Any interest in cast bullets?

[jimpa]

Originally Posted by BWE Firearms

Crawdaddy, thanks for the info.

I did some quick calculations last night and found that theoretically the heaviest bullet we can use in a 1-8" twist .308 barrel is 265 grains. Would there be enough interest in a 250-265 grain cast bullet to justify having molds made and making bullets. I would have both bullets and molds available for sale if there was enough interest.

That would be awsome, it would work in my 6.5 Twist for sure. Am Interested

[Crawdaddy]

BWE,

I'd be interested in a mold like that. I've been looking around, but haven't come across anything quite that heavy.

Do you have a design in mind? There are quite a few whisper shooters (and a ton of casting nuts) on the Castboolits forum. If you decide to go forward with it, I'm sure you'll find quite a few who are interested there. There are several custom mold makers there as well if you don't already have someone in mind.

Please keep me posted - I like the idea more and more.

Crawdaddy

[LouBoyd]

By "theoretically the heaviest we can use" do you mean it will stabilize if shot in the 1000-1025 fps range or if it's shot in the 2000+ fps range? Air density, muzzle velocity, bullet shape and bullet mass all matter in determining bullet stability for a given twist rate.

I do all of my shooting at an elevation of over a mile and expect I could shoot bullets even heavier. I can shoot 240 SMKs subsonic with no problem and they're longer than an equal weight cast lead bullet would be. While heavier bullets carry more energy at the same velocity, I doubt a 265 grain cast bullet will deliver as much downrange energy (200+ yards) as a 240 grain jacketed boatttail, or have as flat of trajectory as it will shed energy faster. In my opinion cast lead's main advantage is shooting in long barrel rifles where bore friction becomes a major problem with subsonic jacketed bullets.

Yes, I'd be interested in buying a 265 grain mold if it has a reasonably low drag (semi-spitzer, Postell,?) nose design and uses gas checks. I'd like to experiment with it at the mile elevation where I shoot in 8" and 10", and maybe 12" twist barrels.

[madscientist]

Alright here is my wish list as a loader for a cast bullet for any manufactures or enterprising individuals that would sell their wares. I love my whisper and can i just don't have time to cast bullets to put through it.

I think that other whisper, fireball, 300/221, 300 blk etc shooters might also like.
<$15/hundred price point
230-250 grain bullet
gc optional at least one lube band with lube filled.

Here is the biggie that I cant find on the market I WANT A SPRITZER OR SEMI POINTED BULLET!!!!!!!

A buddy gave me about 250 Lyman #311284 bullets that are 210 gr and I have gotten them to run in my M1S upper with AA1680 as subs.

If missouri bullet co or anyone else is listening I think others with a 300 upper and a can they can take apart to clean would love a cheap alternative to blast with, at least I would.

Ok manifesto over.....

[hugginsvilleH&A]

BWE I like the hoch mold(other than the price) pretty much the only draw back is the nose pour eliminated any "tricks" you could do to the nose of the bullet but that is very minor at best still hits like a ton of bricks and when it tumbles after hitting target its still a deadly round and you cant beat the price of casting, if you look for "Hotguns" on/around various forums(I think he has passed thru here also , do a search) he's a machinist that has all kinds of experience with the whisper and has made some molds that was throwing 275gr if I remember correctly not sure what ever happened to that one, but I'm sure it would be a hit if you could find one

[BWE Firearms]

I got my theoretical weight by first using the twist calculator at http://kwk.us/twist.html to get a.312 dia lead bullet at 1000 fps out of a 1-8" twist barrel to get a maximum length bullet of 1.37". I then used the mold designer at http://www.mountainmolds.com/ using the defaults as cast .312 dia bullet the weight of 265 grains is 1.368" to 1.381 long. This is just the preliminary weights. I know the weight will change with bullet design but its a starting point.

This will be a strictly subsonic bullet. From what I have learned over the years at subsonic velocities the nose design is not of great concern as it is in supersonic bullets. This is why full wad cutter bullets are used in pistols for extreme accuracy in bullseye revolvers. Unfortunately wad cutters don't feed to well. I want to keep the shape as close to a cylinder as possible to get maximum stability and weight. I have to do some mock ups to see what will feed the best in most rifles and still give me what I want. I am thinking the nose shape like the Lyman #311284 or like the Saeco #311 Truncated Cone. I have to try both shapes to see what works the best. The most important thing with subsonic bullets is the base, since this is were most drag is created in subsonic bullets. It will not have a gas check as at 1000 fps they are not needed. It will at least have a bevel base bullet for ease of loading and a little less drag. I am thinking of trying a rebated boat-tail since this has proved to be the best in jacketed subsonic bullets. The rebated boat-tail also moves the center of gravity forward which is what you want. It will probably be a bore-rider bullet.

I want to keep the price point under $10/100 sized and lubed. I want to keep them as cheap as possible but I also want them to be very accurate as well. This is the first bullet I am designing so if anyone has useful information please share it. It would be nice to get it right the first time.

[Crawdaddy]

Here's something to think about for a spire point design...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=80372

Group buy going now on a 198 gr spire point gas check mold. I'm tempted, but will stick to my Lee 200gr gc mold for now. As someone mentioned above, I'm not sure we'd see the benefit of the spire point at sub velocities.

[madscientist]

Lyman #311334 also looks good if it weighed a bit more.
But the spire point helps in feed and function not sure about subsonic aerodynamics.
That group buy cast boolit design looks good also. I just don't cast, so yea their design looks good also.

[thehouseproduct]

Originally Posted by LouBoyd

In my opinion cast lead's main advantage is shooting in long barrel rifles where bore friction becomes a major problem with subsonic jacketed bullets.

The best reason for cast in a 300W is to find a cheap subsonic replacement for the $0.50 bullets we use otherwise.

Originally Posted by BWE Firearms

I got my theoretical weight by first using the twist calculator at http://kwk.us/twist.html to get a.312 dia lead bullet at 1000 fps out of a 1-8" twist barrel to get a maximum length bullet of 1.37". I then used the mold designer at http://www.mountainmolds.com/ using the defaults as cast .312 dia bullet the weight of 265 grains is 1.368" to 1.381 long. This is just the preliminary weights. I know the weight will change with bullet design but its a starting point.

This will be a strictly subsonic bullet. From what I have learned over the years at subsonic velocities the nose design is not of great concern as it is in supersonic bullets. This is why full wad cutter bullets are used in pistols for extreme accuracy in bullseye revolvers. Unfortunately wad cutters don't feed to well. I want to keep the shape as close to a cylinder as possible to get maximum stability and weight. I have to do some mock ups to see what will feed the best in most rifles and still give me what I want. I am thinking the nose shape like the Lyman #311284 or like the Saeco #311 Truncated Cone. I have to try both shapes to see what works the best. The most important thing with subsonic bullets is the base, since this is were most drag is created in subsonic bullets. It will not have a gas check as at 1000 fps they are not needed. It will at least have a bevel base bullet for ease of loading and a little less drag. I am thinking of trying a rebated boat-tail since this has proved to be the best in jacketed subsonic bullets. The rebated boat-tail also moves the center of gravity forward which is what you want. It will probably be a bore-rider bullet.

I want to keep the price point under $10/100 sized and lubed. I want to keep them as cheap as possible but I also want them to be very accurate as well. This is the first bullet I am designing so if anyone has useful information please share it. It would be nice to get it right the first time.

PLEASE don't make a bevel base. Read up on the difficulty of lubing bevel base boolits. If you want to ease loading, buy a Lyman M die.

Are you thinking about a bore riding design?

[fpjeepy05]

Originally Posted by BWE Firearms

Crawdaddy, thanks for the info.

I did some quick calculations last night and found that theoretically the heaviest bullet we can use in a 1-8" twist .308 barrel is 265 grains. Would there be enough interest in a 250-265 grain cast bullet to justify having molds made and making bullets. I would have both bullets and molds available for sale if there was enough interest.

300 Whisper Lead Spitzer 275 Grain bullets

I'm not sure if this is similar to what you are talking about? I found it surfing around.