44mag & 45-70 bullets?

[Axis II]

I'm looking to stock up on bullets for 44mag Handi rifle and 45-70. both these rifles will be used to primarily hunt hogs and deer.

I see a ton of different bullets online with a great spread of prices and design.

my buddy casts for revolvers and says get a lead hard cast gas checked bullet and it will do everything I want.

I don't case and probably wont so is there a place to get these pre made?

is there any difference in loading cast vs jacket?

Im not looking to load a bunch for range use just load about 100-200 to sight in and hunt with.

also where do you buy bullets for these cal? midway has flouting prices.
thanks.

 

[adcoch1]

I've had good luck with my foray into cast bullets by using lasercast for 44 mag. They are a hard alloy, without a gas check, come presized and lubed, and load very easily. I am using their 200gr bullets, and i got 500 at cabelas for $73. If you dont want to get into casting you might want to look into coated bullets, because there are some subtleties to loading and shooting bare lead. I also use hornady bullets in all calibers i load, and have found them to be affordable quality.

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

 

[mdi]

OOPS!

 

[mdi]

Google "Cast Bullet Suppliers" and you'll get several commercial casters. But there are some things you should know before shooting lead bullets. One is the groove diameter of your barrel. Lead bullets preform best if slightly larger (.002"-.003" larger) than groove diameter. More accurate and less (no) leading. "Hard" is an over used term and I've been casting/shooting lead bullets for my 5, .44 Magnums with my "mystery metal" alloy of around 12 BHN. Gas checks will alow a little slop in fit, but fit is still very important. Find a commercial caster that offers a variety of diameters percaliber so you can purchase bullets to fit your gun. Don't own/shoot a 45/70 but I've sent thousands of .44 cast bullets down range and yep, a 250 grain semi-wadcutter with gas check or a 250 grain round nose flat point with gas check will do just about anything you'll need.

My favorite cast bullet vendor is Beartooth Bullets. Before I cast a bullet, buy a mold, I'll purchase some from Beartooth to give them a try in my guns. I've purchased cast bullets from .224" 45 grain round nose to 265 grain RNFP in .44 caliber from Beartooth and have been more than satisfied with my purchases.

 

[gotboostvr]

I'm a big fan of 240gr XTP's.

They are pricier than a basic lead boolit.

Missouri bullet company is probably gonna be among the most economical, but still very high quality cast bullet.
Used them in a number of calibers.

I also like Matt's bullets. He has some very interesting and uncommon bullets. There's quite a few that look like they'd be good on deer. A little more expensive, but very high quality.

 

[Pete D.]

Yep. Beartooth. Missouri, Matt's.....all good.

 

[Maz2331]

Midway and CTD both carry cast bullets at reasonable costs. You can get a cast 405 grain for the .45-70 for about 20 or so cents each. I use them for powder-puff loads in my .458 Win Mag, and they shoot well.

 

[joem1945]

+1 on Missouri Bullets.