I was looking in my Midway catalog and see quite a few cast bullets from .311-.314 that might work with Blue Dot powder for plinking loads in my Enfields. I also noticed 32-20 bullets in .323 that should work for the 8mm. Anyone else use cast handgun bullets for plinking?

I have tried pistol bullets for downloads with the 8mm Mauser, but they did not prove very accurate in my case. Using cast rifle bullets with 5gr of Bullseye proved very accurate - the longer the bullet the more stable they seem. Key holes were common with the pistol and lighter rifle bullets. It is important how you seat the bullets and I always put a light crimp on them.
I do not pack the cases with anything, the charge position does not seem to make much difference, though some of my fellow shooters pack them with fishtank filter material.
We shoot at 50yds and the best loads/shots are capable of very tight groups. Leading does not seems to be a major problem - I use Lee lube and just clean normally.
There was an interesting article in a 1962 issue of Guns Review on downloading the .303 Lee Enfield. It gathered extensive data from 100yd tests and the results were very good. I could dig it out for you if you can not obtain a copy.

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Originally posted by Jacobite:
I was looking in my Midway catalog and see quite a few cast bullets from .311-.314 that might work with Blue Dot powder for plinking loads in my Enfields. I also noticed 32-20 bullets in .323 that should work for the 8mm. Anyone else use cast handgun bullets for plinking?

The Blue Dot is to slow for those light bullets. If you use it you most likely will have the problems Jerry refers to. I shoot a lot of 90 gr cast SWCs in my .30 and .31 cals including the .303. In the .303 I use the at .314 over 3 gr of Bullseye. Velocity is in the 800-900 fps range depending on barrel. If your bore is good you will find that a wonderful load for plinking and small game shooting. Same load with 90 - 115 gr .314 bullets works as well.

Larry Gibson