Bigger Bores & Bigger Bullets

Guy Miner · Mar 26, 2020

Joec7651":3o1ozau5 said:
405 grains of hard cast lead at 1824 fps will convince anything to lay down and let ya take its picture. The picture of the rifle isn’t that great but she’s purdy in real life.

Lots of respect here for the big-bore Marlins! Those are GREAT looking cast bullets too.

Joec7651 · Apr 3, 2020

Guy Miner":2ghnpwpr said:
Joec7651":2ghnpwpr said:

405 grains of hard cast lead at 1824 fps will convince anything to lay down and let ya take its picture. The picture of the rifle isn’t that great but she’s purdy in real life.

Click to expand...

Lots of respect here for the big-bore Marlins! Those are GREAT looking cast bullets too.

Thank you Guy, its an Accurate mold. Sized to .459 with Gator gas checks. I use White Label Carnauba Red for lube.

kselkhunter · Apr 3, 2020

I stick to the "medium" bores where I can get enough bullet energy for most animals but with significantly less recoil and no need for a muzzle break than if I stepped up to one of the magnums in 375, 416, 458, etc. calibers.

My primary medium bores are a 35 Whelen shooting 250gr bullets: Speer HotCor, my leftover Grand Slam supply, and of course Nosler Partitions. I also have a pile of the 250gr Beartooth hardcast GC bullets, that weigh 258gr. If ever needed to go bigger, can just step up to 300gr Hawk and 310gr Woodleigh bullets.

Or my 356 Winchester, which for now I'm shooting only 220gr Speer HotCor in. Still waiting on the 250gr Hawk bullets to arrive (they have a shortage on the jacket materials right now). And will also load up the 250gr Kodiak bullets.

Spring bear just opened in Oregon two days ago, but haven't gotten out yet. Will use both rifles for spring bear this year depending on which part of the unit I go.

Cleveland48 · Apr 3, 2020

Guy Miner":1vv2b35a said:
Such great stuff here guys. Thank you!

Yes, the 260 gr AccuBond does well. I sent a few completely through black bears, but this one was recovered from the off-side hide of one I shot at about 15'.

After tracking down the bear wounded by another hunter. Considerable pucker factor on that one as I could hear the bear moving, hear him breathing, yet couldn't see him in the brush. Finally I saw a bit of bear through the branches and shot it. Never reloaded that Number One so fast!

Here's the recovered 260 gr AccuBond:

Recovered weight was 218 grains and it measures nearly 3/4" diameter. Muzzle velocity was about 2650 fps as I recall. It has varied from 2620 - 2650 with different batches of my handloads over the years.

I remember reading that the 260 AccuBond successfully stopped a charging cape buff in Africa - and I don't think that was an event that had been planned for... :grin:

It sure seems like a pretty decent bullet to me. Quite accurate and flat shooting too.

Guy

That's great looking performance Guy! Cant wait to try out the 250 AB on game in my 9.3x62 next deer season.

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Guy Miner · Apr 3, 2020

Have been doing some varmint rifle loading of my own here today:

Cast 405 with enough 3031 for 1700+ fps. That ought to be sufficient.

Yes, that is one heck of an old can of IMR 3031. A buddy who got out of handloading a while back gave me seven pounds of powder, including this one.

Guy