44mag and lead

[ian45662]

I am going to pick up a super black hawk bisley hunter from a friend of mine and was wondering what would a good gas check mold to shoot accurate loads. I was also wondering if quenched wheel weights would be hard enough or should I heat treat? Thanks in advance.

[cbrick]

No, you don't need to heat treat them. Quenched WW is much harder than I shoot the 44 with good accuracy and zero leading.

As to what bullet, there are numerous molds in 44, which would be good for you will depend entirely on what you wish to do with it. Paper? Hunting? Plinking?

Rick

[troy_mclure]

i have a sbh in .44mag.

i use a lyman plain base mould(forget the model, im not home) and im pushing 1000-1400fps with my lyman #2, and white label lube's bac.

not a drop of leading, tho i do loose accuracy past 1300fps with it.

[Hurricane]

Gas checks are optional not mandatory for 44 Mag. Elmer Keigh used a plain base boolit in his 44 Mag, Lyman 429421. An equally good gas check boolit by Ray Thompson is Lyman 429244. Either one or both belong on every 44 Mag casting bench.

[quilbilly]

I agree that gas checks are unnecessary in most handguns unless you intend to push the boolits much faster than 1250 fps. If you have a good boolit fit to the firearm, you can push the plain base even faster but that is a test you would have to do yourself with your firearm.

[MtGun44]

I regularly push non GC past 1250 - no magic in that value. Hard is not required in most
guns, nor is GC. Straight wwt alloy at 12 BHN or so will be fine for .44 mag at max load with
Keith 250s like Lyman 429421, RCBS 44-250-K or H&G 503 if fitted to the throats and run
with a known-good lube like LBT soft blue or NRA 50-50. Measure your cyl throats
and size to throat diameter or throat diam +.001. This assumes throats larger
than groove diameter of barrel. If throats smaller than groove diam of bbl, you
may need to open them up to .001 over groove to get best accy with boolits.

Fit is THE most important variable, hardness is way down the list, as is a GC.

Undersized and too hard is the primary problem, big enough for a good fit to throats and
not too hard will get you good results. GCs work but are not a requirement. I prefer without
GCs, but some prefer to use them. IMO - they're not useful for pistols. Others disagree.

Bill

[44man]

All of my revolvers are 1316 fps to 1350 fps with PB. My BFR 45-70 is over 1600 fps and I just water drop WW's. I let them harden a few days before loading.
This is my .500 JRH, 440 gr PB at 1350 fps Shot for a drop measurement at 100 yards. This gun is dead on at 50 yards and I showed the shotgun shells shot into the bases. Notice the spin drift to the right of 2-1/4". At 200 it is around 4". If I adjust it out I shoot left at 50. Not sure of twist but I think it is 1 in 15". I kind of think my boolits are SPINNING! [smilie=s:

[mdi]

Lyman 429421 and 429244 are classic .44 magnum boolits. I cast/shoot a lot of the '21s in my magnums (3 revolvers, one single shot). But for my levergun, I cast and shoot Ranchdog's 265 gr. RFN GC boolit (I shoot it in my others too, but not as much). As MTGUN44 said, fit is everything; my '421 and '244 are usually sized to .431" and the RD to.432" or as cast, for my over sized bore Puma.

Edit 9/21
I receintly aquired a Lee hardness tester and found most of the alloy I've been using lately is running around 12 BHN. Works well in my .44 Magnums and I reciently had some hot .357 Magnum LSWC rounds shoot with no leading...

[44man]

The RD is a very, very accurate boolit. I think a PB version would be nice to try.

[fredj338]

[QUOTE=Hurricane;1398880]Gas checks are optional not mandatory for 44 Mag. Elmer Keigh used a plain base boolit in his 44 Mag, Lyman 429421. QUOTE]
^^THIS^^
I have great results w/ the Lyman 421 or the RCBS 245grSWC. My hunting bullet in my RBHB is a modified Lyman Dev mold that is gas checked. On good days, it is a sub 3" @ 100yd gun, about as good as I can shoot w/ my old eyes.

[Ole]

The RCBS 250K is a nice design as well.

So many choices. Most of them will suit your needs.

[Larry Gibson]

The GC'd bullet for top end loads in the .44 magnum is a good choice for softer alloyed bullets that you want expansion with in game. The 2 I use for my .44 Magnum hunting loads in the 1350 - 1400+ fps (revolvers) are the Lyman 429244 and the 428642(?) Devestator. both weight, when cast of 50/50 WW+2% tin/lead, at 275 gr when fully dressed. I also Mildly HP the 429244 with the Forster 1/8" HP tool. They give excellent expansion and all the penetration needed in medium and big game.

Larry Gibson

[Three44s]

Another +1 for the RCBS 250K!!


Three 44s

[Mal Paso]

A group buy is going right now. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=122019 I have one from the first run and it shoots very well.

[ColColt]

The good ol' Lyman 429421 and my most recent Accurate Mold's 43-260B are the two most accurate boolits I have for the 44 and they get cast with ww's plus a touch of tin. None or extremely little leading anywhere and plenty accurate with several loads-especially Universal and HS-6 in my M29.

[Lizard333]

I shoot the 429421 with Water Quenced WW's. I shoot it without a GC with 9 gns of HS6 for an enjoyble shooting round, at 875 FPS, very accurate. For a little more "Pep", I use the same round with a GC with 17.2 gns of Blue Dot, pushing the round to about 1430 FPS. These rounds are both being shout out of Ruger Redhawk, so I don't have to worry about over doing it.