Me and my buddy went to the range last week to work on a load for his 257 roberts ack. imp. I took along my rem. 30 in 3006. We got his shootng good so i was going to shoot my 06 a few times. We cast some 170gr. bullets a while back and i loaded some with 42gr. of vv550. i shot a few other other rounds nothing to great.I told my buddy i was going to try a few cast bullets for $hits@giggles.After the smoke cleared i had 2 in the same hole. Alot better than the store bought stuff, lol. Does anyone know about how fast i was running?

oklasteeler: Too many variables to accurately determine velocity of your load. A chrony would give that info, using your rifle and your load. Congrats on the one holer.

Burn rate charts show the powder you are using to be about the same burn rate as IMR4350. Looking in Modern Reloading Second Edition by Lee, I see that 42gr of H4350 with a 168gr cast bullet is listed at 2130fps and 27,500psi. Soooo, my guess is you are in the range of 2100-2200fps.

Obviously, I did a LOT of extrapolating to to get from here to there. But that should get you in the ballpark.

oklasteeler---I loaded some cast .243's that the book said should be around 2500 fps. I dont have a chronograph,but the day I was at the range trying that load,another guy had one. He let me use his and they were much higher than I expected--around 2900 fps. I also had some other rounds that all gave expected results. The owner of the chronograph said all his stuff was as expected. To this day I don't know what the fluke was the load or the reading.

YO C'man -

What are your recommended accuracy loads for .243 cast?

I have an RCBS 24-100 mould and will acquire something lighter as well.

TRK---Im using the 95 grain RCBS bullet with gas check and I find the load to be very interesting. I am using IMR 4227. My old 1967 Lyman (44th edition)says 13.0 to a max of 18.0. My Lyman Cast Bullet manual(3rd edition)first printing of 1980 lists same bullet and same powder with a starting of 19.3 to a max of 24.5. That's what I find interesting is that the new start is over and above the old listed max. Anyways I have been all the way up and down using both loads. From 13.0 in .5grain increments. Results fair all the way till 23.5 and that was magic. I have never seen this before,but 23.5 was great and 24.0 and above off the paper. According to book, velocity should be about 2400 but as stated I was getting a 2900 reading?????? I did try this load on a spike buck that I see no way that he wasnt hit twice,not one drop of blood found. If you try the 4227,please post results and if you have chronograph,please post those results.

trk,

Try H4198 too, I'm having really good results with it in the 6.5 Grendel with a 140 gr cast bullet. I started with 4227 to see if the AR15 was capable of shooting cast and it was, but to get higher velocities I went to H4198. When I increased the 4227 the accuracy dropped off some, but still an excellent powder. Mind you, the 6.5 Grendel's capactiy isn't as large as the 243 so that may be reason for my results.

Thanks, both of y'all, for the loads and background info. My friend has the rifle, I've got the mould. BUT I've also got a 6ppc, and others in 6.5 and 7mm worth playing with. It's time to start playing!

I'll keep y'all posted!

Tim,

Want to buy some brand new SSA (Silver State Armory) 6PPC brass?

Joe

Joe - That's a thought! ALL my brass is PPCUSA, so having a different brand would be a good way to keep cast/jacketed use brass sorted.
What do you have and how much?

Well let me count them up as I bought a bag of 100 and used a few out of it. I'll get back to you asap.

Joe

Tim,

I have 59 left. I had formed the others into something else. I gave $38.99 plus shipping for a bag of 100. I compared them to some Lapua brass and they seem to be heavier. Primer pockets are nice and tight. Guys over on the AR15.COM forum are getting many reloads out of SSA 6.8 brass, so it's pretty decent stuff. It certainly is cheaper then most other manufacturers. Try it, may be a great source of new brass for you. I'll let you have them for $25 shipped. If you decide you want them, email me at starmetal05 (that's a zero five) at yahoo dot com.

Joe

Joe - email sent! Thanks!

Tim K