Shooting lead centrefire

[Alpha1]

We're in my post did I say you should not discuss it.?
I just pointed out to the guy that it has been covered before and suggested he do a search of the forum as there is all ready a ream of information tucked away in previous posts.
I give up. aaarggh

FWIW ?

[ukrifleman]

I've been reloading for a couple of years, I've been shooting a couple of years more. I cast bullets for my .577. Due to health circumstances I have had a lot of time recently to muse over stuff and do a lot of reading. So to that end I'm thinking of starting to tool up and work up to shoot some cast bullets in my centrefires. It will mainly be for my mosin nagants, smle, and Mauser g98, partly to give the old girls more of a rest and to give myself another dimension to the hobby.

So convince me, is it worth doing? what do I need to consider in equipment and practices over and above loading jacketed? Pros and cons?

Sell it to me....

Yes it is worth doing, not only for the cost savings in ammunition, but for the pleasure in loading your own.

But be warned, it is addictive!

I currently load 16 different calibres with cast bullets, partly because there is no commercially available ammunition for some of my old war horses, but mainly to maximise my interest and involvement in my sport.

ukrifleman

[snayperskaya]

We're in my post did I say you should not discuss it.?
I just pointed out to the guy that it has been covered before and suggested he do a search of the forum as there is all ready a ream of information tucked away in previous posts.
I give up. aaarggh

FWIW ?

For What Its Worth.......it was a failed attempt at humour as you don't do acronyms...I just thought you may have elaborated a bit more on casting to get the ball rolling discussion-wise so to spoke, sorry

Dromia.....my post was meant to be tongue in cheek hence the tongue out smiley thing on the end, didn't mean anything by it and certainly no malicious intent or agendas....from now on I won't say anything without good reason as things get misconstrued

No excuse but the fact I posted at 6am this morning probably didn't help as I was still half asleep......

[legs748]

As said in the original post I have had a few weeks to do a lot of reading on the subject both on here and elsewhere, what I wanted was convincing wether it was worthwhile me going for it as a tyro as it is a bit more of a dark art with many more variables than loading jacketed.

I already cast for my slug gun and my muzzle loading Parker hale, slugs from range scrap and minie bullets from roofing lead, so I have given scant thought to alloys and such like.

For lube on the minie bullets I use a blend of beef dripping and beeswax.

Lyman cast bullet manual seems to recommend fast burning powders in small amounts, which just seems odd to me. I use vit n140 for all my jacketed loading.

To check or not to check? And what size for .303 and 8mm?

I have already slugged the bores of my old girls and have an rcbs lam2 on order but no decisions on mould or sizing dies yet.

Sizes as follows,

MN 91/30 .3125"
MN M44. .312"
SMLE. .309"
G98. .325"

So most of the ground work is done, it's just a case of getting some steers in good directions based on personal experience.

[dromia]

What distances will you be shooting at?

So as to be able to use soft readily available alloys and keep in the spirit of good value that cast bullets give we tend to keep the velocities lower than that with jacketed, as most of us are shooting a known distances then a flat trajectory isn't that important.

Therefore we tend to use easily combustible fast pistol to fast rifle powders, to use the slower rifle powders to get the slower velocities would mean that the case fill would be too small for safety.

For accurate shooting out to 600 yrds then a velocity of 1800-1900 fps is all that is needed, with a bullet heavy for the calibre for the 30 calibres I like bullets in the 220gn range, this doesn't require toughened alloys that is usually needed for 2000 + fps so the fast rifle powders work fine, if you want to go faster then you are moving into condom bullet territority and the slower rifle powders can be used as the case fill is increasing.

The two key things for good shooting of cast is good bullet fit say 2 thou over groove diameter if you can seat out to the lands, if not then you will need a bullet diameter than will fit the freebore. Secondly the alloy must not be hard for up to 2000 fps I use range scrap softened with plumbers lead for a BHN of 10-12, for over 2000 fps I want tougher, but not hard, alloy. I use 0.3-0.5% copper added to my alloy for a BHN of around 16-18.

Linotype and antimony bearing alloys should be used very sparingly as they make for hard and brittle alloys as opposed to the softer and tougher alloys that work best.

Leading is caused mainly by too hard an alloy and too small a bullet, if in doubt go bigger.

For your guns 2thou onto the groove diameters is the minimum size you want assuming that you can reach the lands, if not you will need to take a throat slug and get bullets to fit that.

For shooting cast you must forget all that you know about condom bullet shooting, they are two totally different articles and require two totally different mindsets.

Basically home cast bullets are interesting, bought jacketed bullets aren't.

The only other benefit of cast that hasn't been mentioned is that they are more accurate than jacketed in most military or factory rifle.

Bespoke rifles that are built to fit certain condom bullets can be very accurate but that is building a gun to fit the bullet, seems back to front for me when it is a lot easier and cheaper to have a mould made to cast bullets to fit the rifle.

[dromia]

We're in my post did I say you should not discuss it.?
I just pointed out to the guy that it has been covered before and suggested he do a search of the forum as there is all ready a ream of information tucked away in previous posts.
I give up. aaarggh

FWIW ?

For What Its Worth.......it was a failed attempt at humour as you don't do acronyms...I just thought you may have elaborated a bit more on casting to get the ball rolling discussion-wise so to spoke, sorry

Dromia.....my post was meant to be tongue in cheek hence the tongue out smiley thing on the end, didn't mean anything by it and certainly no malicious intent or agendas....from now on I won't say anything without good reason as things get misconstrued

No excuse but the fact I posted at 6am this morning probably didn't help as I was still half asleep......

OK no problem, that is fine, crossed wires methinks, don't hold back because of it people will never get the hang of each other otherwise.

From my point of view searching these forum reveals a wealth of information and experience that the forum and its membership should be proud of and should be well tapped by people seeking some knowledge and the search function is the best way of doing that, I know I do.

Just trying to make the point that saying do a search doesn't mean don't post.

[Alpha1]

Cast bullets in milsurps rifles is certainly worth the effort. A cast bullet can breath new life into a rifle with a oversized bore for instance.
As Adam said cast bullets are a whole new ball game reloading for jacketed bullets is completely different. Fast powders are the order of the day with cast bullets.
The fact that you have slugged your bores is a good starting point. I would go with a bullet two though over your measurement's to start with.
You need to decide what type of bullet you are going to use I like Loverins. Have a look on cast boolits forum. Check out NOE moulds and have a look on there forum. The group buys can be useful.
Buy or cadge some bullets to try before investing in moulds and stuff. Initially there is a outlay for equipment but once you are set up its not mega expensive to use cast bullets.
Ask questions lots of questions. The Lyman cast bullet reloading manual is a good starting point.

[Alpha1]

Have a look here.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

[legs748]

All will be shot at under 400m, one of my driving forces for this enterprise is the fact my G98 shoots 12" high at 100m. So I was thinking slower and flater.

[snayperskaya]

All will be shot at under 400m, one of my driving forces for this enterprise is the fact my G98 shoots 12" high at 100m. So I was thinking slower and flater.

Just a thought but can you get taller front sight blades/posts?, my '39 Mosin shot high at 100m so I fitted a taller front sight post which sorted it.