommend the articles because Carmichel is one of the gunwriters in whom I have long had confidence. I have no experience casting bullets or working up rifle loads for cast bullets.
38-44HD45
Absent Comrade
In handgun caliber carbines, and in rounds like the .45-70, I like cast bullets a lot. I've just worked up a load for my Marlin .357 carbine that runs a 187gr. LBT GC bullet from Cast Performance at 1914 fps. That said, it would never occur to me to use cast pills in something like a Weatherby cartridge. If the only reason you're using them is to save the barrel throat, I'd just load jacketed bullets, but to minimum load levels. You're not likely to shoot enough to significantly erode the barrel, and it's not worth the frustration you must be experiencing from your cast bullet efforts.
Paul5388
US Veteran
Tell me a little more about that load HD. It sounds interesting and usable in my Handi rifles.
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