Author Topic: Cast bullets for deer in 30 cal?  (Read 935 times)

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Offline Gallahad

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Cast bullets for deer in 30 cal?
« on: October 31, 2007, 10:23:21 AM »
Are 30 caliber cast bullets good for deer killing? What hardness, design, and speed?

God bless,

Gallahad

Online Lloyd Smale

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Re: Cast bullets for deer in 30 cal?
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2007, 01:56:34 PM »
use a flat nosed bulllet between 150-200 grain cast it out of lead just hard enough to prevent leading. I try to get away with straight ww in .30s so i get some expansion and run them at 1500-2000 fps and they will do well on deer sized game.
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Offline ND Sharpshooter

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Re: Cast bullets for deer in 30 cal?
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2007, 04:00:31 AM »
Lloyd is right on the mark.  I use a 204 grainer with a soft nose at 1650 fps and have never had a deer get up after it was hit.  This is in a 308.  I have an soft nose caster that I bought from Veral (LBT) 20-25 years ago.  It works well and can be adjusted for various weights of softnoses.   Have used it in 30, 35, and 44 caliber cast bullets with total satisfaction.

Another option to soften noses...I read somewhere that you can soften noses by putting the cb's in water and heating the nose with a torch...don't know how deep the water, how much nose is exposed during the operation, or how consistant the results are...I haven't tried it and won't so long as my soft nose caster keeps working.  The soft noses I'm producing seem to operate like Nosler Partitions when they impact the game you're after.
Never said I didn''t know how to use one.  :wink:

Offline Gallahad

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Re: Cast bullets for deer in 30 cal?
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2007, 07:24:44 AM »
I've got one more problem, I don't cast myself. I'd be buying bulk cast bullets. any recommendations there? The cast bullets ive seen seem to be harder than wheel weight stuff, or pure lead.

Offline Gavinator

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Re: Cast bullets for deer in 30 cal?
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2007, 07:40:58 AM »
 What brand rifle, and what caliber?