250 Savage and the 260 80gr. RF Ranch Dog

I have been determined to shoot cast from my 1946 Utica Savage 99 EG. I don’t shoot those really slow 1500-1600 fps loads in any of my rifles except my M94 38-55. I started my attempts with the only 25 cal mould I had which was a LBT 100gr. LFN @ .260″ with a length of .820″. Early attempts were dismal to say the least. At 2200 fps (with oven heat treated WW) groups were 6-8″ @ 50 yards but came down to 4-5″ when I drove them up to 2400 fps. I have shot this same bullet out of a custom Ruger No.1 257 AI (1-10″ twist) into a ragged hole with ten shots before. I assumed the 1-14″ twist needed a shorter bullet at the reduced velocity of cast loads so I looked around and was pretty much disappointed. It’s an empty desert when it comes to 25 cal. moulds these days. So I started milling off the noses of the LBT bullets in a jig I built and trying reduced lengths. Tried .760″ and groups shrank a little more, when I tried .700″ it began to get interesting. The more I milled off the smaller the groups became, now I was getting somewhere. At a length of .670″ the rifle grouped well. I was going to order another LBT mould or try the Lyman 257420 when I found the NOE 260  80.0gr. RF Ranch Dog. This had everything I was looking for. In stock, alluminum, regular lube grooves, and good weight for its short length. Went to the farm today to try it out and driven 2000 fps (wanted 2200 fps starting load but I guessed wrong on the powder charge) it shot four groups of four shots from 1.25″ to 1.375″ @ 75 yards. This looks promising. The mould cast well, bullets hold a lot of lube (something I like), and drops on spec. The only thing was the sprue plate cut was very difficult.