Method of making a cast reinforced article, such as a connecting rod which includes preparing a bundle of uni-directional inorganic fibers, at least some of which are metallic or metal coated by placing the bundle into a shaping container and heating it to partially fuse the metallic or metal coated fibers to each other. The partially fused bundle is positioned in a mold with a fixed minimum gap surrounding it. A molten light metal alloy is squeeze cast into the mold forming a matrix of the alloy and the bundle. In the case of a connecting rod, the bundle should be shaped elliptically and positioned in the mold such that (I(c) y