jacketed vs cast

[mstake]

which is best for hunting whitetails? which is more accurate? i talked myself into reloading for my 44bhk and i have time before it get nice enough to really do some shooting( winter,cold,smow,ice) :? :cry: . I got a few primers and some h110 and lilgun, dies and now all i need is bullets! i no nothing about cast bullets but it seem that a lot of you like them. is there any difference in loading them compared to jacketed bullets?

[LMM]

With either one properly loaded you will end up with a dead deer. Pretty much personal preference. I have found neither to be more or less accurate than the other once you find what your particular gun likes.

[Dusty Miller]

Thin skinned animals like deer are not all that hard to kill.  As already noted, go with what works for you and your gun.

[Graybeard]

For thin skinned game like deer I'm not sure I believe either to be more effective but I personally prefer JHPs on deer and cast on game that is larger, heaiver, tougher. However both have worked well for me on deer.

[Lawdog]

I practice with cast and hunt with JHP.  Lawdog
 

[Catfish]

I prefer jacketed myself. I`ve been loading for the .44 mag. since 1968 and have tried about every bullet out there for the .44. Over the years I have loaded alot of ammo for friends, and have a few that hunt with the .44 mag. The best bullet I`ve found for deer is the Serria 240 grn. JHP. It has the best combo. of accuracy and terminal preformance of any bullet I`ve ever tried and it seem to shoot well in every gun. Hornadys are very accurate, but lack in terminal preformance, better on heaver skinned game. The Rem. 240 grn. bullets also have excellant terminal preformance, but are just alittle less accurate. I load max. loads of Win-296, but your in luck as H-110 is about the same thing. For plinking I like 240 grn. hard cast bullets over 6 grns. of Bullseye. Use Win. or other mag. primers on both loads.
   By the way, the only 240 grn. Serria bullet I ever recovered from a deer was from a 10 point buck shot in the left rear quarter at 135 yrds. The bullet was just under the skin of the right frount shoulder, and pretty as a picture of a mushroom.

[myronman3]

i shoot cast myself.  for one reason- cost.  after suffering the initial price of getting set up,  a little looking, i have everything i will ever need for shooting.  all i have to do is cast and load.  no ordering, no paying shipping; just cast, size and lube, and load.  cheap shooting.  and for a tightwad like me,  that is what matters.   and like was said,  animals are just as dead from either.  
  now if you dont cast, it is still cheaper.  just compare the price of jacketed bullets with lead.    
   i figure, the more i shoot, the better i will be at it.  and i aint going to lie and tell you i have saved any money,  but i do get more shots per dollar.

[Duffy]

I'm going to go a bit against the grain and say that cast bullets can be more accurate than jacketed. Main reason is that I can taylor them to each gun they are used in. Now I'm talking about custom molds (like LBT)
and alot of measuring and fitting but in the long run it pays off. Quite a bit cheaper and more satisfaction when you drop that first animal with something you basicly built from scratch. If you can't guess I shoot mostly cast.

[safetysheriff]

I've seen jacketed bullets and cast used on deer, and one round ball as well -- out of a .54 cal' muzzleloader.     I think that some of the pro's who write about these things are right when they say that jacketed bullets work better for deer and antelope.

www.findarticles.com has a 'search' feature.   type in handgun hunting and you'll see some articles where j.d. jones prefers jacketed slugs for deer -- and he's been a seller of molds and hardcast bullets in the past!   He may still be.....

Dick Metcalf wrote several years ago that his go-anywhere load for whitetails -- when the deer may be huge or may be small -- was the 210 gr' jhp by Remington.

I'd say, "go with the jacketed type -- and try Hornady's XTP as long as you're loading your own."  

Good shooting,

SS'

[volshooter]

I shoot hard cast because of the cost as well as accuracy. Both JHP and the WFP I shoot group very well from my SBH. The cast does slightly better above 50yds. I think I get 500, 290gr. WFP hard cast for around 25$. I load both over 21.5gr. of WW296 and average 1350 fps for the 290gr WFP and 1305 fps for the 240gr Hornady HP. As of this year I've taken deer with both loads and find them both efficient. I find myself leaning toward the heavy cast, me likem 2 big leaky holes, even through the shoulders.

[Spyro Andes]

I agree with myronman & duffy.

I don't care what it is...  pretty much nowadays... If I am shooting at it with a revolver, I am shooting CAST bullets.

In my experience, they are more accurate... they kill better... they are more cost effective...

For me, it has just become part of the procedure...

1) Buy Gun
2) Hone Cylinder throats
3) Fire lap
4) Order a LBT mold (if I don't have one)
5) Give it a trigger job and action job.

[S.B.]

I've shot my share of whitetails in Mo. but have yet to take one in Illinois. Go with the hollow point jakcketed, you won't go wrong.

[Lawful Larry]

My money is on the jacketed bullets.  All I have read about the cast vs. jacketed shows that the jacketed bullets are definitely more accurate.  

The latest article on the new S&W 460, in Shooting Times, shows tables on different loads and groups.  The cast groups are larger then the jacketed bullets.  This is also what I have personally found with my own experiments on the two type bullets.

Just my own .02 worth.   :wink:

[Rmouleart]

It depends on the rifling, some guns prefer cast over jacketed, Micro or ballard type barrels, years ago Id say jacket is more accurate over all, when back then you could look close at cast bullets with all the imperfections, Id say hands down jacket is more accurate, Look how perfect a jacketed bullet is, but now a days I have seen some mighty nice looking cast, Cast may slug a barrel better due to it conforms to the rifling, Jacketed has a higher baring on the rifling, higher pressures as well. For thin skinned big game animals I still prefer JHP of sort, I like a bullet that expands, cast never does, Just punches a clean hole through both sides, never increasing size,good on really huge animals that need deep penetration, but for deer like animals the JHP's are my choice as well. Its all personal preference, as long as you can obtain good accuracy, your good to go with either choice in bullets. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

[Handgunr]

Mstake,

Of the two types, there's different schools of thought as to why each works well, but for different reasons.
Jacketed bullets have a jacket that is approx. 40BHN ( Brinnell Hardness), and a core of pure lead that is 5BHN. Nominal sizing is usually .429.
Providing that the nose configuration "profiles" well with your particular forcing cone, it'll usually shoot very well. The harder jacket also enagages, or bites the rifling more positively in comparison to some lead, or cast bullets as well.
All that being said, if attention to detail is paid, cast bullets can shoot equally as good as jacketed, and perform every bit as well.
You can't look at both generically in a comparison. With cast bullets, there's far more variables involved than with jacketed.

As I mentioned, the jacket on jacketed bullets has a 40BHN hardness. With cast bullets, this depends solely on the alloy itself ranging from pure lead at 5BHN, on up to hardness levels into the mid-30's.
Since the whole bullet  is made up from the same alloy, not a two part construction like jacketed bullets, it has to be called upon to perform well within the bore, as well as on target.
With cast bullets, alloy, configuration, lube and sizing, play a far more important role in making the bullet work.
Pressure is a cast bullets main enemy, not velocity. Pressures too high for a given alloy will destroy it in short order.
Cast bullets have an elasticity level depending on the alloy used. The harder the alloy, the greater the alloy's ability to "spring back" under  pressure. If the pressure is too great for the alloy, it obturates, or expands, and fails to return to an accurate, or useable condition.

I've cast bullets since I was pre-teen for my uncle, but when I started handloading soon afterward, for whatever reason, I used jacketed bullets exclusively for hunting and cast for practice. I continued to use jacketed bullets up until the early 80's when I started to incorporate more and more cast loads for certain types of hunting.
In the late 80's, I switched exclusively to cast bullet loads for hunting and never looked back.
Kind of an educated "leap of faith" I guess.

Looking back now, I made the right decision and saved quite a bit of money.
The use of the right alloy's, the right bullet configuration (i.e., gaschecks, hollowpoints, SWC's, etc.) and the right powders, loads that actually better jacketed bullets can be had easily & cheaply.
Just paying attention to these certain factors can make it so.  Pure lead at 5BHN can be used in some cases, up to a maximum velocity of 900-1000 fps. My self imposed limit is usually about 850. Wheel weight's, air cooled at 9BHN, can be pushed up to 1200-1300fps, maybe slightly higher if a gascheck is utilized, protecting the base.
For anything higher (magnum hunting loads) I use water quenched WW's at 14BHN, and a gascheck. Lubes like LBT blue, or Lyman's Orange Magic help a lot, as well as a hollowpoint, or wide meplat style.

I read a lot of Veral Smith's work back years ago, as well as many other cast bullet articles from NRA and the like. I have a small library of it all. I learned a lot and applied it to make things work for me.
Other than the initial expenditure for equipment, it's cheaper overall, and far more rewarding.
It takes a little more work, but that's usually the case when you try and save a few bucks right.....more work, less money.

Sorry so long winded.....

Take care,
Bob