300 Blackout Sub Sonic cast bullets.

[C.Alls]

I purchased a Ruger American Ranch 300 Blackout a few months ago and decided I wanted to find a good cast bullet for subsonic work. I went through all the Lee molds and a few RCBS molds till I found a bullet with some promise. I then took that mold and sent it out to have a .250 meplat machined into the mold with a nice hollow point and had the gas check milled off.

I got the mold back a few weeks ago and the bullets are dropping at 148-149 grains and look nice. Next was the chore of trying to find a good cartridge OAL that would work in my magazine and get the bullet close to the lands. It worked out to be 2.015" and for powder I used Trail Boss starting with 5.4gr and working backwards to 4.8gr. Much to my surprise I had two combos grouping 1/2" at 55 yards.

So I decided to go with 5.2 grains of Trail Boss and a OAL of 2.015 with the chronograph reading 1012fps average. I plan to stretch it out to 100 yards next week but for now this is the perfect setup for protecting my chickens and goats from predators. If anyone would like to try some of the bullets let me know. They're cast from 40:1 lead/tin and coated with the Lee bullet lube. So far I have 50 rounds down the barrel with no loss of accuracy so I don't think barrel leading will be too bad. Anyone else have success with cast bullets?

 

[DaemonAssassin]

I would try to shoot them into a jug of water to see what kind of expansion you get. You might not get what you think, in regards to expansion and weight retention.

 

[Bootknife]

Good Looking Bullet I need to do something like that for My Danial Defence Upper as I do cast Lead.

 

[amoebicmagician]

have you considered epoxy coating? I have seen amazing results, and at subsonic speeds, you are nowhere near the upper limit of where the epoxy jackets become iffy

 

[John from MD]

I shoot super sonic in my using the Lee 155 bullet. I found that you need to case that particular bullet harder so it doesn't get damaged transitioning from the magazine. I get good groups with traditionally sized bullets but can only get 2 inch groups using powder coat. That might be the best I can do as I tumble my powder coated bullets because I don't want to go through the trouble of spraying them.

I assume you are using a can and that is why you are shooting so slow. With your soft bullet, it should deform but I don't know how much penetration you will get. Although on the animals you are tageting, penetration won't be a big issue.

Did you send your mold to Kaine molds or Mountain molds for the modification? It looks good.

Regards,

John

 

[Sticky]

I shoot casts in my 300, mostly heavier (180 or more) for subsonic loadings (but some supers as well) and use both hi-tek and powder coat to prevent leading.. the hi-tek works great for me. Like John, I do dry tumble pc when I go that route, but mostly I use hi-tek lately.

I have had good luck with the Noe 30 hunter (188gr FN) and also with the M-P 155gr HP. I have a couple other molds to play with now that the holidays are over and I can get back out and do some casting and shooting.

 

[C.Alls]

I would try to shoot them into a jug of water to see what kind of expansion you get. You might not get what you think, in regards to expansion and weight retention.

That test is happening today hopefully.

Good Looking Bullet I need to do something like that for My Danial Defence Upper as I do cast Lead.

If you want some to try let me know.

have you considered epoxy coating? I have seen amazing results, and at subsonic speeds, you are nowhere near the upper limit of where the epoxy jackets become iffy

What exactly do you use for epoxy coating?

I assume you are using a can and that is why you are shooting so slow. With your soft bullet, it should deform but I don't know how much penetration you will get. Although on the animals you are tageting, penetration won't be a big issue.

Did you send your mold to Kaine molds or Mountain molds for the modification? It looks good.

Regards,

John

The mold was modified by Eric at hollow point mold service.

I shoot casts in my 300, mostly heavier (180 or more) for subsonic loadings (but some supers as well) and use both hi-tek and powder coat to prevent leading.. the hi-tek works great for me. Like John, I do dry tumble pc when I go that route, but mostly I use hi-tek lately.

I have had good luck with the Noe 30 hunter (188gr FN) and also with the M-P 155gr HP. I have a couple other molds to play with now that the holidays are over and I can get back out and do some casting and shooting.

Don you use the hi-tech liquid or powder?

 

[Sticky]

I use the hi-tek liquid, never honestly tried the powder

 

[John from MD]

What is Hi-Tec?

John

 

[Sticky]

It is essentially an epoxy coating that applies very thin and provides a barrier to the barrel surface, similar to PC. It was developed in Australia and has become popular over here now, several commercial casters offer HT coated boolits, like Bayou and Gateway. I get mine from Bayou Bullets and I use the liquid, though they offer a powder, the original formula as well, it's mixed with acetone to create a liquid coating... the liquid eliminates mixing, other than with acetone (the powder is a two part plus acetone). Both work equally well from what I've read on Castboolits and I have used both PC and HT with good results, though I mostly PC for pistol casts, I have been using Hi-Tek for my rifle applications and testing PC with them as well.

http://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com/about-our-coatings-1/

 

[Sticky]

It is essentially an epoxy coating that applies very thin and provides a barrier to the barrel surface, similar to PC. It was developed in Australia and has become popular over here now, several commercial casters offer HT coated boolits, like Bayou and Gateway. I get mine from Bayou Bullets and I use the liquid, though they offer a powder, the original formula as well, it's mixed with acetone to create a liquid coating... the liquid eliminates mixing, other than with acetone (the powder is a two part plus acetone). Both work equally well from what I've read on Castboolits and I have used both PC and HT with good results, though I mostly PC for pistol casts, I have been using Hi-Tek for my rifle applications and testing PC with them as well.

http://hi-performancebulletcoatings.com/about-our-coatings-1/

Okay, been a while since I coated any, messed up here... I use the powder, mix with acetone and apply... the liquid is the original and the two part mixture. My bad... lol

The process is similar to dry tumble powder coating, in that you apply it by mixing it with your cast boolits in a container, swirl it around a bit to thoroughly coat and then bake it to cure... But with HT, you repeat that process and coat them twice (or at least I do and most do). This ensures a thick enough coating.

The coating is smoother and more consistent (and thinner) than my DTPC coated boolits. Both seem to work pretty much equally well to prevent leading.

 

[John from MD]

Thanks for the information Sticky.

John

 

[Sticky]

Glad to help John!

Here are a couple of pics to give examples...

Dry Tumble PC with a Lee 309230gr 30 cal

and HT coated twice with the same boolits...

You can see the HT is a thinner and less 'splotchy' coating as compared to the PC.. both work, smash test, etc.... But the HT coating is thinner and smoother than the PC. Both resize fine, no lube needed. You do see a bit of smoothing on the coatings (both) when sizing in those areas where the diameter is being slightly reduced.

 

[John from MD]

I use Harbor Fright white and red powder because it is cheap. It does not look nice when it comes out of the oven but I have found no difference between it and traditional lubed bullets at 100 yds. With a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight on my AR platform, I get two inch groups from the bench.

I got into the 300 BO when .22 LR and .223 components and powder were scarce. The idea was to make a cheap round that I could shoot in the AR when I couldn't practice with .223 or 22LR. Since I make my own bullets and brass, the 300 was a no brainer. I didn't spend a lot of money on the upper either as I pieced it together and threw a cheap SA 1in8 barrel on it.

As I enter retirement, I find I am getting CHEAP where I didn't used to be during my working years.

Regards,

John

 

[Sticky]

We are in the same boat.. I don't cast for the smaller calibers, like 223, 25 cal, but I do for 300, 308 and several pistol calibers. I have been able to amass some lead (wheel weights) and have enjoyed learning to cast boolits on the cheap for those calibers, especially the 300 shooting subs, since the heavy 308 boolits are pricey.

I'm still new at it, but the 300 is one of my projects, as it is a cheap round to shoot if you load and cast for it and that carries over to my 308 AR's that like to eat ammo as well.

 

[SgtKope]

I have used HiTek coated 245gr from Missouri Bullet company with success in 300BLK.

 

[John from MD]

After I change my coin jar into cash, I am going to look at getting a gang mold from NOE for my 300 without GC's. From what I have learned with my 300 BO and 44 Mag, GC bullets do lose accuracy without the GC whether they are PC or traditionally lubed and sized.

The only reason I am using the Lee 155gn was because it was cheap and available, I would like to dispense with the gas checks even though I make my own because they are an additional step I don't need to do.

John