I reloaded basically SWC or JHP for my .44. I have assumed the SWC with loads suggested in say the Speer manual were lighter loads for practice and the JHP with loads suggested in say the Speer manual were heavier loads for "serious shooting" or for hunting. Where do hard cast bullets fit in? Are they better for hunting or does it depend on the animal hunted? Does the barrel need any different treatment after shooting cast bullets?

The hardcast bullets are preferred for high velocities (less leading), and cast generally for hunting; they'll penetrate anything. Rifle velocities may require gas checked cast bullets. Hodgdon has some H-110 loads that are high velocity. Be sure your gun can handle the high pressures. Blue dot, 4227, 296 (same as H-110) and 2400 also give higher velocities.

You want to clean the barrel thoroughly when changing bullet composition.

They fit right here.



This 62" moose, was shot @ 15 yds with a Ruger BH in 45 LC using a 335 gr WFNGC LBT bullet being pushed by a max load of Hodgdon Lil'Gun in Starline brass sparked by WLP primers. Does 1150 fps in the 4-5/8" barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis Spender:
Where do hard cast bullets fit in? Are they better for hunting or does it depend on the animal hunted? Does the barrel need any different treatment after shooting cast bullets?

Soft (swagged) bullets are best as low velocity target loads and are most often be found in full wad cutter form. They cut nice round holes in paper targets, and they also make good short range varmint bullets.

Hard cast bullets are generally flat nose (truncated) or semi wad cutter type bullets. Both posses flat noses that excel in transferring energy to the target, and both make terrific hunting bullets capable of smashing through bone. They can be driven at higher velocities without leading problems, and are accurate as well as economical.

From reading the Lyman books, the explanation I seem to discern, factory want a lead bullet they can swage. That means no tin. So they squeeze lead and antimony and it works fine at lower velocities. Again, the factories are pushing their products. For the serious business, killing game, they push jacketed bullets... For a long time now, 100 yrs. or so, the home caster has been able to cast "hard" bullets with tin and properly lubed they resist leading much better than the soft swaged factory slugs and do what all but the most carefully chosen jacketed bullets do, penetrate, and at a much lower cost than a jacketed bullet...

If you go to the trouble of actually pushing a bullet thru a barrel by hand, you will find that it is A LOT easier to push a lubed lead bullet vs. a jacketed bullet. A LOT!. So loads for "hard cast" will probably not resemble the jacketed bullet loads. Lyman prints many. Hodgdon supplies such data. Worked great for the likes of E. Keith et al for decades. LUCK. Happy New Year.

I have shot Cast Performance gas check bullets in my .480 Ruger for a few years now. I push them hard and have now leading issues. They hit hard and shoot great. These are the hardest lead bullets I have found to date. I took it on a moose hunt in Alaska but I could not close the deal on a legal Bull, so I don't have any real experiance with killing anything with them yet.