Greetings,
Well, for a guy who wrote in his own notes he probably would not pursue cast bullet shooting in his .308, I have proved myself mistaken. I cast some bullets with a borrowed .30 caliber mold, Lee 170 grain, about 450. Finally I got the .309 sizer and a top punch, and loaded up initial rounds to try down by the lake (no fish in it, darn it). What I loaded was 5 each with 24 grains IMR 4227 and Accurate 5744, both loads were pretty much in the middle of the load range for the two powders in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. Cases were LC, CCI 200 primers, SPG lube applied with the lubrisizer and gas checks. My thought was if one showed more promise than the other, I would concentrate on that powder in future loads. Here are the initial results at 50 yards (didn't feel like walking out a hundred yard).
4227: Lateral 3.56 inches Vertical 3.72 inches CEP 4.55 inches
5744: Lateral 2.14 inches Vertical 0.90 inches CEP 2.14 inches
I had one outlier, it added an inch to Lateral and CEP measurement.
With this as a start, I might even be able to hit the silly groundhog this spring. Anyway, starting on a new cast bullet venture easier on my shoulder than the 45-70. Later I plan on getting a mold for the 25-06.
TK