Taking a look at what the big manufacturers are offering, they seem to think that a hollow point is the only bullet of interest or use to handgunners. Ok maybe, but I have a question. If you are going to shoot an animal big enough that a 475 Linebaugh or 500 S&W is warranted don't you probably also want a bullet that is a little more likely to provide deep penetration rather than rapid expansion? Huge bore diameters and blazing velocity means nothing if the bullet can't get past the shoulder bone on a big bull.

The lack of acceptable large-game jacketed bullets for the big bore guns has turned many hunters to the cast bullet because they are being offered in heavier weights and are supposed to provide that much needed element of penetration. Here lies the rub. Some experienced hunters feel the cast bullet is a horrible choice for shooting game. Why? Based on their experiences and those of others they have directly observed, game shot with a hard cast bullet has traveled great distances after being shot. Even though I'm not able to exactly define what is a "great distance" it doesn't sound good especially where dangerous game is concerned.

I admit I do not have extensive experience with cast bullets but I do have some. With one exception, no animal I've shot has gone more than 150 yards, which I don't consider a great distance. The exception was a warthog and a poorly placed bullet that went too high for the lungs and too low for the spine. There is no question I would have lost this animal if it had not been for the services of a good dog. How would the use of a hollow point have altered the outcome? If the animal wasn't dropped instantly, and this is a possibility since the bullet was very close to the spine, then it is likely the pig would have still eluded our human abilities because the bullet didn't damage any organs. Of course that is an educated guess.

I've shot two relatively large animals with a cast bullet from a 44 Magnum, a zebra and a wildebeest. The zebra was dropped instantly because my shot entered the base of the neck and broke his spine before exiting the front of the shoulder.

A wildebeest the author killed from about 50 yards with a hard cast bullet from a 44 Magnum revolver. The bullet performed perfectly providing 100% penetration.

The wildebeest was shot in the crease behind the front shoulder and the bullet exited the offside shoulder. He ran about 150 yards after the shot and was dead when we reached him. On that same trip, an impala was dropped instantly with a shot to the shoulder and another warthog traveled about 100 yards with a ribcage hit. I've also shot several whitetail deer with most going 50-75 yards before expiring. (I've had almost identical results on deer using jacketed hollow points.)

So why do the experiences of some hunters with cast bullets seem so drastically different than that of others? One reason could be dumb luck but it could also be bullet placement. When I placed the bullet low on the shoulder or low just behind it they expired rather quickly, just like they had been shot with an adequate expanding bullet. The poorly placed bullet had a very undesirable effect. Although I have no direct experience with the matter of cast bullets shattering it apparently can and does happen if the bullet isn't produced with the proper metallurgical characteristics for the task at hand. If the bullet is hard and brittle then you could have a problem in the making.

This column was inspired over some discussion of a story on the Bowen Classic Arms website concerning the failure of a 475 Linebaugh cast bullet used on a cape buffalo. It is certainly an example of what not to do. The 475 Linebaugh has claimed buffalo kills previously but in this case the wrong bullet was used and from the sound of things it was placed in the wrong spot, right on the shoulder, proving there are no absolutes. A better bullet placement would have been right behind the shoulder given the very heavy bone structure of a buff.

A suggestion was made in the article about testing a cast bullet for brittleness by hitting it with a one-handed sledge, so I tried it. I used a 4 pound hammer and struck 3 bullets: a 310 grain Garrett Hammerhead, a 300 grain Cast Performance and a 240 grain Bull-X Hard cast. The first strike on the Cast Performance bullet and the Bull-X both sheared off a portion of lead and sent the bullet flying. This could have been my fault since my aim was slightly off with the hammer. However they did shear off. The Garrett was a clean strike and it only deformed. After recovering the other two bullets and applying repeated hammer strikes to each, the Garrett and the Bull-X seemed to hold up better than the Cast Performance bullet and didn't start to fracture until I had applied numerous blows. This wasn't exactly a scientific test by any means, in fact it was probably about as crude as I could make it. However, based on my test of one bullet each I would use the Garrett over the Cast Performance bullet on very large game. Don't get me wrong, I like the Cast Performance bullet and it's very accurate in my Rugers as a Federal Premium factory round. Hopefully the bullet manufacturers will take note and start producing jacketed bullets for the handguns and cartridges that we now have which are capable of taking truly big game.

If you've used cast bullets successfully or unsuccessfully I would like to hear from you via the forum on your experiences. Also of note, cape buffalo are notoriously difficult to stop, even with a big bore rifle, if the first shot or two doesn't produce the desired effect for what ever reason. That's why it's called dangerous game.

Good Hunting, Gary