I need some info on bullet casting for a 223 Rem
I only Target shoot and a box of 223 bullets costing about $ 20.00 here I was thinking of casting. What accuracy can I expect? Velocity does not matter. What make of mold do you recommend and what accuracy at 100 yards. Also what load of Bullet weight and powder. Thanks

I doubt you (or anyone else, including me) has the patience to cast very many quality .224" bullets. I owned a Savage 22 HiPower and a 60gr spitzer Lyman mould. I fought that thing for 2+years before I gave up. Anything under 25-caiber is problematic. I have moulds for 6.5mm and .258" calibers, and I would just as soon have a root canal as cast 500 bullets of each...and end up with 200 (r less) good enough ones to shoot.

If you must, the RCBS 55gr SP is probably the best one to use. 2moa is possible.

Rich
DRSS

I see the point. I think I`ll stick to copper jacketed bullets. Thanks for the advice. Marlin

I have cast bunches of .22 cal. This would be with the 58 grain RCBS mold which is a gas check version. In .222 and 22-250 they do great. They shoot well with or without the gas check too. But in my .223 it's another story. I have not found a load that shoots. The same .223 does great with jacketed bullets. I use wheelweights and everyone kept saying add tin to help fill out on the small bullets. I think those folks have stock in tin as it didnt change anything and I really wasn't having a fill out problem. Some rejects for sure but not excessive.

thanks carpetman for the input. I think, I think, that the interior case volume has almost as much influence on group sizes as the actual pressure. IE, a smaller case is less tolerant of pressure.

Check with the Cast Bullet Assn's website, there is a gentleman there shooting competitive scores with a 223 and 70gr cast bullets.

Rich
DRSS

I think the interior case volume plays an important role too. That's why that 22PPC pushed the 222 Rem out of the lead in benchrest in my opinion.

In Carpetmans case, I feel his 223 may be a little harder to get to shoot accurate because the rifling twist is much faster then either the 222 or the 22-250. Those later two should be in the 1-14 twist and more then likely his 223 is 1-12. The 1-14 is also closer to what a 22 rimfire twist would be. This of course is only one factor. Could be many more reasons why his 223 doesn't shoot as good as the other two calibers.

I feel the smaller case volume is more conductive to cast bullet shooting then larger in the same calibers. I'm shooting more then excellent cast bullet groups with a 6.5 Grendel (which you notice is a PPC case) then I am my 260 Rem which is very finicky.

I say try your 223 with different styles of bullets, different weights, and different loads. That's part of the fun of shooting is developing a good accurate load. Also talking to people that have had good success is a good idea too.

m55,

There is some good reading here http://www.castpics.net/ Click "Articles by Members" and read .223 Part I, II, & III. All of Castpics is excellent info.

Also http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ is a treasure trove. These gentlemen are very knowledgeable about all things "boolit".

I have not done much casting of .22 caliber bullets due to too many other projects. Howeevr, i have found that casting bullets from linotype makes a much better mold fill out than my normal alloy. I prefer my bullets to be .002" larger than groove diameter, however the little shooting I have done with these bullets shows a sizing of .225" works quite well in my Kimber 84 in .223 Rem.and a Ruger #1 action that was restocked and rebarreled with a .223 barrel from a Remington M7. The latter is my favorite Jack rabbit and Coyote chaser.
Paul B,

Starmetal--I suspect you are correct that it is the twist keeping my .223 from shooting cast. The fact that it doesn't is no longer a concern as I just use it for jacketed and have the others that will shoot cast. I use to shoot jackrabbits with a guy that had access to about 55 sections of land. We went out at night and spotlighted them( legal here). 100 in a night pretty typical. We were shooting from inside a pickup (without hearing protectors)so blast was a concern. Jacketed would be too much. Cast worked well---they were in the 2000--2200 fps range and about as far out as you could get a good spot on them you could hit them.

carpetman, not that it can't be gotten around. You just have to tailor you load some to see what that 223 likes, but sounds like you don't need it.