cast boolits from your TC barrels?

[jeff223]

how do they shoot out of them?not talking about a custom aftermarket barrel but a factory or rechambered factory barrel.

no luck for me yet but jacketed boolits shoot very good

[BCB]

I shoot them from my 7-30 Waters, 30-30, and sometimes my 44 Magnum that became a 445 SM.  The Waters is the most accurate with M.O.A. at 100 yards or a bit over and around 2.5" at 200 yards.  The 30-30 is almost that good, but I still prefer the Waters.  The 44 rechambered is just O.K.  That barrel never did shoot anything real well.  It is interesting that it shoots 44 Magnum better after the rechamber job.  Go figure.  Regardless, it stays around 1.5"+ at 100 yards.  Good-luck...BCB

[Racepres]

I had little luck w/ factory T/C bbls and lead bullets, until the 7tcu which thrives on em, if you dont push them too fast... then again cast bullets in 45 ACP's shoot very well in my 45 win mag barrel but again they are mild. Odd that the exact bullet , lightly loaded in win mag cases wont shoot w/ the acp's. 357/38's, 44's , I haven't had any luck w/ cast bullets. However at top loadings w/ jkted projectiles, I have yet to find a T/C bbl that won't shoot well..   MV

[swampthing]

I have had great results with a 21BHN, 280g, .432", LBT WFN, w/gas check in my 12" .44mag. contender. It shot beter than .75" all day long at 50 yards, velocity was in the 1400's.
                                          A cast bullet that fills the throat as much as possible will have less tendancy to tip when it hits the rifling thus giving the best accuracy. I started with some .430" LBT's and the best accuracy I could get at 50yds was 1.5" , as soon as I switched to .432" diameter most of the shots touched, getting fatigued and minor flinching would open them up, but, accuracy was awesome.
                              Moulds are reltively cheap, as well as supplies. If you don't want to cast your own www.beartoothbullets.com is were I got mine.

[haroldclark]

I have had great luck with cast bullets in all my contenders/Encores except with 7mm TCU.  I've shot very light loads and it works out to 50 yards, but I want more distance.

Racepres, what are you loading in your 7 TCU.  I have two bullets in 7mm.  Both are Saeco moulds #073 - 165 grain nose riding and #281 is a 150 grain. Both are gas check types.

I have had the best luck with 30-30s in a 10" and a 16" barrel.  The best shooting bullet is Saeco #316 - 150 grain gas check with 9.5 grains of IMR 7625 and also, 20 grains of Reloader 7.  My 16" likes 12.6 grains of Blue Dot with the same bullet.  I have never put it on paper.  If my loads won't hit the steel targets, then they are inadequate.

I have used 12.6 grains of Blue Dot and the 165 grain Saeco bullet in a 7-30 Waters with great sucess.  I would like to know what you guys are using in the 7-30.

Harold

[BCB]

haroldclark,

I am using the Lyman 287346.  The best powders are H-335 for a velocity of  2141 fps and WC-844 for a velocity of 2044 fps.  I do heat treat the bullets in the oven to approximately 450 degrees (?? Would have to check records to be sure of that temp) and then drop them into ice water.  Although, I am not necessarily sure they actually need heat treated as this bullet is gas checked.  With my T/C Super 14" that is topped with a Burris 3x-12x, I can punch holes in 24 ounce soda bottles at 150 yards most of the time.  It is a very accurate shooter with cast bullets--also with the Hornady 120 grain SSPSP bullet and H-335.  Good-luck...BCB

[Lone Star]

I won many silhouette matches with cast bullets in two different .30 Carbine barrels.  Sounds odd, but the RCBS-165 at 1500 fps lost very few rams and was shoot-off accurate.

BTW, it is not uncommon for a rechambered T/C to shoot better.  Factory throats in some chambers are poorly designed, and a good custom reamer can sometimes make a world of difference in CB and jacketed accuracy.

[BCB]

Long Star,

Yep, I agree with the better alignment that can occur with a rechamber job.  I wish the 44 Magnum would have shot well in the beginning.  I really have little need for a 445 SM.  It really isn't a pleasure to shoot--and I ain't recoil-sensitive in the least!!!  Maybe I'll go hunting really, really big game sometime (har!)...BCB

[palgeno]

Interesting reading other guys experience with cast bullets in TC 44 mag barrels. I have an "extra" 10 incher that came with a frame I wanted. The .44 mag barrel I already had been loading for likes jacketed bullets and hard cast lead bullets. I of course tried the same stuff in the "extra" barrel and got different results---meaning only so-so accuracy---I did not measure chamber length, so maybe loading longer would help?....?--- I had some left over trial loads for the first barrel which were terrible---or so I thought. These were a SOFT lead 240 gr swc over 10.0 gr of Unique. URIKA!!!! One hole groups at 25 yds and about the same at 75 yds except the one hole was a little bigger and ragged. Opened my eyes! I don't use that barrel, but those cheap loads shoot so well..!!!!........  :eek: pg

[Steve P]

I shoot cast bullets in most of my contender barrels that are larger than .224.  I do have a good load for the hornet, but have not tried cast in my 221, 222, 223, etc.    32 mag, 30 carbine, 30-30, 7x30, 357 mag, 357 max,  all shoot well with cast.

7tcu with RCBS 145 silhouette is moa out to 200 meters.  I have put 40 shots into group size of coffee cup at 200 meters when scoped.

My 14" 7TCU with 145 silhouette and near max load of WW748 is moa at 100 (10 shots).

My 10" 7TCU with VVN133 does almost as well.

Looking for a particular caliber?  If I don't have something a buddy of mine probably will.

Steve  

[Racepres]

Harold, my 7tcu seems to have digested a diverse bunch of loadings indeed as I check my records... my best [accurate] loading is/was 27.8 gr of AA2460 under a 140 gr. nosler BT. Next is  16.8 gr of H110 under a lee 130gr gc,sp cast... lately however I shoot mostly the lee cast bullet over 8.0 gr of unique... [wusss you say!!!] I only use 10" barrels on my contenders, and velocities avg. 1940, 1800, and 1350 fps in properly prepared brass and all 3 are MOA for me, better for those who are better at the bench than I... Remember that you need to clean your barrel thoroughly after jkted bullets before cast,  for best accuracy.. [jkt fouling is mean stuff]     MV

[haroldclark]

Thanks for the input on the 7mm TCU and cast bullet loads.  I try to keep my loads around 1500 fps to 1700 fps for recoil reasons only.  My old hands don't tolerate too much punishment.

My 30-30 16" contender shoots at 1495 fps with 12.6 gr of Blue Dot.  I have used H335 & WC844 for my jacketed loads, but I have switched to light loaded cast bullets in the past few years.  About 10 years ago, I tried very light loads in my 7 TCU 14" and 10".  I didn't have enough poop to shoot well past 50 yards.  I'll try the 10grain of Unique load.

Therefore, I don't think anyone is a woosie.  I shot my 30-30 today at the rifle silhouette range.  The mirage and wind caused some whacky drifting, but had a great time.

Thank for the input.

Harold

[Steve P]

8.0 grains of Unique, WSR primer, and @ 150grain cast bullet is very accurate load.  That is what we use for standing shooting in Sillywets.

Steve  

[JLW]

Very accurate from my 14" 44mag barrel with 240gr and 300gr cast bullets. I shoot 370gr cast from my 16" 45-70 barrel very accurate. I use accurate #9 in the 44mag and 5744 in the 45-70.

[Blammer]

I shoot bug holes with my 35 rem using 200 gr cast bullets, no gas checked modest velocity.