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Forbidden Knowledge About Handloading


MikedaddyH

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Can you load low enough to shoot subsonic in .308 AR and hit a water jug and recover the bullet for examination of the lands and grooves?   I've recovered bullets shot into snow during the winter (normal high veloctiy loads) and found them after snow melt on top the ground and except for just the very tip, pretty pristine.  My loads shooting into water/dirt is not an effective way to recover a nearly intact bullet.

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Great read 98Z5V !  I saved it in several spots on my favorites and will print it an put it in my reloading binder.  It give me an idea that if things went to hell, a major nuclear war, object striking earth, where life as wel know it, this info might be really useful.  A pound of Red Dot or my Titewad powder for my .45 ACP would go a long way at reloading with cast lead bullets when nothing else would ever be available.  I can see it having multiple applications, but survival would be an excellent reason. Subsonic does not mean not deadly.  Many a rabbit and other small game has been gotten with the lowly .22 CB short.  Hell, I even killed  pigeons one time with my home made blow gun, and that defenitely is sub sonic.

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My LGS had freebie "Basic Reloading Manual" put out by Hodgdon.  After reading this (above) I looked into the manual and found loads for 168 gr SIE HPBT using Titegroup and Clays, starting at 8 grains each with a vel of 1080 for Titegroup and 1060 for Clays.  Above that spec for the 168 gr SIE HPBT was 150 gr Nos BT and it had Trail Boss listed at 14.0 grain to start and a velocity of 1417 fps  27,100 PSI pressures.  I also found that on line at www.hodgdon.com in their load data section of their web.

 

I would think lead cast and resized bullets would be very useful for low velocity loads and one should always be able to find some sorts of lead from various sources.

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If you decide to run .308 Win subsonics, I'd shoot them from the shortest barrel you have, to start out.  You try to run them out of a 24" hunting rifle, and they might get stuck in the barrel.  That low velocity might have enough drag from the rifling to stop it in a longer barrel.  One at a time for testing, check for barrel obstruction each time, and hammer them out if they don't get out under their own power.  Round #2 would SUCK, if you didn't check every one...

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Back in the 80's I used to shoot cast bullets in a 30-06 I had, used them on jackrabbits just for the fun of it. They had gas checks on them and were cast straight up tire weights. I've still got the mold and sizer/lube die around here somewhere. I have absolutely no idea what load I used though, it's been so long ago, but they shot pretty good and leading wasn't a problem. I need to check my old Lyman manual and see if I have the load in there.

 

I should dig that stuff up and cast some bullets to try in the 300 BLK.!

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Well, doesn't make any difference anyway, the mold is no longer in my possession. I looked all over for it and I no longer have it I guess. I did have one of the bullets in a parts drawer and it was a 155 gr. bullet. I checked my old Lyman manual and I was loading with Unique powder but not sure of the charge. I'm going to guess it was around 13 to 14 grs.

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Not in a gas-gun, brother.  You'll clog that gasport in NO time...  I'm just sayin'...

 

Tom, I did a little research over at 300blktalk.com. A lot of those guys are powder coating their cast bullets before loading them (no other lube) but several have used cast and lubed lead bullets with and without gas checks and none have had any problem with fowling the gas port. My shooting buddy (the one who got me & Josh spun up on building 300 blk's) has also shot quite a bit of cast bullet loads in his with no problems. The general consensus seems to be that any lead that might find it's way into the gas port is blown on through the gas system by the gas itself.

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