What he says rings true. I personally have never danced at high velocity with .22 cast bullets. Never felt the need to as that's why God gave us jacketed bullets. I have however experimented plenty with soft alloys and enjoy accuracy nirvana at lower velocities, without having to employ the arcane knowledge and rituals that allow accuracy at high .22 velocity.
All the mold manufacturers make .22 molds that would be suitable for your purposes. Just be aware that it's the length not weight of a bullet that determines stability out of a relatively slow twist barrel. Another consideration is to do a chamber cast to determine the throat diameter and configuration, To simply pick a diameter out of the air and size to that is just a crapshoot if gilt-edged accuracy is the goal. Size to throat diameter and ignore groove diameter is the protocol long established by the cast shooting cognizenti. Sizing to throat diameter will also help minimize leading (by sealing the powder gasses in from the git-go), and also permits softer alloys than is generally considered necessary for higher velocity. Lube quality is critical also, as is bore condition. If 2000fps or less is satisfying to you, and you've met all the above criteria, then simple unhardened wheel weight alloy is plenty hard (and a heckuva lot cheaper than hard alloys). Achieve that and then concentrate on the stuff that really matters- cartridge concentricity, powder charges, and basic shooting techniques, etc.- and you'll leave the range to go home with a big grin on your face.
For punching paper it really doesn't matter what velocity the bullet is traveling as long as it flies true and has enough velocity to pass through the paper.
Last edited by gnoahhh; 09/08/19.
