Casting rifle rounds for 223 and 308

Armory » Reloading

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Casting rifle rounds for 223 and 308

Posted: 8/12/2011 8:51:46 AM EDT

I was thinking of looking into casting 223 and 308 rounds for my Ar-15 and STG-58 I thought I read that cast rounds do not do well in semi auto weapons is that true? Is there away you can still use cast rounds in these weapons if so how? Thanks for the help I would look this up but been bust at my police academy since June.

Posted: 8/12/2011 9:03:16 AM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
I was thinking of looking into casting 223 and 308 rounds for my Ar-15 and STG-58 I thought I read that cast rounds do not do well in semi auto weapons is that true? Is there away you can still use cast rounds in these weapons if so how? Thanks for the help I would look this up but been bust at my police academy since June.

The lead has to be hard enough for the bullet not to deform during feeding and jam your rifle. Also, with lead, you're limited on max velocity you achieve before you get abysmal leading in the barrel creating potentially unsafe shooting conditions, ie. pressure, in the barrel. 308 is probably doable, 223 I would think is out of the question. Only question on the 308 is whether your reduced load with the lead bullet will cycle the rifle.

Posted: 8/12/2011 9:05:58 AM EDT

[#2]

Lead shoots really dirty and I would not want all that crap in my gas system.

Posted: 8/12/2011 1:14:07 PM EDT

[#3]

Well the AK seems to not mind cast at all and cycles just fine, play with your alloy and sizing to find what works best for you

Posted: 8/12/2011 4:33:46 PM EDT

[#4]

I'm loading my home cast bullets in 7.62x39 in steel cased Berdan primed cases.

They feed just fine, I shoot a gas checked 155 gr bullet at about 1800 fps and get no leading.

Yes the gas tube gets dirty. It also gets dirty shooting Wolf jacketed factory ammo.

Not much of an issue for me as I clean my weapons after shooting anyway.

OP, use a gas checked bullet heavy for the caliber, a fairly hard alloy, and keep the velocity in the 1500 to 1800 fps range.

Lyman 49 has lots of cast bullet loads.

Don't listen to people who have never tried shooting cast bullets in a semi auto rifle.

Posted: 8/12/2011 5:04:14 PM EDT

[#5]

older Lyman manuals will list up to 2700' + fps in .308

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Casting rifle rounds for 223 and 308

Armory » Reloading

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