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Just bought some cast bullets on trademe, they have a pretty deep big hollow point as i am using them as subs out of the 308
Have never loaded cast before, is it straight forward? Nothing different to jacketed projectiles?
Using trailboss powder
Any tips would be great, cheers
30cal in 308. 151 grains
Attachment 14453
I just reload them like normal. Flare the neck and just make sure they are lubed up (looks like it) to reduce leading.
You don't have to use Trail boss ,you can use the Pistol/Shotgun powders or go down the slower powder 2206h or 2208 .
I use 30gn 2208 behind a 190gn .
Then generally the projectile works best jamed ,not to hard, into the lands .And not to deep into the case.Ideally the projectile should be anywhere from bore size to .003 bigger ,although for me .002 has worked best .And the use of a flaring tool is manditory for any sort of accuracy.
And also lots of Hair on your head is a good idea if things don't go right .It's always the simple things which bring you down :D:D.
:thumbsup:
If you use them on small game, be interested to hear how they perfom.
For the neck flare, I use a Lee Universal Expander, worked great so far the 303, 308, 45-70
Universal Case Expanding Die - Lee Precision
Thanks guys using trail boss as I have it on hand and heard its best for subs.
So can you not size cases with a traditional FL die?
Will report back with terminal performance
Quote:
Originally Posted by PerazziSC3
Basically you want the case neck flared so the sharp edges doesn't shave the soft lead bullet (no need to flare it too much as it would reduce case life I imagine.) The crimp die then sorts the flare out. A lot of pistol dies comes with an expander as part of the kit.
Trailboss is great stuff :thumbsup:
Had a play with these. 8.0 grains of trail boss was 1000fps with magnum primer and Remington brass.
Recovered a projectile from soft dirt, decent expansion.
Shot about 20 carp with them and expanded on carp but that is from point blank.
Attachment 14571
Attachment 14572
Does 8gr fill the case?
Enough to not worry about using packers and shit. Magnum primers are recommended to get good ignition
Yeah I have also read you can drill out the hole out a bit bigger (forgot what its called)
I have gone down to 5gr trail boss in 308(with lighter jacketed projectiles) and had no problems of any sort.
I have never drilled primer pockets either tho it might be a good idea with other powders.
Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2
"Mouse Farts" and "Cat Sneezes" :DQuote:
Originally Posted by veitnamcam
C.E. Harris worte an interesting article on these, tried out some with Unique and 700x and they were accurate, seamed like a lot of space in the case though.
http://home.comcast.net/~gavinsw/gun...itaryrifle.pdf
Got some more questions about cast heads for subsonic, thought I would add it to this thread rather than start a new one.
How important are gas checks for subsonic velocities ? If I get projectiles without gas checks will they be ok ?
Shape wise, any comments on flat point vs hollow point ?
Gas checks just protect the base of the projectile from erosion, being lead they will bump up to fit the rifling and lock.
Um Macca, is "lock" a good or bad thing ?
So ok without gas checks for subsonic ? Y/N ?
Well lead is soft so when it gets a bang up the bum, the bum moves before the front decides it better do the same, so the projectile bumps up in dia, and fits the bore, gas checks stop the hot gas melting the base of the projectile, using black powder I use a wad to protect the base. Smokeless is not as hot as its an explosion not a burn, hence you can have an air gap between the powder and the projectile. Using blackpowder, you cannot have any air gaps you need to use a filler. I'd use a gas check with smokeless, also you need harder lead for these projectiles,I bought mine off trademe, from Tokoroa.
Projectile nose shape depends what you shooting, and how much you need it to stay together, projectile weight comes in here as well
Shooting deer, goats :P
Also getting mine from the TM/Tokoroa guy. Any other suppliers / sources you guys know of ?
His 156GR FP has a gas check, planning on using these for the 7.62x39, sized .311
The 200gr FP apparently does not have a gas check, getting these for 308, sized .309
He does not have a mold for > 150gr HP :(
I shoot 174 grain 205 grain and 220 grain cast boolits without a check and use 11.5 grains of unique for all of them. Lead is a mixture of coww(clip on wheel weight and range lead water dropped and aged) In a 308 i use .311. In the 303 I use .314. In the 7.62X39 i use .311. Accuracy to 100 yard is good and heart lung shots bleed out in about 30 yards. Boolit recovery is rare.
Tx driverman, what shape are your boolits ? FP, RN or HP ?
The 174 is a hollow point the others are round nose.
Lots of helpful info on here.
After reading this thread I went out and bought a neck expander die, which has quartered the size of my groups (1.5in at 50 from 4-5in). I put it down to that I'm no longer sizing the projectile down by shaving some lead off when seating on sharper straight edges. May sound silly but others had told me it would be fine without flaring.
My load is Robertw1s (from trademe) 200grn subs, flash hole drilled out to 3.5mm, CCI magnum primers, 9.4grn of Trail Boss in a 16in barrel 308.
Haven't chronied them yet but at 9.6grn the odd one was still supersonic and will see how they go on some Taranaki goats this weekend.
Flaring the case mouth is important with cast bullets because if you shave any lead off the bullet when seating you will quite likely get gas cutting when you fire the cartridge as there will be room for gas to blast up the side of the lead bullet which will then result in leading & accuracy will suffer.
With subsonic loads I don't use gas checks & have no problems but when I get up to 1400fps+ I have to go to checks or leading occurs but in saying that I use fairly soft metal most of the time, just straight wheel weight metal.
Cheers.
I have a lot of ex roof lead flashings, are these any good for casting subs?
Yes perfect you just need to add some 50/50 solder to the mix to break the surface tension so the lead flows intoQuote:
Originally Posted by ANTSMAN
mould and fills all the grooves, straight lead is great for round ball moulds if you know any Black powder shooters
they will take it off your hands. Robert.
Thanks !
I wouldn't be telling the world about that - it's illegal!;)Quote:
Shot about 20 carp with them ...
What are you on about? Would like to see that rule
Shot 3 goats with these projectiles today at sub speed.
First was a little nanny, hit just behind shoulder, smashed out lungs, very little expansion due to not hitting shoulder. Took 2 steps.
2nd was a full grown nanny, smashed front shoulder and bone fragments throughout. Punched out heart witj obvious expansion. Exited. Drt.
3rd was a big billy that was hit a bit far back as was quartering away. Went about 50 yards and sat down. Needed finishing.
Did you recover the projectiles?
They'll be in the curry Toby!:thumbsup:
All projectiles exited and I was hardly going digging for them
