Cast bullets for Whitetails

[kb]

Does anyone hunt whitetails with cast bullets in a 44?  What do you use?  Im interested in starting to cast for it.  I already cast for muzzle loading, so this will just be another step for me.

Thanks for your help.

kb

[Graybeard]

Lotsa folks around here do. If you'll read in the handgun hunting forums you'll find lots of posts on using them. The Lyman 429421 is likely the most commonly used that's the old Elmer Keith bullet. RCBS makes a slightly different version of it also. I prefer the Lyman 429244 personally.

[Clodhopper]

A few years I took a couple of whitetails in northern Florida with my Ruger Bisley 44 mag.  Used the Lyman 429421 to make bullets out of wheel weights quenched in room temp water, shot both deer from a tree stand at about 30 yards.  Clean pass through on both deer (one buck and one doe), neither one went more than 30 yards.  Shot both deer through the ribs right behind the shoulder, you could eat right up to the holes.  I have also shot pigs out here in California with the same gun and load.  One shot, barbecue time!  I like cast bullets for the 44 mag!

[Lloyd Smale]

ive shot deer pigs bear and buffalo with the 44 using cast bullets. Any cast bullet design that has a flat nose that weights 240 plus grain pushed at at least 900 fps will kill any of the animals listed. Personaly i prefer a keith style bullet and about 1100 fps for my hunting ammo.

[Ranger J]

While not a .44 I killed a whitetail with a 300 gr OT laser cast trapdoor load out of a 45/70 Handi this year.  Passed right through, .44 shouldn't be much different

RJ

[kb]

Thank you guys.  It looks like I'll be picking up a casting manual soon.  What equipment will I be needing?  I have to order a casting for dummies book, but I would like to get it all at once.  I allready have a melting pot.

kb

[Clodhopper]

An ingot mold is nice to have, to change your raw materials into useful sized chunks.  Also heavy gloves and eye protection on the safety side.  Lots of guys use stuff that they have laying around for tools etc.  Like I use an old hickory hammer handle for tapping the sprue cutter around, a dowel works too.  If casting inside, make sure you have some way of getting rid of the fumes, they can be a health hazard, especially if melting down tire weights which can get real stinky. 

[Lloyd Smale]

you will need a seperate pot to render down wws and other scrap into ingots for your casting pot
flux to clean your lead (bullet lube or paraphin wax work fine)
ingot molds. (muffin pans work fine and are cheaper then ingot molds)
a casting pot either bottom pour or laddle. I recomend ladle for a beginner
a ladle
a mold
a chunk of a shovel handle or some other hardwood to smack the spruce plate and cut the spruce
Now youve got the basics for casting a bullet and have to decide whether you want to size them or not if so
you need a sizing press a top punch and the correct sizing die for the size you want and some bullet lube
another way is to buy a lee sizing die. Size using your reloading press and then tumble lube your bullets or pan lube
another way some guys do it is just take your unsized bullets and tumble lube them

Now if i was to give advice to a beginning caster id recomend you go to midsouth or midway and buy a lyman expert casting kit. It has everything you need except for a mold a sizing die and a top punch and doesnt cost much more then a 120 bucks. I started with a simualar setup many years ago and still use some of the stuff that was in it.

[Clodhopper]

Ditto on everything Lloyd said!!!!!!!!!!!

[kb]

I already have everything but the bullet mold itself.  What is the purpose of the sizing die and lube? 

[Lloyd Smale]

most molds will cast a bullet slightly oversized and possibly slightly out of round. the a sizing press and die will swadge down the bullet to proper size and at the same time insure that it is perfectly round and inject lube into the lube grove. The lee dies do not allow for the injecting of the lube and the bullets after being sized will need to be lubed. What the lee fans do is use lee tumble lube. Its a thick liquid. You put a hundred or so bullets in a bowl and put a few drops in the bowl and swish them around and put a coating of the lube on them. It works for some guys and they swear by it but ive never been really thrilled about it and dont use it much. It works fine for plinking ammo at low velocitys though and is very fast to use. I do alot of 38 specials that way but thats about it. Some guys use it even at rifle velocitys and it works for them but has always leaded for me at anything aproaching even stout handgun loads.

[1sourdough]

 I just completed a Muzzle-Loader hunt with my Knight. I used a bullet I cast for my 44 mag in a sabot jacket. It was a 240 grn tumble lube type Lee in a semi-wadcutter shape. They shot great in the M-L & the big doe only went about 15 yrds. The bullet went through as would be expected. It may be a little off your question but I'm pleased I found another use for my cast 44 bullets.

[blhof]

If you get serious about casting; you also miight want to get Veral's book (Jacketed Performance with cast bullets) it tells you everything you would ever want to know about alloys and lead hardness as well as any other question you may have about lead and accuracy.