"Medium bore, moderate velocity"

[HTRN]

358 Winchester can be had in bolt actions.

As can a relatively new cartridge - 338 Federal. Both are essentially 308 Winchesters necked up.

[Denis]

Since I posted this I've gotten texts from both Senior Minions who think it's a great idea.

Hi, Minions! Keep up the good work.

king of his castle.jpg

[Greg]

Since I posted this I've gotten texts from both Senior Minions who think it's a great idea.

Hi, Minions! Keep up the good work.

king of his castle.jpg

OK, that image is stolen.

[PawPaw]

Lots of people shoot cast bullets every day. Look at a common round of .22LR ammo. Works fine.

You can use cast in your 7mms, probably with good effect. I shoot .30 caliber cast bullets, but I'm a 30 caliber guy, but the same cautions apply. There's no reason to go to a different caliber, unless you want to. There is a bit of "learnin" your goin to have to do, but the process itself is fairly easy.

The limiting factor I've come to find is bullet rotational velocity, (RPM). Lyman #2 alloy starts to come apart at 125K revolutions per minute, so I try to limit my RPM to under 125k. To find bullet RPM, I use this formula Bullet RPM = MV X 720/Twist Rate (in inches) Obviously, you'll get faster spin from a fast-twist barrel and slower spin from a slow twist barrel. My 1-12 Winchesters let me shoot cast bullets a little faster than my 1-10 Savage barrels.

Of course, heat-treating bullets helps, and tweaking your alloy helps, and lubrication is important.

But, there's no reason you can't shoot cast from the rifles that the minions already have. You'll need a mold, a pot, a sizer, and some lube. Oh! gas checks if you want to go over 1500 fps. But, you don't need new rifles. The rifles you have will do fine.

[First Shirt]

But, there's no reason you can't shoot cast from the rifles that the minions already have. You'll need a mold, a pot, a sizer, and some lube. Oh! gas checks if you want to go over 1500 fps. But, you don't need new rifles. The rifles you have will do fine.

Have a mold (actually have several, but only one pertinent to this discussion) a pot and some bullet lube. Have sizer die and gas checks enroute. Quick check of the Lyman book shows 24.0 gr. IMR-4227 with a 135 gr. bullet should be good for right around 2000 fps from a 20-inch bbl. Does that sound reasonable? Any other powders that you'd recommend?

This might actually be fun!!

[Bullspit]

I always had good luck with 2400.

The powder, not velocity!

[Yogimus]

.38 and .357

[PawPaw]

Quick check of the Lyman book shows 24.0 gr. IMR-4227 with a 135 gr. bullet should be good for right around 2000 fps from a 20-inch bbl. Does that sound reasonable? Any other powders that you'd recommend?

This might actually be fun!!

OH, I guarantee it's going to be fun. When shooting cast, I used a lot of H4895 and the 60% rule. What that rule basically says is that for any cartridge where H4895 is listed for modern bullets, you can use 60% of that load as a starting place for cast bullets. We were using that rule for a long time before Hodgdon admitted that it worked, but they've finally printed it in their reduced loads worksheet. LINKY

Oh, yeah, you're going to have fun with this.

[slowpoke]

.38 and .357

This is a good idea. You can get a 357 handi rifle and have the chamber done to 357max, should be your cheapest medium bore.

[First Shirt]

Did a search for Lee "soupcan" bullets molds, and it turns out that Mid South Shooter's Supply has some six-cavity, .284 versions in stock.

Now they have one less. This looks like it would make a pretty decent hunting bullet, if I can find an alloy that will hold together at nearly 140K rpm. Hopefully, all the stuff will arrive during a period of decent weather, so I can actually cast some bullets.