Another NZ shooter contacted me over inaccuracy and leading he is getting with 'commercial' bullets in his .303 Brit. I asked him to send me some to hardness test for him.
6.4BHN and the quality of casting was not ideal. That alloy is softer than I shoot in my .310 Cadet. No wonder the old Brit won't shoot them over 20gr H4227.
Cheers from New Zealand
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And most likely too small for the throat.
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And here in the US, most likely they will be way way too hard, and still small. So guaranteed to not bump up. 
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Most commercial cast bullets are 2% tin 6% antimony. Most bullets sold are for pistols and revolvers and this alloy works well in autos and is OK for magnum revolver loads. At ~18 BHN it is really too hard for standard revolver loads, they tend to lead and shoot poorly. Yes Lee they are usually too small. This is because small bullets will shoot but poorly and large bullets will jam and not shoot at all in some guns.
Most shooters cannot tell the difference between poor and excellent handgun ammo. Poor stuff that goes bang wins over big bullets that won't chamber.
The hard lubes used on commercial bullets are another problem.
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If you read, and believe, grocery store gun-zines, that is what they sell. And that is what people buy, because "xxxx" said so.
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And that is why everybody knows that cast bullets aren’t accurate and don’t perform on animals even if you did manage to hit one with them.
‘Or so I’ve been told.
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Seems that we all have to travel down the "harder is better" road before we learn the lesson to soften them up some. I wonder if these 303 bullets were marketed for a special purpose other than a .303 rifle. I have bought soft bullets before but they are clearly identified as soft to allow the hollow base to work correctly. But then, I knew what I was getting and who I was purchasing them from. I would bet that some customers had purchased the HBRN bullets and run them to .357 Mag velocity and wondered why they poured molten metal from the barrel!
Did you happen to look up the commercial supplier to see if they are legit or just a basement caster?
With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.
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The hard lubes used on commercial bullets are another problem.
Crayons I think! You have to melt the stuff off if using the bullets with decent lube.
With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.
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RicinYakima
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Bryan Austin
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pat i
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Tom Acheson
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Bud Hyett
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davemarkowitz
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John Alexander
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sandwman
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Aaron
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Ed Harris
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