44 mag practice round

[EWOK]

What is a good 44 mag practice round in a Lee 6 banger mold?

[44man]

I don't know the boolit weight but think it was around 250 gr's. You didn't say. If it is, then 7 to 8 gr's of Unique should shoot nice.

[EWOK]

Thanks for the reply 44man, but what I'm looking for is which mold to use, this will be a pracice round so I was think of something abit lighter so I could get more boolits per pound. An old catalog I have here at work shows a 208 WC, 214 SWC, 200 rf, and then 240 SWC TL. of these which would you recomend?

[Dale53]

I am not 44Man (obviously) but the Lee WC is no longer offered. I, personally, like the 200 gr RF for such a purpose.

There can be a problem, however. Lighter bullets target impact will vary from your "regular" load and this can be considerable at times. Sometimes, even outside the ability of your sights to zero.

I have had good results by using my "regular" bullet at lower velocity. That bullet is the Keith Style 429421 (or equivalent) at about 240 grs propelled by a charge of 9.0-10.0 grs of Unique. That will give you a velocity in the 900 fps range and I believe you will not only find this a comfortable load to shoot (relatively speaking) but is also a quite useful velocity for quite a range of tasks (great "walk around the woods" and also personal defense load).

One of the great things about the .44 Special cartridge (in a .44 Special revolver) is its ability to shoot to the same point of impact at most ranges with the same bullet at a variety of velocities, from a very slow gallery load to Keith levels. You just have to make sure that you use the same bullet at all velocities for this to be true.

NOTE: One advantage of the different bullet shape for your light loads as opposed to your heavy loads is that you can visually tell what load you are looking at. In other words, if you use a round flat of the same weight for a light or mid range load and your semi-wad cutter for your heavy loads, you can readily identify them. After you are out in the field and bullets are out of the box with your data label, you may have no idea what the powder charge is. If you use a system, using bullet types to "sort" your loads, you will never have a mistake. Some color code the primer for the same purpose (place the loaded rounds in the ammo box nose down and put a drop of finger nail polish directly on the primer - let dry and it is done. Use different colors for different loads. After the primer is decapped, you are back to using that case for whatever you want. Since I tend to "bulk load" I prefer the bullet type method).

YMMV
Dale53

[Ricochet]

Man, you have messed up by not getting in the just-closed group buy for a 6-hole 200 grain double ended wadcutter .44 boolit.

Lee formerly had a lovely 215 grain round nose 429-215-1R that I use for light loads, as well as their wadcutter that I never got around to ordering whe I could have. They've dropped a lot of nice mould designs, including their 429-255-SWC that I was fortunate enough to catch on their surplus page just before it disappeared forever. They still have the 429-240-SWC version, which is the same with a slightly shorter body. Ought to be a good all-around .44 boolit, as the 255 grainer is. I like to use a different shaped boolit for light and heavy loads so I can tell what I've got at a glance.

[44man]

OK, you had me confused! I didn't know you wanted a boolit. I have to agree with Dale that anything lighter then 240 gr's will give you a problem both with point of impact but also accuracy. The 429421 is a great all around boolit, then for hunting I would go to the Lee 430-310-RF. I don't know about the other Lee boolits, I don't like the looks of a lot of them.
But there is another problem with some boolits and that is the gas check needed. If you are worried about 20 to 40 gr's of lead extra, stay away from gas checked boolits. It blew my mind to see the latest prices.
I am wondering about the 310 gr Lee mold and what you would get by milling off the top of the mold to get rid of the gas check shank. I just turned the base off of one and came out with 264 gr's. This might make a good all around boolit. I might have to turn a bunch and see how they shoot. If they shoot good I will buy another mold and mill it.

[fecmech]

What is a good 44 mag practice round in a Lee 6 banger mold?

I shoot the Lee 214 swc at about 900 fps over either 7 grs of Green Dot or the same charge of 231. 50 yard groups out of my Super "B" average less than 3", recoil is minimal and it moves my steel plates around enough to suit me. Nick

[Dale53]

EWOK;
It is possible that if you query the Grooup Buy for the 200 gr WC (.44 Caliber) you might be able to get one of the extras.

Just a thought...

Dale53

[Lloyd Smale]

Id be intersted in how that bullet ended up shooting. Please keep us informed
OK, you had me confused! I didn't know you wanted a boolit. I have to agree with Dale that anything lighter then 240 gr's will give you a problem both with point of impact but also accuracy. The 429421 is a great all around boolit, then for hunting I would go to the Lee 430-310-RF. I don't know about the other Lee boolits, I don't like the looks of a lot of them.
But there is another problem with some boolits and that is the gas check needed. If you are worried about 20 to 40 gr's of lead extra, stay away from gas checked boolits. It blew my mind to see the latest prices.
I am wondering about the 310 gr Lee mold and what you would get by milling off the top of the mold to get rid of the gas check shank. I just turned the base off of one and came out with 264 gr's. This might make a good all around boolit. I might have to turn a bunch and see how they shoot. If they shoot good I will buy another mold and mill it.

[44man]

Will do! I have a bunch of work to finish first. I am repairing the wheel pants for my friends plane and have two hydaulic cylinders for a front end loader to fix for a neighbor. But hang loose, I will get to it as soon as I can.

[MT Gianni]

44 man, Ever had any luck with drilling the gc cavity's out rather than milling it down? Gianni

[Larry Gibson]

I use the Lee TL230-240-SWC from a 6 holer as my general practice/plinker load. I cast them out of pretty much any scrap alloy that is handy when I need them. I use it over 5 gr Bullseye in magnum cases or 4.5 gr in special cases. Pretty much equals factory 240 gr RN lead .44 special loads. As Dale53 mentions I then use the RCBS 230-250-SWC for my medium load over 9 gr Unique for 1050fps out of the 6 1/2" Ruger FT. Sometimes I use it for the calssic Keith duplication load with 22 gr 2400. My rompem' stompem' cast load is the Lyman 429244 (270 gr GC) over 23 gr H110. Never found a need for more than that out of a revolver.

For light loads in the 4" Anaconda I favor the Lee 429-200-RF over 6 gr of Bullseye. Runs 860 fps and the round nose makes for quick reloads with a speed loader., Quite accurate also.

Larry Gibson

[44man]

MT, I have removed the bevel base on one and thought about cutting it out but it is far easier to mill it and the boolit still has good weight. Something I will have to think about though. I might wind up doing all of my GC moulds with the price of checks what they are.