Moving from revolvers to rifles for cast

[hamour]

Gentlemen, I am experienced revolver boolit caster. 45 colt to .38 special.
I have NOE and MP molds and 2 twenty pound bottom pour Lee pots.

Now I am considering rifle bullet casting in .458 or .308 calibers.

From the look of things, the .308 caliber will cast well with my current set up, but I worry about the .458 bullets in the 400gr to 500 gr range.

Do I need to go towards a ladle pouring set up? I just don’t know if I can get enough lead down the mold fast enough for the big .458 weights?

Also, will Lyman # 2 flat nosed bullets give me expansion @ 1500 to 2000 fps?
On deer and hogs, or should I go towards a tin to lead mix of 1/20?

Any general info on how to transition from revolver casting-shooting to rifle casting-shooting will be appreciated.

Guns available:

1903A3 30-06

Valmet 30-06 O/U

WW-30-30 Mod 94

Marlin 24” BBL 30-30

Ruger # 1 in 45-70

Pedersolli 45-70 double rifle (BBLs well regulated @ 50yds with 400gr factory loads plus some 400gr +P loads)

Marlin 45-70 early 70’s version

Which rifle do you think would be the easiest rifle to start learning with on rifle bullet casting?

Take care
Hank

[btroj]

The 30-30 is very easy to cast for. Get a 165 Ranch Dog mould and let em rip. Should work well in both 30-30's you listed. I like 17 gr of 2400 for a hood, accurate load. For more velocity you can use the typical 30-30 powders and get everything with cast you can with jacketed.
The 45-70 is ot tough either. Just make sure to size to your bore diameter. I use .460 for my Marlin 1895, don't know what your Ruger will want. You can easily load from mild to wild. Your shoulder will be the limiting factor.
None of the ones you listed is hard to load for but these 2 are simple.

[NSP64]

I use lee bottom pour pots, and for the big boolits I use a Lyman ladle (in the bottom pour pot) You just have to keep the lead topped off( pot full). Good luck.

[Jim]

I cast boolit calibers/weights from .311/100 to .458/500. I used a bottom pour Lee pot for years until that dang leak drove me to chucking it in the dumpster. I cast everything I have now with a ladle and have no problems at all.

[Wayne Smith]

Either your 30-30's or one or more of your 45-70's would be a good starting place. Both are relatively low pressure rounds that can be loaded hotter. Personally, if I had one, I'd start with the 45-70 double! That's personal predjuice, though. Seriously, go with the 45-70 that handles recoil the best - you are likely to do a lot of shooting!

[x101airborne]

That pedersoli is not for the experienced, noble gentleman such as yourself. Why burden such an exalted mind with a mediocre malgamation of pot metal and balsa? If you will ship it to me, I will see to the proper recycling. LOL. I wish.

[quilbilly]

I would stick with the bottom pour pot for efficiency's sake. I have been commercially pouring custom fishing jigheads up to 4 ounces for 30 years and have learned to live with the leaks which cause me to replace the pots every four years. That same pot works wonderfully for all of my boolit pouring needs. I just use up the junk lead for the jigheads and quickly refill the pot with boolit lead while it is still hot.
I agree with the other casters that your best starting place for pouring rifle boolits will be either the 30/30 or 45/70. Both are a joy to work with. While I use no gas checks on my handgun boolits, I put them on all of my rifle boolits just for versatility at all velocities.
Good luck and have fun!

[Tazman1602]

..........one of the 45-70's hands down.......................

[helice]

Yeah! What they said.
I agree with btrog that the 30-30 with a Ranch Dog is about as great a combination as you can find. A Ranch Dog should do great in your 45-70s too. Shooting the 45-70 with cast is way too much fun. Load 'em light and shoot all day. What a kick ringing the gong at 300yds. It usually shocks the young ones when an old single-shot with "open" sights can shoot so good with "home made" boolits.
My old Saeco and an ancient Lyman 20#er have been good enough for the 400 grain 45s. There's a bunch of guys on this forum that make beautiful moulds. Get your melt on. Shoot us some targets. Take us some pictures. And keep writin' cause I'm learnin. Helice

[NuJudge]

Pistol bullets typically don't need anything special in the way of bullet lubricant. Rifle bullets do. I really like NRA formula and its variations. You will also find you have less trouble with lubricant smoke from rifles. I attribute this to higher pressures cleaning things up.

CDD

[peerlesscowboy]

I've cast a ton of 500+ grain .45 bullets out the bottem spout of my old Lyman 10# MouldMaster, I've never used a LEE pot so if the spout is smaller??
I also would suggest starting with the .45-70 and/or .30-30, and if I might suggest get yourself an RCBS 3 die "Cowboy" loading die set for the .30-30. They're designed for loading cast and they really work nice!
Don't worry about the one to two thousands over groove diameter thing, just size 'em as big as the castings and chamber neck will allow. Even the hardest cast lead bullet is quite a bit softer than a copper jacket, for example; .30-30, groove diameter .308........I'm sizing Ly31141's thru' a (313) sizing die just rounds 'em up and they come out right at .312", .004" over groove and they shoot great! Very important with cast is that the bullets starts as close to exactly centered with the bore as possible, a slightly off centered jacketed bullet will sort'a funnel itself into the bore without much deformation but a cast bullet will deform itself much worse if it isn't well centered when it hits the rifling.
As to the expansion question with Ly#2 alloy I'd be interested in others replies on that myself? Case you haven't seen it, I've got a similar question posed here in the "hunting" section...........

John C. Saubak

[45-70 Chevroner]

I shoot a Pedersoli Remington roller. I use the 500 Gr Lee mold it has nice deep grease grooves and shoots great. I also use a Lee 20#er bottom pour and have no problems with boolit fill out. I love that Lee pot, leaks and all. I wish Jim had sent me that old pot I would even have let him pay for the shipping. Wellllll I probably would have paid for the shipping though.