Semi-OT Cast Bullet Hardness

[CEMENTHEAD]

Looking for a little guidance. I plan on reloading cast bullets in my 30-30 and 35 Remington. I want to use gas checks and approximate factory velocities. What hardness (BHN) should I use? I know that too hard and they may fracture on some bone shots. Too soft and little/no penetration. Also recommendations on a good Flat point design. I'm leaning towards LBT or Ranch Dog type bullets.

Thanks in adavance, Tom

[Twodot]

Even with a dead soft alloy you don't have to worry about lack of penetration when shooting cast bullets. Think of how well a pure lead round ball works in a muzzle laoder, your cartridge guns will do even better.
Start with a 50/50 mix of wheel weight & lead. Air cool some and water drop some. Load them up and let your rifle decide which ones shoot best.
You can't go wrong with a Ranch Dog bullet design. Get a 6 cavity mould and the bullets will pile up fast.
..

[CEMENTHEAD]

Start with a 50/50 mix of wheel weight & lead. Air cool some and water drop some. Load them up and let your rifle decide which ones shoot best.
You can't go wrong with a Ranch Dog bullet design. Get a 6 cavity mould and the bullets will pile up fast.
..

Thanks Twodot.

I'm actually gonna buy them as I don't cast. I'm looking for a happy medium with penetration and expansion. I see LaserCast Silver bullets are pretty hard (22BHN). I was thinking about buying bullets from BullShop for the Ranch Dogs. They can do just about any hardness.

Thanks, Tom

[txpete]

9 lbs wheel weights to 1 lb of linotype will put you in the 15 BHN .a good quality lube hornady GC and the bullet sized to fit your rifles bore.
I am a big fan of the ranch dog bullets.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/inde ... 318.0.html

pete

[yooper2]

Hi there. One option that I have been playing with is casting bullets that have a pure lead nose and wheelweight back ends. Just make yourself a measured dipper for pouring in the pure lead then top it off with the wheelweight alloy. You do have to be quick about it though to get a good "weld". I have made bullets like this for my 45-70s, my fathers 454 casull and my 6.5X55. In the 6.5 it works best with bore riding designs. I haven't had issues with excessive leading or the bullets breaking up. Even shot a deer with the 6.5 with one of these bullets last year, worked great. Kind of the cast bullet version of the Nosler Partition. Hope this is of use,

Eric

[JFE]

Most rifles in those calibres have short throats or no throat at all, so you will need to select a bullet design that will fit. Bullshop knows what he's doing and can help select the right design, tailor hardness and size for your application. If your rifles are fitted with microgroove barrels I'd opt for the largest diameter that you can chamber easily. I'd suggest you dont buy up big until you determine what size works best for you.

[Tycer]

If you are using the LBT/Ranchdog bullets, go ahead and get the hard ones. The bullet is designed to work without obturation and the alloys they use cannot be made hard enough to be brittle. The wide meplat creates a cone of cutting fluid in front of it that makes the wound channel through tissue and the lack of obturation punches through bone like butter.

Try samples of different diameters to see if one works best. Bullet fit is key.

[Thunder50]

Tycer sums it up pretty well. Probably something on the order of 18-20 bhn (water cooled WW's, but don't discount 50/50 WW/lead water cooled) should work for factory velocities with the RD designs. Bullshop is the place to go for your needs.

With the ww/lead mixture, you can always "draw" the hardening from the bullets nose, by placing them in a pan of water, up past the first driving band and use a propane torch to heat the nose (don't melt it!!) then let cool. Softens the nose, but the rest of the bullet stays harder, if thats what you need.

[pdawg.shooter]

If you want jacketed performance from cast, Paper Patch is the way to go. Straight WW, air cooled, is good up to around 2500fps. No check needed, and performance on game is darn near perfect.