Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Don't Forget About Those Reduced Loads

They may have a place in the quiver.

An article by our own Mule Deer, JB. from Handloader Feb/Mar 2017

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/reduced-rifle-loads

"..The perfect-cartridge trend continues today, but social changes have revived reduced handloads, including Obama’s election and reelection. Ammunition and handloading components became harder to find, and many shooters who thought rimfire ammunition would always be cheap and abundant were disillusioned. Many decided reduced handloads made more sense than buying .22 Long Rifle ammunition costing $50 to $75 a brick – when it could be found.."

One of the beautiful things about shooting cast bullets. I started shooting cast in a .308 Win. around 1971 or ‘72 @ 19 or so. I used it for snakes, armadillos, plinking, and squirrels in the fall. It gave me the opportunity to shoot year round with my deer rifle.

Since then, it’s been cast in , 270’s, .338’s, and 375’s which great, inexpensive, low recoil practice stuff…..which could be “pressed” into big game use if absolutely necessary! memtb

Do you cast your own bullets or are rifle bullets easily available?

I too started casting and shooting reduced loads long ago. 1968 found 15 year old me with a shiny old Krag cavalry carbine ($40 out the door, for a genuine carbine) which I couldn't afford to shoot as much as I wanted to with store-bought bullets. Lyman saw fit to sell me a 155 grain plain base mold and I was off to the races. I shot groundhogs by stalking close, squirrels, rabbits, and a pheasant or two. In the late fall I switched her back to 180 RN jacketeds and took to the deer woods. As I recall my go-to load with the cast bullet was 7 grains Red Dot, don't ask me what my load was with the 180's. That rifle was like an extension of my soul, thanks mainly to the thousands of those cast bullet reduced loads I put through it. That rifle definitely set me up for a lifetime of shooting reduced loads in everything I've owned - the several dozen bullet molds I own are mute testimony to that.

Anecdote: most of the brass I used back then was turn-of-the-20th century military stuff. Good brass that held up well even though I was clueless about annealing. You gotta remember that at the time that brass was 60-ish years old, no different than shooting brass from the 1960's today.

Most of my rifle loads are lighter in nature, I tend to use faster powders with light for cartridge bullets.

For just flat out fun, cheap plinking, 32 S&WL loads through a Henry BBS carbine has been to go-to for the past couple years. Takes me a long time to burn up a pound of Unique at 2.8gr a pop. I shoot commercial cast through it, but they're still relatively cheap when bought in quantity.

Neat gun and story! Sort of reminds me of my teenager $100 swedish mauser in the 90's. The gun was made in 1916 and I was 16 when I got it. But I didn't get near the versatility out of my rifle as you did yours.

Problem today is, even reduced loads need primers! GD

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If directed to me….casting ( started with handguns) my own since I was around 18 or so. I can’t answer as to the availability of rifle bullets…..never looked! 😉

When I started casting and shooting light load 38 Specials….I was shooting them cheaper than I could buy 22 LR’s. Of course…..that’s not placing a $ value on my time. I saw it as a very enjoyable hobby…..that saved me a lot of $! memtb

It was meant for you and thanks for your reply. I'd like to try some cast bullets but think I should buy some first to see if this is something I could and would enjoy, as if that would really be a question...

Can't help either with a commercial source, I have never bought a store-bought cast bullet. PM sent re: some samples from gnoahhh's Bullets R Us.

Thanks gnoahhh. PM replied.

I Shoot Berry's plated bullets in pistol and rifle. As far as primers go I was able to get SR and SP. Also picked up 308 and 243 SR brass.

I have a blast with them. So far my favorite by far is the following concoction. Gallery loads.

For those who know me well know that I get really bored in the cold and very windy (yuk) Wyoming winters.

I have a new version Winchester 1873 in 44-40. I have been interested in using soft lead cast bullet for a super light plinking load. I'm talking barely getting out of the barrel, very silent load. Thinking maybe 400 to 500 ft. per second. Well I tried something different today. I took a Hornady 44 lead ball (.433 diameter) and swaged it to .430" with a Lee bullet sizing die. I sat it in the case with 2 grains of Winchester 231. Works like a charm. I shot it in my snail bullet trap in my back yard. Distance was like 15 feet. Believe it or not there was a pop and a few milliseconds later dong! My BB gun takes about the same amount of time to travel that distance and make the distinct hitting sound. No hearing protection needed. Like a CB 22 cal. One of these days I'm going to chronograph the load but I'm guessing about 500 feet per second.

Working the same deal in my new Winchester 1895 in 405 Win. Using 30-40 Krag brass and 41 cal cast bullets.As soon as it gets back from surgery. Drilled and tapped for Skinner peeps.

If a non-caster…..this would be a great argument for having a .35 caliber rifle. Choose a good cartridge (.35 Whelen, 358 STA, 350 G&H, REM Mag., ect) and load them up with bought cast bullets for handguns or even jacketed bullets at reduced velocities!

If you choose one of the magnums…..you have a cartridge with enough power, velocity for big game (even dangerous game) out to long ranges. And, with the reduced load cast (or jacketed) a good small game rifle…or close range big game rifle with proper bullet placement!

OSU Sig……this may be a good excuse to buy a new rifle , if you don’t already have a .35 caliber! A .35 cal rifle can be very versatile if you have a little imagination! 😉


NOTE: If you use one of the large capacity magnums (I load for the .338 WM, the 375 H&H, and a .375 AI)….you will likely want some form of filler ( to fill the large void in the case) so as to get better, more even ignition. I don’t try for match quality loads….but can easily get sub 2” groups at 100 yards with our magnum rifLes! memtb

My wife killed her last caribou at 200 yards with reduced load factory 30-06 150s down a 17 inch barrel.

Mule Deer has pointed out that data for cast bullets can be used for jacketed as well, although a little caution is indicated with very low-powered ones to avoid sticking one in the barrel. Someone with a pile of culls from load development, blems, or pulls can put those to use that way. The Berry’s plated ones seem to work well, on YouTube at least, and they put the recommended velocity limit on the box.

My favorite jacketed bullets for reduced/midrange loads are both Speers; the 110gr .308 Varminter, a FNHP, and the 46gr .224 FP designed for the .218. Have yet to pop anything with the 46gr, but the 110gr lets the air out of critters pretty quickly when loaded to 1500 or so. Would probably ‘splode ‘em at higher speeds.

hanks memtb. I just happen to have a couple of LH actions sitting around. One is a 700 LA and the other is a MRC LH Magnum SA.
Surely a guy could come up with something interesting out of those two…

Sounds like a good project! Had I not be thinking about Africa when I put together my .375 AI, one of the “hot rod” .35’s would have made an extremely versatile cartridge!

If you’re inquisitive (really bored) I can tell you about my excellent “trout load” for my rifle! 😉😂

In all seriousness….. I understand that some of yesteryear’s African hunters, when tiring of red meat at every meal, would use their “big bore” elephant rifles on water fowl. With the big bore bullet placed just beneath the bird sitting on the water, would cause enough hydraulic force to stun or kill the bird! A high velocity medium bore is pretty darn effectively used the same way……. Or, so I’ve been told! 😉 memtb

This has not been my experience, granted I base this on one rifle/chambering - .375 Taylor w/ 235 gr cast.

I tried both 11.o gr Unique and 11.o gr W231 for ~ 1,125 fps When I used a filler, group size and SD were worse, which did surprise me. Slightly higher velocity w/ filler.

I’m using 4198 for all of my cast larger bullet cartridges, the filler seemed to help. Perhaps with Unique or another fast burner, the filler is unnecessary and a detriment! memtb

This thread reminds me of what I read about Colonel Townsend Whelen in his early days when he used a single-shot .30-40 Krag and cast bullets and reduced loads for small game. He used the 220 grain load for large game. In some ways he liked the Krag more than the .30-06 because of the reduced recoil and 30 inch barrrel.

Been using them long before, all of these shortages.

I don't need a 500 yd load, to take down a 100 pound blacktail at 100 yds.

Since I have plenty of primers.. this winter I've been ringing steel at 300 yds with my 223s
with a charge of 9 grains of Unique with 40, 50, 52, 53 and 55 grain bullets.

worked just fine at 400 yds also...

teaches you to shoot better at longer distances, and teaches one how to use their scope's features...

This is a pretty good argument for having at least one rifle of .30 caliber or larger in the safe! For those of us that wish to be prepared for a “survivalist” type scenario…. a medium bore with light to moderate loads with cast bullets can cleanly take larger game! memtb

Yep. The beauty of mid-size .30's like .30-30, .303 Savage, and .30-40 is that factory-level loads can be concocted using cast bullets that are capable of withstanding the velocity without leading and be soft enough to expand nicely on soft tissue - and be as accurate as jacketed stuff too. Adding reduced loads, from "mouse fart level" to mid-range stuff, using the same mold is icing on the cake. A guy with one of those rifles, a couple good molds, and a well thought out stash of primers/powder can "live by the rifle" long after the lights go out. Frankly I'd rather have an outfit like that than a stash of .22LR's - while the .22 can do it all in a pinch, I'd feel a whole lot better about drawing down on a deer with a centerfire .30 at 2000fps while my hungry belly is tied up in knots than with a .22.

Example: .30-40 with 220gr. cast bullets at 2000fps equals the old Army load of a 220gr. jacketed bullet at the same velocity, and that same load with soft point bullets accounted for every species in North America and was considered to be "heap big medicine" during the first half of the 20th century. Substitute a 150gr. plain base bullet at 1000fps or so and small game is on the menu. We've become obsessed with higher and higher velocity and fancy equipment that we've lost sight of our roots, what's necessary for survival on a simple basic level.

You'll always find lead for melting into bullets, it's everywhere. If nothing else in a SHTF scenario just go around prying lead wheelweights off of all the cars/trucks that'll be sitting abandoned on the roads and streets.

I cast my first bullets to feed an old M94 Winchester on my 16th birthday in the moth of August 1954. If I reach my next birthday come mid August I will have been reloading and shooting cast bullets for 69 years. DAMN! Seems like only yesterday I popped those first reloads down that old rifle. I still have it too. It was originally my Great grandfather''s rifle that he bought in 1911. Since then I've run cast bullets in .223 Rem and .22 Hornet, 30-30, .308. 30-06, .358 Win., .35 Whelen, .375 H&H, 45-70 and .458 Win. Mag. To be honest, most of the time it's ben in the 30 calibers. I've loaded the 30-30 with plinking loads and full power hunting loads but prefer to run the hunting loads at about 1950 FPS rather than 2100-2200 FPS. For the .308 most loads were either plinking loads and target loads for killing paper. Did in quite a few jackrabbits as well. The .358 and .35 Whelen have mostly been experimental work as best as I haven't found anything that I like so far. The 45-70 shoots decently with a 330 gr. hollow point bullet and the .458 when O had in was fun. I'd wait a day or so after a rainy day and shoot 300, 400 and 500 gr. cast bullets at 45-70 BP lever gun loads and then dig them out of the damp sandbank. Got some interesting results. he 300 gr, RNFP bullets gave perfect mushrooms that looked exactly like those button mushroom you can buy in a can. The 400 gr. gave a decent mushroom but the 500 gr. bullets never opened up. Strange, because all three bullets came from the same pot of alloy.
On the .375 H&H, I used an RCBS bullet, #37-250-FN IIRC the mold number, I worked up to a load mentioned in the American Rifleman that was part of a two part article on working up cast bullet hunting load in the .375 for an African hunt. One of the loads shot well in my Ruger #1 .375 H&H so that's the one I stayed with.
Current work is with a Browning B78 30-06 with a 220 gr. Lyman round nose bullet at 30-40 Krag velocity level. Results have ben promising although it requires a lot of bullet weighing. One mold is marked 308284 and casts out at 225 gr. The other is a two cavity mold marked 311284 and casts bullets at 215 and 220 gr. I have a bad habit of running both at the same time so I need to weigh the bullets if I want any kind of accuracy. I have a Browning clone of the 1895 Winchester in 30-06 and I'm thinking of trying those 220 gr. bullets in that one as well.
I'm at the point in my life where the bigger boomers just ain't the fun they used to be. About the heaviest kicker I might shoot today would be my .35 Whelen if I were doing an elk hunt More than likely it would be a 30-06. The only full power stuff I've been working with lately is the 7x57 load to 7-08 levels. I might even drop down to that level if there is an elk hunt in my future.
PJ