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Incidentally, has anyone tried punching Rainiers up to magnum velocities? I've recovered Berry's plated bullets from .357Mag that were 135gr loaded on 16gr of 2400, and the plating on the base was still intact, even though they don't recommend hot loads for their plating. If Rainiers will take that as well, it would be nice to have an alternate source.

WildBill wrote:Even with gas checks, a cast bullet can't be driven to the same velocity as a jacketed bullet.

Sure it can; as long as you don't mind your bore looking like you've been shooting black powder loads. I've used cast and swaged bullets in working up loads and general testing, but it does require a lot of brush time afterwards, and in some guns I wouldn't recommend shooting too many before cleaning due to the amount of buildup.

Also, cast bullets are usually alloyed so they are harder than swaged or "pure" lead bullets so they don't expand as well. The lead core of a jacketed hollow point is softer than a "normal" cast bullet.

Of course, if you happen to run across a box of the old "Western Nevada West Coast Bullet" 230gr .45 LRNs, they're nearly as hard as jacketed. I've recovered a couple from clay that, except for the rifling marks, were less than .002 off in any dimension from an unfired one. I had to melt one just to prove to myself that it was really lead: even melted into a little flat disc, it was still really hard to bend or scratch. I never noticed lead buildup from those, and I wouldn't bother looking for HPs made from that alloy.