Contender .44 mold suggestion

[doulos]

Im a greenie when it comes to casting ,having cast mostly roundballs for muzzleloading and 45-70 slugs and not alot either.
For those of you who have contenders or G2s in .44 mag ,what molds are you using. Im looking for something 240 grains and over . Im going to use them mainly for deer hunting. Im probably only going to drive them about 1250 -1300.
thanks

[Larry Gibson]

I prefer, so does the Contender, Lyman's 429244 which is a GC'd bullet so it can be driven to max .44 velocities in the Contender which are higher than with revolvers. Cast soft and HP'd it still gives the best accuracy and terminal performance on game. The Lyman "Devastator" is the same bullet only HP'd. At 1200 - 1300 fps either bullet will give excellent performance on deer, especialy if cast soft and HP'd for expansion in the deer. Loaded to 1500 fps (easily and safely doable in a 10" Contender) they will be very deadly on deer. Cast of 1-16 or 50/50 WW/pb they will expand and give all the penetration through and through on even large deer with broadside or quatering shots into the heart/lung area.

Shooting the same loads in comparable length barrels in revolvers and a Contenders will give slightly higher psi's and much greater velocities in the Contenders. I find that mid range or even sometimes starting loads in the Contender (mine has an 8.4" barrel) will equal what the max loads with the same bullet and powder do in my 6 1/2" Ruger FT.

Larry Gibson

[Kskybroom]

Bullseye Larry Nailed It
Mine likes the 240 to 250 1200 to 1500

[doulos]

Thanks Guys, Would that mold be ok for Lyman no 2? Is that a bit harder than 16-1?
Im pretty ignorant about alloys having only used pure lead for muzzleloaders and 20-1 for BPCR.

I was thinking of a hardcast bullet that would ensure pentration from various angles.

[Larry Gibson]

Your 20-1 might be ok. The idea is to have a soft malleable alloy just able to withstand the accelleration for probper expansion. Lyman's #2 will be a good general pupose alloy for zeroing and practice. Don't expect much expansion at 1200 - 1300 fps with it though. Might expand some and blow the expansion petals off but that's not what you want with a hunting bullet. Try the 20-1 and it it doesn't hold up (loss of accuracy as velocity increases is the clue) then try 16-1. Not any harder to make 16-1 than 20-1 alloy.

Larry Gibson

[doulos]

Im not too worried about expansion. The bullet seems to have a pretty big flat on it and should hit hard.

[runfiverun]

the 20-1 will do fine, compare the 44 mag to a 50 cal black powder load.
see what comes up.

[Blammer]

my TC brl has a short throat so it sorta limit what I can shoot out of it.

there was some more ideas an thoughts, but I lost them....

[TCLouis]

Can you say Ranch Dog 265 TLGC Boolit.

my 10" likes it best of the 6-8 boolits I have tried.

Or try the famous 429421 and go from there.

44 has so many great boolits to choose from.

[Ohio Rusty]

I have a 429244 HP mould that weighs 240 gr's for my Contender. Most everythiong I have read the 429244 is one of the best and most accurate biilits made for the .44 mag. I'm happy it's gas checked as I use a softer alloy in that boolit.
Ohio Rustty ><>

[HeavyMetal]

Try the 429434, Mine are coming out of the mold about 235 but would likely break 240 if cast in 20 to 1.

Not partial to gas checks myself, Been toying with the idea of having this one removed ( not shortened!) and maybe HP'd should still give me about 240 which I think is optimal for the mag particularly in a 10 to 14 inch barrel.

[Three44s]

I like the idea of a non-gas checked boolit on account of the economy ....... but I shoot revolvers and no Contenders thus far in .44 mag.

But I defer to Larry Gibson's idea of needing a checked slug in a Contender due to considerably greater velocities.

You just can't goose those slugs up that much more, still just run a plain base and not pay the "leading piper".

Three 44s

[mdi]

Can you say Ranch Dog 265 TLGC Boolit.

my 10" likes it best of the 6-8 boolits I have tried.

I'm able to shoot this boolit in all my .44s. I have 420421 and 420244 molds that I use a lot but for my Ruger SBH and my Puma I shoot a lot of the Ranchdog 265s over a med. load of WC820.

[skeet1]

As other have all ready said, 429244. This was what I used hen I had a Contender. I shot some others but that boolit is a very good one and I don't think you would go wrong using it.

Ken

[David2011]

I've been using the RCBS 44-250-K which weighs 250-255 gr with my alloy which is fairly hard. It's 50/50 WW and Linotype. It's gas checked and probabaly a good idea for Contender loads. 20 grains of 2400 gives me about 1600 fps with a 14" barrel. The gain over a 7-1/2" barrel with a cylinder gap is substantial. Gas checks cost less than a penny. A primer and powder for a .44 mag load will run about 12 cents so you're not running the cost up much.

I don't plink a lot with the .44 Contender barrel. Any range shooting would be the serious practice type shooting due to the heavy recoil so a box of gas checks will last many years. I'm looking for a .22 Hornet barrel for fun shooting with the Contender.

David

[Larry Gibson]

David

"I'm looking for a .22 Hornet barrel for fun shooting with the Contender."


I've a 10" and a 21" barrel for my Contender, yes they are fun:)

Larry Gibson