whats your favorite '06 cast bullet gun

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I have owned 4 rifles in 30-06 caliber. The current safe occupant is a 1950s Husqvarna commercial Mauser 98-actioned example. It has exquisite dimensions--throat slugs at .3085", bore is .300 x .308/4 rights, and it dotes upon any GC bullet sized a .309" tried so far. The Lee 200 grain bore-rider fits perfectly sized at .309", and shoots very well to almost 2000 FPS. Fun load--60.0 grains of WC-860, which gives a BOOMY report and about 1950-1975 FPS and groups decently in the bargain. Recoil starts thumpin' ya just a bit with 200 grainers approaching 2000 FPS, but it's all fun.

All of my other 30-06s had wider throats--.310" to .311". Grooves were all a "wide .308". They all shot almost as well as the current '06 with castings, as long as bullets were sized to fit the throats and drive bands kissed the leades. Lee C312-185 was especially good in these "wide-body" 30-06s. Lyman #311291 did all right, too. This Husqy is the first 30-06 I have taken past 1700-1800 FPS with castings.
 

Rushcreek

Well-Known Member
I like the ought six but I don't have one currently. I've had a few but I guess I miss the Rem 760 and the Rem 721 the most. They were great shooters but that was in my jacket days.
 

Kwatson

New Member
Recently read a theory, that a slower twist barrel gives better cast bullet accuracy and is better suited for faster velocity.
I'm loading 42 gr H4831 with a 180 cast bullet @ 2100 fps 22Bhn. By 44grs of powder my groups open .
 

Intheshop

Banned
Kwatson.....

About the only absolute in cast ballistics is,the bullet MUST exit the barrel. Other than that,gonna be hard pressed to put any sort of "must do it this way" theories into practice.

Just got my Sata newsletter yesterday.

Think of a modern paint spraygun. And all the adjustments available to the user. Here's a list....

Tip design,tip/needle size,fluid knob,air knob,fan control,hose size,connector size,air #'s from compressor,how clean is the air,type of paint,viscosity,pot life,angle of attack,ambient temp,drying temp,humidity.

That's most,prolly missed a cpl.

Some guy on the intertube says "must be 2 turns out on the fluid knob"..... positively won't work if it ain't "2 turns out". The guy is a pretty good painter but that is complete bull sheet looking at the larger picture. Yeah,2 turns out with about 10 other things in sync sure.....

There are simple "answers" and then more complex answers. The depth of which has a lot to do with the effort in which the question is presented. And don't take that personally cause it ain't about you.....

That's about as concise as I can put it. Somebody else may explain it WAY better. Good luck with your project.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
KWatson ,

Yep about a 100 things ........
I have had American 30s in twists from 8.5 to 12 .
A 12 twist 308 and 30-30 , PB cast , the 30-30 out runs the 308 and shoots better groups ....... IDK , inherent accuracy ?
I've had a couple of 10 twist 06's both shot nominal jacketed loads with expected accuracy . 1 wouldn't shoot over 1600 fps for nothing with cast GC , PB , from 150 to 180 hard , soft , fat , bore ride or not .
The other ran right through 2100 with 3 bullets and about 1900 with 3 more under 2" , on demand for 10 shots .
The 8.5 doesn't exist , so I figure my cleaning rod and tape lines must be broken . Refuses to shoot over 1800 bare cast GC or not , but will do it with at least 230s .
8 twist in a 223 , 2100 fps on good days with bullets too hard for anything but paper with 62s , 222 with a 12 and bullets that actually stay in one piece on water jugs , 2640 fps 1" for 3,5, 10 shots .
Twist and rev are volitile topics .
 

Uncle Grinch

Active Member
M1 Garand, but never shot cast in it. My cast rifle is an FN built J.C. Higgins Model 50. It’s a sweet rifle, it’s one of those that just feels right!
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
All right you are hitting my favorite caliber in a bolt gun. And for some of you slackers, I can't believe you don't own at least one. Unthinkable.
I only currently own 2 - 30-06 rifles, a early 80's Winchester model 70 Featherweight, love this series Winchester. Next is a rifle I picked up just for cast bullets for a couple of reasons. First it's a very beautiful cool rifle. Second, it has one of the best bores of any rifle I own. And I generally look to the bore first, but this is a 03 Springfield reworked by R. F. Sedgeley out of Philadelphia. The bore was a added plus.
I have not shot it yet because life gets in the way, and I just today put the last shelf in my new loading - casting room. So I'm going to start up loading and casting again very shortly. I'll try to load up two or three pictures.

RFS.jpgRF.JPGRG .JPG
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
I blew up the picture to read the serial number the best I could. If that is the original SA or RIA number, it was re-heat-treated and is safe for cast bullet loads. Will be a great shooter and last your lifetime. If it is a Sedgley number, I would fire a dozen commercial loads (44,000 CUP) and recheck headspace. Just for your own safety, Geo. Ric
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Ric, form what I have read, (which might be wrong) Sedgley re-heat treated the actions he used. I've read up on the Springfield action problems on the early serial numbers and from what I found was that there was only 3 rifles that let go. It's been a few years ago, but I was worried about the early rifles myself after buying this particular rifle. Your suggestion is a good one though, and a test worth doing. I also considered that I would only be using low power loads anyway. I run hot loads in my Winchester, this 03 is a different animal all together in my mind.
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Two of our friends in Richland, Tom and Mike, who worked at Hanford for many years and are metallurgists tell me that Sedgley's "re-heat-treatment" was just annealing the actions so that they were not "brittle". However, the result was a soft action that will let the bolt lug recess into the action. Just a thought, you are on your own, bro. Ric
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Thanks Ric, good info to have, I'll certainly be watching for head space problems.
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Looking to run some cast in my Bergara B-14 Hunter soon. It shoot J-words like a dream.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Interesting to see the posts about the JC Higgins M50 rifles. My son just picked up two rifles to use as donors for 7x57 and 6.5 Swede. The first is a beautifully stocked Kimber 84L that doesn’t shoot well at all. Doesn’t matter as it was bought to make a 7x57.
The Higgins came in a cheap plastic stock that we replaced with a stock from a M51 deluxe version. Had to do some wittling to clear the Timney trigger, but it all went together fine when I glass bedded it. Unlike the fancy Kimber, we haven’t found a load this one won’t shoot around an inch. Doubt that barrel gets pulled very quick.
Wonder if I could get away with running some #315s through it