I fired a good few cast rifle bullets in the past, but not recently.  They were all gas checked.  I have intended for years to test plain base because of the high cost of gas checks but just never got to it. I fired 25 on Saturday in a 308 Win Sako in front of 10 grains of MP200. The sole and only purpose at this point was to test for leading. Don’t know what the velocity is as don’t have access to a chrono right now. As the trial progresses I’ll find some kind soul who’ll chrono them but only when I’ve workedout what works best. That includes seating depth, rifling contact and all sorts of other factors. Might even have to modify a mould. The nearest guide to MV is Lyman’s for Unique, which tells me I’m in the 1300-1400FPS area. As that’s the velocity that gets one hole 200 yard groups in Schuetzen shooting I reckon that’s where I need to be.
So what’s it about ? I haven’t hunted for years, probably never will again, not because of objection to it but because it’s a low priority and I don’t get thre high priority things done. I don’t shoot any kind of formal rifle comp either. I just want to enjoy my rifle occasionally on my local rangle ( convenient and familiar ) which is max 50 metres. Not much point in sending jacketed spitzers down a 50m range at 2500FPS not to mention the cost. But rimfire is boring. I like handloading, especially cast rifle loads which are an extra challenge. What’s needed is an economical load with low recoil and muzzle report. But it’s no fun if it’s not accurate. That will be the second stage of development.
For the time being this first plain base trial went quite well. It is a Lee 180 grain bullet that actually weighs 172 grains with 8% antimony and no gas check. I fired 25 rounds. No leading was visually apparent.  I started cleaning with a patch rather than a brush because I wanted to see what would come out on the patch. Practically nothing. All I could see was a dozen or so tiny particles of lead much smaller than grains of suger. Of course leading mostly takes the form of streaks in the grooves that tend not to come off on a patch. So then I scrubbed out the bore with a bronze brush. Couldn’t find any sign of lead. The difficulty with visual inspection is that the leade is a long way to see because of the action and chamber, so the fact that I got minimal lead on the patch and can’t see any visually doesn’t mean there isn’t any. eally needs a bore scope to check. But on the evidence the leading was pretty much zero.
Of course 25 rounds isn’t much so a longer test will be needed. Will also push the velocity a bit further to establish the practical limit. A bit more antimony will help, maybe 10%, and a special rifle lube might help as well. All will be tested in time.
[Originally posted to SATalkGuns -- Admin]