Should've said "favorite."
The 348 Winchester Improved would be hard to beat for me.
What are some of the fav's around here?

Bwana-be
For rifles I've been working with the 45-70 for a lot of years and I've just recently been explring the 45 Colt in the Rossi 92.
The Rossi with a 300 grain Saeco does a fair imitation of the 45-70 factory stuff.
Jim

Any cartridge that maxes out at 2400 or less fps using a max charge of medium to slow speed powder for the caliber. ... felix

250 Sav gets my vote. Easy to load, inexpensive to shoot,and ohh so easy on the shoulder in shirt sleeve weather!--Shuz

Very difficult NOT to say "45-70" reflexively in answer to this question. The more I shoot this caliber with poured boolits, the more I like it. 12 years, and nothing but great results so far.

Just about any of the straightwall revolver "Special" or "Magnum" calibers do well with cast boolits. It's hard to choose between 32 SW Long/H&R Magnum, 38 or 44 Special, or 357/41/44 Mags.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but as a 35 fan, the 358 win sounds about ideal. The 357 maxium is a great round in it's own right, and for some reason I find long straightwall cases apealing.

Thuty-thuty.

My favorite cast bullet cartridge is the 30-40 Krag. It headspaces on the rim doing away with possible shoulder set-back concerns. It also has a very long neck to contain the grease grooves. The powder capacity that allows cast bullets to be fired to full potential and with heavy 30s, full factory specs can be had with cast bullets. A 220 grains cast bullets at 2,200 fps is nothing to be sneezed at. With todays technology and materials, there is no need for any more powder capacity than the 30-40 has, at least in a 30 cal cartridge.

The only downside are the rifles chambered for this round. All that I know off have the military chamber with the looooong throat. This limits bullet choice.

My ultimate rifle is a Ruger 1 rebarreled with a good Hart barrel and chambered for the 30-40 round, but with a standard .308/30-06 throat. I might even go with a 1-12 twist and limit bullets to under 200 grains.

Pissola - .45 ACP or AR

Rifle - 25-20, .32 Win Spl, 35 Rem

Don't forget 12 guage slugs and buck (home cast, but of course!). sundog

.44 special .44 mag, ditto for the .38s .45ACP, 9MM.....could you imagine NOT casting for pitol shooting? It'd be like leaving once-fired brass for someone else to pick up.....I couldn't do it...I'd pull my hair out and then go catatonic.....

Regards.....

Hard to pick a farorite because I like quite a few of them. I will agree with Chargar about the 30-40 Krag. It is definately one of my favorites and they seem to shoot cast boolits very well. All the pistol rounds are definately great cast shooters, I too couldn't imagine not shooting cast from them. The 45-70 is another of my favorites.

I load and shoot a lot of 30-30 out of about 6 differant rifles and they all like a good 170gr. cast slug at full factory equivilent loads.
This has to be one of the most under-rated cartridges ever made. It'll do anything you need done! I even make regular hits on a 300yrd gong with mine. Not that you should ever hunt that far with it but it sure is fun and cheap. Everybody should own at least 1 30-30! It's just plain American! I've just about hung up my higher power rifles for hunting, but then I like more of a challenge than a scope sighted, hi-power rifle gives me anymore. I use a handgun when I can, with a good cast bullet!

[ 10-08-2003, 09:59: Message edited by: Shooter973 ]

Shooter973, won't argue over the 30-30, BUT for cast boolits the .32 Win Spl is 'mo betta'. The reason is that in most cases twist is 16 and you can really hammer a 170 grain boolit without stripping it. The reason I won't argue over the 30-30 (and I have one and shoot ONLY cast in it) is that most stock 30-30 is 10 twist. I think I might include .38/.357 Mag and .44 Spl/.44 Mag on my pissola list, too. Hard too argue success, eh? sundog

45/70 is very fine as commercial cartridge but I prefer 40/65 with 400 gr

as wildcat the 35/30.30 WIN ( not the 35 WCF ) is very fine with cast bullet , long neck , small powder capacity ( cast bullet doesn t need ultra mag case ) low cost ...

good shooting

DAN TEC

For me it's hard to beat 8mm mauser, only drawback is those itty bitty sights. Also having a ball with my 30-30. Thanx to you guys my wife now likes the 30-30 when I load up those lee 113 grainers...Gary D aka Fuzzy Sights

Shooter, I'm still in the learning stage with my win 94 with lyman 311041 and am currently using 4198 in it but would like to know what other bullets/powders your're using. Always open to new suggestions. Thanx

I forgot pistol rounds. I'm a huge fan of Rugers 480. Part of it was the challenge, when I got mine there was very little loading data. I've tried 310, 320, 335, 350, 390, 400 (2), 435 and 460 gr cast through it, and all shot into 5 shot 1" groups at 50 yds once I found a load the bullets liked.

I've also tried 50 cal round balls sized down, and Lee 50 cal REAL bullets sized down. Neither of the sized 50's have been as accurate as I've wanted, but the round balls have no recoil with mild loads.

I've basically settled on a 400 gr @ 1200 fps as a hunting load, but still want to get a Keith style SWC made of ~270 gr for plinking and small game. The 310 works well for that, but I believe the Keith will be more accurate at reduced velocities.

.44 Mag /Spec and 45/70 gets my vote.

45/70, 45Colt and just for grins, 43 Mauser. S/F...Ken M

bltsandwedge,

You need to be careful about how you describe yourself,

quote:

---

I'd pull my hair out and then go catatonic

---

.

Carpetman may be lurking nearby!!

Regards,

In a rifle ...how about a 500 grain FNGC at 1800 fps from either barrel of a .470 NE double rifle? Works for me.

In pistol, have shot almost a jillion 38 soopers and 45 acps in IPSC practice. Both are good.

dantec
My most effecient cast bullet rifle is the 375 Whelen, 30-06 case necked up to 38 caliber. My particular rifle likes it's loading full bore.
So far I've worked up loads using the 250 grain RCBS, the Lyman 270, the Saeco 265, and the NEI 300.
Out beyond 200 yards the trajectory is like a morter, relative to 25-06 or 308. I've shot gongs at 300, even bashed a butterfly resting the target at 300 with a 300 grain bullet, it's still a chore to work out the proper elevation. Under 200 yards it's accurate and powerful.
Jim

This is the sort of question that can only be answered with an opinion dependent upon each individuals circumstances, so here's mine. First & foremost I love to hunt & that doesn't usually mean varmints, so working for hours with something like a 25-20 just doesn't do it for me. I have a .358 Win. & a 43 Mauser that do most of my cast boolit shooting along with 303, 30-06 & 308. & even a little .270. The ultimate cartridge is always the next one, & for me, I must concur with arkypete. The 375-06imp. would handle anything up to & including moose with cast boolits without any excuses, as I don't want to be confronted with a shot, wishing I had something else. 300grs. @ 2200'/s with a BC of approx. 320+ & a decent meplat seems good to me. The 35 whelen runs a close second in my mind, but not by much, & anything much larger would unnecessarily raise recoil to maintain trajectory, The 405 Win. also would be a hoot. Ron.D

Quite right C1PNR, Hadn't figured the consequences. But the tonic part sounds good right now....nope....I'll forego the tonic and replace it all with gin......annnnddddd...we're back to being catatonic again aren't we?

Regards.....

I'm with Paul. The .357 Max case has enough powder room but not too much.

Sorry, Sundog, I like the .25-20 almost as well, but find the larger bullets easier to cast. Then, there's the problem of just getting a .25-20.

I also like the idea of the 357Max, but I have not jumped on it because of the case capacity is just not really perfect for any powder presently in existance. For economical top performance, and that's the only reason for it visually, the 180 grainer cartridge needs a double based 4227 in about the same grain size to fill the case with that extra nitro punch required. 680 is too slow, and 296 is too fast. ... felix

Look guys, these are all well and good, but I've just figured out the ULTIMATE cast bullet cartridge. You know I've been fooling around with this IMR 7383 powder lately. Well, that's had me looking at the specs for the .50 caliber spotter rifle it was made for.

From the Army Technical Manual
ARMY AMMUNITION DATA SHEETS
SMALL CALIBER AMMUNITION
FSC 1305

CARTRIDGE, CALIBER .50, BALL, SPOTTER-TRACER, M48A2

Propellant:
Type ......................... IMR 7383
Weight ...................... 110 gr

Projectile:
Weight ...................... 833 gr

Performance:
Chamber pressure........ 38,000 psi
Velocity ........................ 1745 fps, 78 ft from muzzle

Boys and girls, this is a CAST BULLET RIFLE CARTRIDGE! Those velocity and pressure specs are perfect for a wheelweight cast bullet, with a good lube. Make some oven-treated roundnose ones and you've got a "solid" suitable for the biggest, meanest, toughest critters on Earth, and this cartridge is in a size and power range suitable for building into a big, heavy hunting rifle that'd still be fairly feasible for carrying around and shooting offhand from the shoulder!

Hi-Tech has .50 Spotter brass for sale, quite reasonably priced, and of course they have lots of cheap IMR 7383.

I'm not too well fixed for getting big, outlandish custom rifles made, but someone needs to do this! Saeed?


[ 10-12-2003, 06:30: Message edited by: NotRicochet ]

He Notricochet, what's the case look like for that round?
What sort of action is available for it?

NotRicochet,

Sounds like a great idea!

Of course it will instantly become the object of a new gun ban law here in the PDRK!

I also saw a 1" diameter cast lead mould (3 cavity!) on ebay. Maybe we need to increase our bore expectations.

Regards,

With that heavy of a boolit, you got the correct powders in mind. I was, for myself, thinking 150 grains at circa 2400, rather than the 1800 with the straight maggie case. I shoot the latter now with a total grin posture. Tin cans are dead at 100 easy. ... felix

Bwana-be, the case for the .50 Spotter is a greatly shortened version of the .50 BMG. The body of the case is about half as long. Pretty cool looking. Don't know what actions might be adaptable to it.

And in case anybody doesn't know the history of the .50 Spotter Rifle cartridge, here's the deal: You've seen those big 106mm recoilless rifles that used to be mounted on the backs of jeeps? They had a telescopic sight, of course, and this special .50 cal. rifle mounted to the barrel. The cartridge was designed to have the same trajectory as the big shells from the 106. When a target was sighted, a .50 was fired. It had a tracer and the nose of the projectile was filled with an incendiary compound that would make a highly visible flash and puff of smoke on impact. If it hit, they'd immediately fire the big round.

Gents,
With regards to the 357 max, I've been playing with 240-280 grain boolits in a max carbine with reloader 7, 4227, 1680 and the meager amount of 680 I have remaining, I'm loading it like it was a 1890s round, big bullets 14-1500 fps and out of my contender carbine barrel, they are tack drivers. Just a thought to try out, hey the max looks like a shrunk 45-70 don't it...

regards,
Graycg

Hi-Tech's still advertising surplus 680. I use it in my 45-70 for blackpowder-level loads with a Gould hollowpoint and Dacron filler.

Easy...
Bottle necks: 7 BR with the RCBS 140 gr bore-rider,& 7TCU with the SAECO 140gr. Just love out-shooting the condom guys.
Straights: The little 32 H&R Mag with a RCBS 165gr in the TC (good for 200 metre rams!!) and the 357 Super Mag with the 200gr RCBS.
Can't bring myself to shoot condoms nowdays. Peter.