shot the 44mag

[ian45662]

Well I got my mold which is lymans version of the Elmer Kieth bullet and went to town. I loaded up about for just to try and see if I could get any leading. I used straight air cooled wheel weights which came to about 11 or 11.5 bhn. I loaded 40 round shot all but 6 and then benched the gun to see what would happen. @50 yards with a scope I was able to keep 5 rounds in a group a little bigger than an inch with the 6th round making the group about 1.75" center to center. That was with 20 grains of 2400. Came home to preform a normal cleaning session and got alot of lead flakes on my patches but it dosent look like anything stuck to the bore. My question is where do I go from here? I am shooting a ruger super black hawk bisley hunter 7 1/2" barrel. How can I get my groups tighter. What are some other good powders to try and how hot can I load this. BTW my boolits are sized at 431 and my chambers were aroiund 432. I seat the bullet so that it is just under the mouth of the cylinder with no room to go forward. Let me know what you guys think thanks.

[Bomberman]

Well I got my mold which is lymans version of the Elmer Kieth bullet and went to town. I loaded up about for just to try and see if I could get any leading. I used straight air cooled wheel weights which came to about 11 or 11.5 bhn. I loaded 40 round shot all but 6 and then benched the gun to see what would happen. @50 yards with a scope I was able to keep 5 rounds in a group a little bigger than an inch with the 6th round making the group about 1.75" center to center. That was with 20 grains of 2400. Came home to preform a normal cleaning session and got alot of lead flakes on my patches but it dosent look like anything stuck to the bore. My question is where do I go from here? I am shooting a ruger super black hawk bisley hunter 7 1/2" barrel. How can I get my groups tighter. What are some other good powders to try and how hot can I load this. BTW my boolits are sized at 431 and my chambers were aroiund 432. I seat the bullet so that it is just under the mouth of the cylinder with no room to go forward. Let me know what you guys think thanks.


First question is what size does your boolit drop from the mold. If your cylinders are at .432 then your boolits should be that size or .433. Did you slug your barrel? Having a little larger boolit should pretty much eliminate any leading you are seeing. I prefer water quenching my WW to get a little more hardness but you should be fine with the way you are casting.

In all honesty the grouping you are seeing is excellent...you might be chasing a phantom if you are looking for better accuracy. You can load that Ruger up to the max of what your data indicates...20 grains of 2400 will do just about anything that you want it to. I also use Unique in my .44 mag...9 grains is a pleasure to shoot.

Good luck with your loading.

[ian45662]

Will the boolit not "bump up" so to speak?

[Bomberman]

Will the boolit not "bump up" so to speak?

Not sure what you mean by "bump up".

[ian45662]

I was under the impression that if the alloy is soft enough the base of the boolit would swell from the pressure of the gasses. THere is a word people use to describe this but I cannot think of it.

[zardoz]

Obturation.

[ian45662]

THATS the word!!!! Will they not obturate to fill any space?

[Larry Gibson]

THATS the word!!!! Will they not obturate to fill any space?

Better that the bullets are just sized down again by the barrel. Having them obturate (size up) to fill the cylinder throats before sizing back down by the barrel adds addtional probability of imbalance and an off square base, both of which can detract from accuracy and/or cause flyers, especially at 50 yards.

Many use 2400 under the keith bullet at 18.5 - 20 gr for "accuracy". You might tweek the load in either direction and/or work up to 22 gr. Also you don't mention the lube used? If the throats are .32 and you are sizing at .431 then you're probably ok. I've shot a lot of .429 sized Keith 429421 cast bullets very accurately out of revolvers with .432 - .436 throats. Shooting 5 shots into 1" or so at 50 yards is a pretty good indicator the accuracy potential is there.

Shoot 10 or 12 shot groups at 50 yards discounting called shots out of the group. Flyers are not called shots. They are out of the group with the shot called good. Pay attention to those, they are telling you something is not right with the load. A called shot out of the group tells you something is not good with the shooting:sad: If you can run "twice around the cylinder" (12 shots) into 1.5" or less at 50 yards you and your loads are shooting very well.

Larry Gibson

[Thumbcocker]

I put a fiar amout of meat on the table with that boolit and 18.5 of 2400. 20 should do what needs doing with deer or hogs.

[fredj338]

I would be happy w/ sub 2" 50yd groups, that is still putting meat on the table @ 100yds, about the effective range of the 44mag IMO. Match your cyl throats if they are larger. My RBHB has 0.431" throats & I size to that. On good days I can stay under 3" @ 100yds benched.

[Crawdaddy]

Sounds like your groups are pretty good to me. Nothing wrong with experimenting to get them better.

I agree with others when the say that "called flyers" don't count.

I have a super Blackhawk and haven't been able to do any better with lead. FTX's are another story.

The only advice I have is to drop or raise you loads by a grain at a time to see if they improve. That is assuming you are not at max or min now.

I have had good luck with 22 grs of IMR 4227 and a 240 gr lead bullet and
23 grains of H110 with the same bullet.


Good luck.

[Lloyd Smale]

id say your accuracy and power level are just fine for about anything

[Piedmont]

The easiest way to tighten those groups up is to only shoot three. Then you forget about the bad groups. Save some of the good ones, you know under 1", and maybe even take pictures of some of the little three shotters.

You too can be an internet star.

[44man]

You need to do like a gun writer now does. Shoot 6 and only count the best 3! [smilie=1:
I would say what you are getting with a Keith boolit is as good as you will get, you have already exceeded it. :drinks: Your gun has good alignment of cylinder to bore.
You did not say the primer you used??? Try a standard primer.
Larry is correct, you don't want "bump up" nor do you need it.
The SBH itself is hard to get under 1" at 50 yards. I can only do it with certain boolits, getting to 3/4" at best but not every group will be there either. You need to look at averages.
Recoil, barrel rise, the way you rest, the rest itself, torque feel and any jiggles when you shoot. Shooting much more will have you say where a shot went before you go look just by the feel of the gun.
There is no need to seat so the boolit is at the end of the throats either. Too much chance of a boolit moving and tying up the gun. Not good in bear country or when hunting. The extra jump to the cone has no affect on accuracy. I have revolvers that you need a light to find the boolit nose down that hole and they have shot 5 shots into 5/16" at 50 and under 1" at 100.
Ian, you are already there with 99.5% of your gun figured out, great job. :Fire:
I think a boolit change to something like the RD 265 gr with a good lube like Felix can tighten the groups. I like a Keith but there are better.

[ian45662]

Thanks for the info guys. I will have to play around with some different boolits one of these days but I got this one pretty cheap. I look forward to shooting it some more. I will keep you guys updated when I get it out to 100 or farther.

[Frank]

I'd go water dropped ww's, LBT lube, a hefty dose of W296 and make those little puppies fly.