Author Topic: .357 cast bullets in a .36 cal (Read 772 times)

tomhargrove · « **on:** June 27, 2005, 04:33:41 AM »

have a question for some of you fellows that are a few rungs up the ladder than i am i have a .36cal bbl made by numrich ,they say that it has a .350 bore and a .7 groove my question is what would the chance of say a148gr w/c cast to 358 and unsized from pure lead shooting out of this rifle with about30-35 gr of 3f it should have a good m/v out of the 38 bbl and fair accurcey out to a 100yd this would make a fair varmit rifle , but im not sure :roll: ,want some experince advise before i do anything .thanks this is what makes this forum so gerat is all the knowledge every one has .never had anyone to ask before ,got burned a few times too, now i can find out how hot the fire is before i stick my hand in it. thanks tom :shock:

sharps4590 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 27, 2005, 07:08:03 AM »

What's the twist on that Numrich barrel? My thought is the bullet may be a bit long to stabilize. Also, how ya gonna lube that thing and get it started down the bore? Is it a bevel base wadcutter? You're essentially trying to use the wadcutter as a REAL bullet except that the REAL bullets are pretty short for caliber. I would also have questions about 100 yard accuracy if the twist isn't fast enough to stabilize the wadcutter and I don't believe 30-35 grs. is going to equate to a very high velocity with a projectile approxiamtely 1/3 heavier than a 340 round ball. BUT....try it, who knows, it may shoot like a house afire! I believe if it were me I'd use a lubed, felt wad under the bullet. If you do try it, I'd like to konw the results.

Vic

tomhargrove · « **Reply #2 on:** June 27, 2005, 09:16:29 AM »

thanks this is why i don't do things im not sure of unless i get some educated advice , the bbl has a 1-40 twist but i tried some t/c .36maxies and they wont even begain to go down the bore , mabey i should just stay with a r/b i know they work :shock: pretty well. thanks tom :roll: :oops:

Longcruise · « **Reply #3 on:** June 27, 2005, 12:35:10 PM »

I tried to get some .358 slugs down the bore of a green mtn .36. NO GO! Maybe a 9mm .355 would work or you could get a specialy resizer from lee to take them down to .352 or .353? I your gonna do that you may as well get a mold too so you can cast from pure lead. The 1:40 would probably stabilize them ok. If not you might need to go down to a 115 or 125 weight bullet.

I liked the idea as you did, but they just wold not fit. Let me know if you pursue this.

ribbonstone · « **Reply #4 on:** June 27, 2005, 01:06:57 PM »

Won't spin a .358" 148gr. HBWC...can't beat the bullets down that small bore with less than a polo mallet...and they don't hold enough (or the right) lube. Even if you swaged them down to .351-352" they still won't shoot well becasue of the slow twist.

Part of the problem is that Numrich barrels tend to be a good bit tighter than other's .36cal. barrels (their .45's were closer to .43's as well).

At short range, will group on a beer can at 30yards (if you don't mind the occasional sideway's hit)..gets progressively worse with range.

A 100-130gr. DEAD SOFT bullet .351" - .352" can be loaded down the barrel (where it kind of rides on top of the lands with just a little engravement), if the powder charge is 30gr. or above, and the lead really soft, will bump-up and engage the rifling...can shoot very well.

dlemaster · « **Reply #5 on:** June 28, 2005, 12:59:25 AM »

This reminds me of an experience I had back in the early 70s.
A friend bought one of those cheap CVA kits in .45 cal. One day we were just plinking around and used up all the round balls we had cast, this rifle shot round balls "just OK" nothing spectacular. My friend had just cast up a bunch of bullets for his .45 ACP so just on an urge to keep shooting for a while, he loaded one of them over 70 grains of 3F, the bullets were very lightly engraved by the rifling. The El Cheapo rifle suddenly started to shoot. We then installed a new set of TC sights and my friend could consistantly break clay pidgon targets set up at 100 yards.
Just goes to show you never can know, till you try.

Regards, Dave

Slamfire · « **Reply #6 on:** July 05, 2005, 01:34:51 AM »

Get a taper crimp die for one of the true 9mms. The 9x19 is the most common. You can size 125s down to .350 and hope the bullet slugs up enough when fired.