reloading cast bullets in 30.06.

[tgc]

I am wanting to reload some 200 grain cast bullets for my 30.06. One cast bullet company has told me that .311 diameter is the way to go with these.
-Does that sound right to anyone familiar with this load?
-Also if you have any experience with this load are there any particulars that I need to know about it?
-I have loaded many 30.06's but never any cast bullets in this caliber.
Thanks. I am wanting to make a pig load; heavy and slow.

[jsh]

Heavy and slow......
I have shot a fair bit of cast from 170-210 through my old 1903. Poked some through my Ruger 77 AI to form brass. All were better accuracy than I would have figured. More loads later on that I had good luck with were of standard powder for cartridge but around a starting load. They gave better speed than the jacketed of the same weight.
Dunno who you are getting boolits from but most store bought are meant to sell. If they shoot well you are luckier than me. I never had any real good luck until I cast my own, rifle or pistol. Your mmv.
If I can be of any help give a holler and will do my best.
I suggest to slug the throat and the muzzle to decide on a proper size.
Jeff

[Deleted]

I size my 30-06 & 308 cast bullets to .311. What the bullet company is wanting you to do is use bullets that fill the throat. This will give you better bullet alignment with the bore. Realistically, I'd do a throat slug to determine the throat length and diameter, and also show what the relationships are between the case mouth, throat, and the initial rifling. It's hard to get people to do these things, so the cast bullet companies will sometimes suggest .311, because it should be approximately correct. At least enough to start out.

[tgc]

Thanks fellas. That helps alot.
I know the 30-06 is .308 dia. so I didn't know if .311 was out of line.
My handgun cast loads aren't usually that much bigger.
Also I will load at the bottom of the scale to start and see how it goes.
Thanks again.

[tgc]

Guys,
Went to alliant website to see if they gave a load for reloader 15 in 30-06, because I've got a good bit of it and didn't want to use my good powder (sorry reloader 15 fans).

47 grains and a 200 grain bullet will give 2370 fps.

mzl. energy 2410 ft lbs.
@100 yds. 1800 ft lbs

Zero at 150 yards, is +1 3/4" at 100 yds.

Sounds good to me.

[jsh]

If that is a jacketed load you can add some fps to it for cast. I would say 150-300. Cast is slippery like a wet bar of soap compared to the friction of a jacket.
A start load for an equal weight jacketed bullet, using cast usually gives more fps.
I have used a lot of 2400 in the past. But as it is tough to find for the time being I have a lot of milsurp ball and stick powder to fool with.
I have gotten good accuracy from both fast and slow powders. As mentioned above slugging will tell you a bunch.
Your results may vary but I myself suggest getting the bore clean of any gilding or jacket material or carbon fouling.
And, if you never get any leading you are real lucky or you have not shot much cast. Some folks will say to shoot some jacketed through a leaded barrel to "blow" the lead out. My experiance was it made it 100x worse to remove. I was told I used the wrong size or design of jacketed. Once was bad enough for me never again.
Jacketed speeds can be reached with cast with ZERO leading. It amounts to a few things. Size and lube then alloy. Not necessarily in that order but I am always more concerned on the first two.
Enough for ya to digest. Good luck to you and keep us informed.
Jeff

[Deleted]

I've had leading get "ironed" into the barrel, and it was the dickens to remove. I bought a Foul-Out to deal with such situations. Now, Outers has discontinued the Foul Out solutions. Chore Boy works good too.

[cw748]

Before you shoot cast bullets in your 30-06 you will need to remove all the copper and carbon fouling from the barrel. Get a good copper cleaner and scrub the bore until it’s clean, then clean it some more. Any fouling left will cause leading and will affect accuracy. As mentioned before, slug the bore and use cast bullets of .001 or .002 over bore diameter. Go to castboolits.gunloads.com and dedicate several hours for reading, lots of info on the forum.



My 30-06 is a sporterized 1903A3, dedicated to cast bullets only. I hated cleaning copper fouling whenever I switched loads. I shoot plain based bullets under 1500 fps and gas checked over 1600 fps. I use IMR 3031 and get decent accuracy at 100 yds (1.5 in). What my rifle likes, yours may not, shooting cast bullets is a whole ‘nuther ball game.



CW

[jsh]

I have had real good luck with a product called wipeout. The accelerator helps but rubbing alcohol has worked as well for me. It seems to me it doesn't like to work through any kind of petroleum cleaners?
It will get a barrel squeaky clean. So, I suggest some type of lube in the bore prior to the first shot. Doesn't take much an oiled patch then a dry one and that will leave enough film.
Any cleaning after I like kroil and that is it. As long as you do t get a lot of leading.
Kroil will help loosen leading up if liberally slobbered in the bore and left for 24 hours or so. Then push a tight fitting bore brush then a dry patch.
Most folks don't want to spend the time.
Jeff

[Cholla]

I've shot quite a bit of 210 gr. cast bullets (Lyman 313299 mould)through a 1903 and a couple of 03A3's. Two loads to start with: "The Load"- 13.0 grs. of Red Dot. It'll run said bullet around 1500 fps. Also another standard cast load: 16.0 grs. of AL2400 which will do 1400-1500 fps. I've safely used up to 24.0 grs. which is 2.5 grs. under max in my '70's vintage Lyman manual. That charge ran the 210 gr. bullet almost exactly 2000 fps.

[tgc]

-Thanks for the informative advice guys. Lots of experience.
-cholla, I happen to have a few pounds of red dot to use.
-I bought a box of 193 grain (FP) cast bullets but haven't tried them yet.
-I went ahead and bought a box of 200 grain Lapua jacketed soft points. The lead is back up in the jacket like a remington core lokt but I think the Lapua will be a better bullet. I'm looking to use these jacketed bullets first. Then maybe play around with the cast.
- I too would like to have a gun to shoot just the cast in. MAN, I get the bullets first and then the gun. After deer season the pawn shops seem to have a good many deer rifles come in.