Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Best cast bullet ammunition for the money?

Hey, fellow campers. I'd like to pick up some cast bullet ammunition for my S&W 686+ .357 mag. Anybody have any preferences based on their own experience?

Appreciate any and all feedback.

Geez, I always load my own so the commercial stuff is out of my experience. IF ya reload, 158 grain Semi-wadcutter cast hard over 7 grains Unique and go make load noises an poke holes!!

Never shot any factory cast bullet ammo; I cast my own. But I hear that Federal Castcore is pretty good stuff. You might also want to look into Buffalo Bore.

Thanks, fellas. Never got into cast bullets, but always found the science interesting. I've heard Buffalo Bore mentioned on the forum frequently and elsewhere, so I'm tempted to try them out. Hadn't heard of the Federal Castcor. Thanks.

Missed out on some B'Bore in the classified a couple months ago, or I'd already be at it with 'em.

This will be my way of checking to see if I'm gonna like shooting them, before I go and spend the money on the reloading gear.

I'm also looking to get another revolver, in .45 Colt this time. So this whole exercise is kind of a 2-3 headed monster, depending on how you look at it.

I like these guys.

http://www.missouribullet.com/

Dude is only around 100 miles from my location and I usually drive to his shop rather than getting them shipped. He's a nice guy. I think he puts out a quality product for the money too.

I'll check 'em out, E.E. Thanks.

I am just starting to explore hunting with cast bullets for the 357. I have always used bigger bores such as 44,45,454,45-70, and 475. However, I think the LBT-WFN are as close to ideal as you can get for hunting. At this time I am experimenting with a 180gr LBT-WFN from Rimrock bullets, but of course I haven't used them on game yet. These style cast bullets work well in the larger calibers. JMHO

Are you looking for ammo or bullets? The OP indicates ammo and unless things have changed Missouri Bullet does not make ammo? If you are looking for bullets I suggest Western Bullet Company as they cast from well known and capable designs.

What are looking for, hunting or plinking ammo. The federal cast core, would be a hunting load. Check out Underwood Ammo, they have different types. BB, grizzly, double tap, cor-bon, probably lean towards the high performance loads.

Then there is company's like Blackhills that might carry remanufactured.

The problem with some commercial cast bullets and loaded ammo is that the bullets can be too small in dia for your gun which will cause leading and make you believe your gun won't do with with cast bullets. Make sure you give your barrel a good cleaning and remove all copper fouling before shooting cast as copper fouling will lead to leading. Another issue with commercial cast ammo is it tends to fall into two categories, cheap plinking ammo and premium hunting ammo. The cheap stuff won't show you your guns potential with good cast bullets, and the premium stuff is too expensive to shoot much of.

You can get into casting fairly inexpensively, people will bash Lee, but I've cast bullets from $20 lee molds that have shot as accurately as $200 custom molds. For the .357 I'd highly recommed the Lee 158 rf mold.

I am planning to start with quality ammunition first for plinking to check performance, then use what works best in my gun to hunt. After that, the plan is to start loading my own and come up with a premium hunting load for penetration.

I've been running 158 gr Federal Premium Hydra Shock's through it for self and home defense. My thought is that if I can get the right recipe, the 4" 686+ will do the job well to hunt with it.

FYI- for those interested in the S&W 686+ platform:
When I first got the gun a few months ago, the trigger was IMHO, pfugged up. I sent the gun back to S&W. What I got back was a .357 with a nice, smooth, crisp trigger. YMMV, just saying. If it ain't right, send it back! Don't suffer along with chit!