Lower power loads? Why not!
I have an old Swedish cape-gun in 16 ga & 9.3 X 57R. I load it with a 250gr cast bullet from a Rapine mould, and Blackpowder ('cause it's an old gun.)
One trick I used to make up small game loads is to wrap the unsized cast bullet in TEFLON gasfitters tape, and load over a modest charge of UNIQUE or something similar. I have tried Universal Clays and HERCO. A pinch of Dacron "teddy bear guts" keeps the powder to the bottom of the case. The reason for teflon, according to Mike Venturino, in a series of articles about 30 years ago, is that Alox based lubes and copper fouling do not mix. NRA research back in the 60's & 70's stressed thorough cleaning when changing from one to the other. Teflon tape gives normal grouping, even when changing from cast to jacketed bullets.
Point if Impact, even at 25 yards is different, usually lower, than your full power loads. In many of my rifles, including my Brno 304, I use the lower point of a `duplex`reticle pattern, with the scope power at about 4.
