Other bullet issues.

[Harter66]

Ive read about Elmer Keith's exploits an the ridiculously long ranges that he hurled SWCs with incredible accuracy. I'm thinking to poke a hole in a deer at 300+ yd a 240 gr 44 it has to be hauling donkeys. I also am aware of some mystical shape having something to do with the boolit remaining stable enough to do its job (I say luck had something to do with it too). I've also read many accounts here of full WC/DEWC/HBWC tumbling beyond 75 yd (or less). I had a 40 S&W with a SWC that tumbled until I used a harder alloy at which point the harder it was pushed the tighter it grouped.

Maybe I was spoiled as a 357 Security 6 load shot very well in the companion 18" Marlin. So I guess I expected the Rosschester to play nice as well . The 45 Colts RBH shoots the 452-252 SWC into 5-6inches at 50 yd with a load toddling along at about 1050 fps . This being (relatively ) just over standard Colts loads and at the low end of the Ruger loads I was surprised to see the same load with oval holes in the backers and patterns at 45 yd.

Does that boolit have a speed limit? Was it just to soft when pushed to 1325 in the 16" carbine. Backing it down to a standard but max load was hitting 8"plates at will well past 60yd at will. Should I just write it off and shoot the 452-255 RNFP instead (I'd rather have the wider nose for hogs and deer but 45 is a pretty big hole and a 300 flat vs 400 flat may not make a huge difference anyway). I guess the real question is will the RNFP fix it if it is a case of the nose trying to tuck under at the higher velocity without the wider Keith shoulder.

[runfiverun]

boolit slump can rear it's head up and make the boolit wobble on it's way to the target.
some designs fight this much better than others.
it becomes apparent when you push a rifle boolit up and into higher than normal velocity's where unsupported parts of the boolit start moving on you [unevenly] causing imbalances.

having said that.
I prefer rnfp boolits in revolver cartridges, in my lever-guns I have never had an issue with pushing them from just making it out the barrel speeds, up to 'okay that's enough recoil' velocity's.

now if you had a 44 or a 357 I'd suspect the twist rate.
Taurus has really juked things around since taking rossi over.

[44man]

I have shot many deer with the .44 to 100 yards and at times a little more. There is a distinct difference in killing power there then at closer ranges so at anything over 100 you might just poke a hole and lose an animal.
I shot the Keith 429421 back in 1956 to well over 400 yards but would never shoot any animal that far.
Slump was mentioned and it is real as is the small shoulders lack of the ability to steer a cylinder to alignment, same with a wad cutter. Most likely the reasons for tumbling. Work with a SWC has shown to get accuracy, I had to go to 28 and 30 BHN.
Twist rates govern accuracy in any gun but most revolver shooters ignore that. Every weight boolit must be shot at it's stability point. You can match a boolit to the velocity you want easier then trying to make the wrong boolit shoot slow. It is why the 240 gr was liked in the .44, it can be shot over a wider range of velocities. The Keith can be shot super but I believe the gun must be fit with perfect alignment, most of Elmer's Guns were custom but the S&W 29 was a great gun too. My first Flat top was fit as good as it gets. The hardest boolit to get stable is the WC. The edge will wipe in the forcing cone and go through the bore off center. A Keith should have an ogive wide enough to bore ride so if you stick a Keith nose in the muzzle and can wiggle it sideways, you are back to the WC.
Some do not want cylinder play so they get it removed with a wider cylinder stop and a tight fit belt mountain pin. You have removed all the accuracy potential the gun had. I seen very expensive guns where I could look down the barrel with a light and see the edges of the throats. That would not even shoot a WLN or RNFP. You will wear the cone and rifling right quick.
The problem with many .44 rifles is the twist of 1 in 38", entirely wrong.

[Jupiter7]

I believe the Rossi has a slow twist. Push it a tad harder or change bullet designs. The lee 45-255RF doesn't seem to suffer this fate and shoots well in just about everything.

[Harter66]

In this case I think that both the RBH and 92' have similar twists for the 45 Colts . I also, because of my intended use ,want to keep the boolits down around 14-16 BHN so that there is potential for expansion and less potential of breaking up. So I'll look at the RNFP and a gifted mould that might just work as a patched boolit for the 92'.

[runfiverun]

for hunting purposes I don't think you even need to go that hard.
I generally use a bhn in the 12 range and like mentioned just run the velocity where it's comfortable and accurate.
you can manipulate the outcome somewhat with powder selection too.
the thing I like about the rnfp is the whole boolit is supported going backwards.
it's also able to find the center of the barrel by allowing the nose to butt up against things [like the rifling or cylinder throat] while the rest of the boolit is held in place by the case.

[Harter66]

I have a few "leftovers " loaded with 8-9.5 Unique in the RNFP. I really only shot the 9.5 gr loads with the SWC to check sights for a hog hunt and was disappointed because they had shot so well in the RBH. The remaining cowboy loads from the "rondy"event were plenty at 8.0 for the hogs @ 135,145,165# but I I would have felt better if I had had the extra had a 300# come along. I have a 6c for the Lee 255 coming. This particular mould looks like it has a little more meplat than the 10 yo 2c .

I guess I got caught up in the" fat nose wrecks more stuff"mind set and just didn't want to cave into shooting such a "pointy " bullet. :) I hope this doesn't mean magnumitus is next.