Cast Bullets

[Duffy]

Do they expand?

The law in Alberta states " It is unlawful to set out use or employ any of the following for the purpose of hunting big game:

ammunition that contains non-expanding bullets."

I would guess it depends on what kind of aloy they are cast from. Then I wonder how, in law, it would be determined weather a bullet is non-expanding. Shot into a sand bank I would think any cast bullet would expand at least a tinny amount.

The legal question aside, can cast bullets be used to kill game effectivly or should they not be used, legal or not?

Robin

[pyral]

If it were me, I would call and be absolute certain. Do I think they would be legal? I would suppose they should be. And as long as they are loaded safely and properly in a cartridge of designation such as a 45-70 or any of the other calibers of suit they should be just as reliable and deadly as any copper jacketed bullet. My guess would be that they are specifically talking about a bullet that is designed not to expand at all and in such terms they usually mean full metal jacketed bullets (fmj) or at least that is the case way down here in Alabama.

[Nomercy]

It depends largely on the composition, typical store bought ' lead cast bullets' expand a fairly good deal, that' s why we use them in moderate to low velocity arms, however, some hard cast bullets will barely expand even when pushed through the toughest of game, i.e. a .45-70 hard cast through a grizzly' s shoulder, I' ve seen one expanded only ~4% which is next to nothing. Hope that helps, it' s really vague, but that' s about as far as I care to dive into it at the moment, and with your question, I' m assuming this is enough.

[Vapodog]

typically expanding is intended to exclude military FMJs.....which don' t expand at all.....unless they hit a tank or something made of armour.

Lead cast bullets are fine for handguns.....but I' d seriously question why you' d want to downgrade a fine rifle to lead that can only be driven to about 1200' /sec without leading the bejabbers out of the barrel......a little better with a copper gas check!!

It would be my opinion that a lead bullet would be considered an expanding bullet.....have a great hunt!!