CJ, I meant to imply that buffalo was big game, and you wouldn't want to play with a 200 gr. bullet for such a job. The only thing I could say about the bullets, is that MAYBE on the 277, the meplate is a bit too large for heavy skin game like the buffalo. Penetration was about eighteen inches on a head on shot into the neck. Sufficient, but this weight bullet should have gone double that. It was excellent performance on the white tail of course, very little bloodshot meat, and definite authority. For deer, a 200 should be beau coup plenty. For elk, I would definitely stick with the heavier bullets. I'm sure my 233 gr. would do the trick, but I do believe the 270+ size would shoot from end to end in the biggest bull at moderate velocity. I have shot deer with 170 gr. cast bullets in the 6.5X55 Swede at 1600fps with amazing penetration. It is this experience that makes me a big fan of looooong bullets for the bore size, regardless of caliber.
Dregs, The bullets I am shooting are gas checked, with a large meplate. They are wheel weights. I do oven temper and quench. I did one batch, using 1 part lino to 5 parts wheel weights. The extra hardness was insignificant, and I figured that was wasted lino, and remelted that batch to sweeten other melts. I'll stick with the ww's in the future. They will serve the purpose, as it seems that larger bores will tolorate softer alloys. Although I must say that oven tempered WW's are pretty hard in the cast bullet world!
I'm currently using 41 gr. WC852(F) powder, with shotgun buffer filler, for a slightly compressed load. I'm still working on loads for this rifle, as it is one John King put together for me, and I'm still in the experimental stages. I want to see what 4064 will do. I think it may be a real winner, as I've had so much luck with it in other calibers, which a friend reminded me of this past week. I got too attached to those super cheap milsurp powders!
Velocity is running at a flat 2100 fps, with less than 3fps average deviation.
I wish all my rifles would shoot that consistant!
The only problem I have run into with the .358 bullets I'm working with, is if I am not careful, they will "bump up" in sizing, and give you a false reading of your seating depth. A good fitting nose punch is necessary, and on the one lighter mold, I need to size before oven tempering, or they will definitely bump from the hardening if not done immediately after the quench.
