cast in a Mini-14 ???

[405WIN]

Recently I found a box of Lyman cast bullets I made over 30 years ago for a 22-250. I remember that they did not work well for me then, but, I was a teenager at the time
The idea crept into my head that this might be a fun project for my Mini-14 Tactical. So... I loaded some up with a variety of powders I have on hand and proceeded out to the Desert to give them a try. Much to my surprise, I had no trouble hitting pop cans at 75 paces. Only thing is, the action would not cycle and I had to manually eject each spent cartridge.
Back at the reloading room, I did some research and decided to give IMR 4198 a try. Sure enough,, 18.0 grains almost but not quite cycled the action. I know this is several grains more than Lyman reccomends but is still below the 20.00 charge for a J bullet.
Should I try 19.5 grains?. I think it would cycle the action but the velocity might be way to much for a cast bullet.
Curious to se if anyone else has any experience shooting .22 cast bullets from a mini-14 or similar.

[Jailer]

If you are not cycling the action on a mini 14 then you are running some REALLY light loads. Most mini 14's benefit from an adjustable gas block to tame the action down a bit on standard factory loads.

[x101airborne]

I have tried cast in an AR-15 with dismal results. I did not want to alter the recoil spring, so I tried to make it work as is. Well, it did not work. At all. I was using red dot and by the time the action started cycling, the accuracy was horrible, the function was unreliable, and the barrel and gas system was leaded to the hilt. I dont own a mini, but would imagine your results to be the same.

[reloader28]

I like 8gr Unique cause it DONT work the action and was fairly accurate in mine. I dont loose my brass when I have to cycle it by hand.

I've tried Unique, 2400, 4198 and 4227. Try 13-15gr 4227 (I havent went higher). I got some from my uncle a couple weeks ago, and tried it and like it. Better accuracy (about 1" @ 50yd) and it only throws the brass about 5-6 feet compared to the 40-50 feet of a full power load. I used heat treated boolits.

I'm still playing with loads myself, so thats as far as I've got.

[405WIN]

You know, I have had the same thought about the advantage of working the bolt by hand.
This would be a small game bullet and there is really no need to have it in semi auto mode when shooting at a cotton tail rabbit.

[mooman76]

Fast powders quite often don't work the action in auto loaders and a slower powder is needed.

[Moonie]

18gr of H4895 cycles my AR-15 with mid length gas system with 55gr bator. Honestly haven't tested for accuracy yet however.

[JIMinPHX]

You can get oversize gas port bushings for a mini that will let them cycle with lower pressure cartridges. They are not hard to change. I think that you just need an Allen wrench.