Hello from Scotland

Ive been sitting here waiting for my .444 marlin to arrive (should be June)
And i have been looking at the 325 grains cast bullets that i have produced from my Lee 310 gc  mold.
I know the bullet is designed for gas checks and this is how i intend to use it but can it be used unchecked ? At lower velocity ?

Can any one suggest what sort of speed it would be to with out a gas check?  
Has anyone got any data for such a bullet ?

Regards Englander

__________________
Best Regards from Across the pond.
Remember ~Britain is an Island it will never be part of Europe ! .22LR .30-30 .308 .444 Marlin

Englander
 I know I sent you a reply and I got to thinking that someone else would like to know about firing bare bottm bullets ,so here i am again.
 Yes you can fire bare bottom bullats in your rifle IF you follow the following rules;
Use HARD bullets of bhn 20-24.Cast them from linotype or use wheel weights and quench them, Use an oven to heat them up to 450 dgrees and bake them one hour and quench them.
   Size your bullets to 0.001-0.002 inches LARGER in diameter than your GROOVE diameter
  Keep the velocity from 1450-1500 fps.
I've been doing this since 1946 when you and most of the current casters were a gleam in your granpas eye.
      tbc

Caster
Got a question for you relating to shooting bare a___d, no, bare bottomed gas checked bullets.
I have a delightfully accurate 300 grain gas checked bullet for my 45 Colt Rossi Winchester 92 clone. I occasionally use this bullet in my Colt Anaconda.
I've tried using this bullet sans gas check in both firearms. It was so inaccurate as to be dangerous to the people standing beside and behind me, we had no idea where those bullets would impact.
I use air cooled wheel weight alloy, with a bit of tin to aid in fill out. The load was 9.5 to 10 grains of Unique. I size the bullet to .454.
My normal load with the gas check in place is 20 grains of H110. This load puts the bullet just where I want it to go. Again the bullet is sized .454.
Jim

__________________
Cast bullets are the true and rightous path to shooting bliss

Jim: your 'bare bottom' slugs minus checks-- why do you think they go so un-accurate?

Is there any lube A-tall around the check shank? Does it point to the bearing surface length added by the check as real important to accuracy?

Is the gas release at the muzzle tipping the slug-- the checkless slug enters the rifling at a slight angle and comes out who knows where?

Just wondering.

__________________
I'm aladin.

Arkypete
  I do not know enough about pistol bullets to answer your question. You did not say how hard your bullets were or how fast you were shooting them.I have several pistols and shootvlead in them but I always use GC's on them. My forte is with cast bullets in rifles
   You need not take my word on this subject but you can go to the NRA publication CST BULLETS by Col. E.H.Harrison and turn to page26 where he describes Lyman's311465,311291,311407,and he say "....can be fired without gas checks....groups excellantly with and without gas checks..."
  On page 59 while dicussing plain based bulletshe says"   if the sides of a gas checked shank  are coverewd with lubricant,it gives better results than  a plain based bullet" tbc