Ideal 429348 mold

[jim 44-40]

Hello to all,I picked up a mold at a gunshow over the weekend it's a Ideal 180gr full wad cutter for the 44 s&w or 44 spec. Have a Lyman book here that says very true and accurate up to 200 yds. I'm going to try a few in my 44 WCF ruger,I'm sure I saw loading data somewhere for 180gr lead. But I'll keep it in the 25yd range !!!

[beagle]

Never tried it at 200 yards but I have one and it does all right up to 50 yards at .44 Special velocities. After that, it tends to go unstable as do most WCs and accuracy suffers terribley./beagle

[jim 44-40]

Well had time to try out some 180gr WC in my Ruger 44-40,they shot 4in low at 25yds. That was with Bullseye powder.Now I will load some up for my Win 94 Trails End and see what happens.

[dubber123]

I have that mould, and have only tried it with Trail Boss powder out of my 10" T/C Contender. It shot poorly at 50 yds. at slow speeds, (what I wanted), but as velocity increased, group size dropped. With a max charge of TB, groups were under 1" for 5 shots at 50 yds. I was hoping for a slow, quiet small game load, but in my case it was not to be.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The wadcutter you have is an older Lyman design and is nowadays hard to come by. It is a good boolit. Lyman's claim for accuracy at 200 yards is ridiculous. The design of wadcutter bullets is of the worst possible shape in the world of aerodynamics. A WC bullet is a fairly shortrange projectile and is designed for cutting neat holes in a target and making it easier to score. It is usually seated deeper and as such would require a reduced powder charge. So loaded, they are capable of super accuracy in cartridges used for serious target work. They are popular in .38, .44, .45 etc. Trying to shoot WC's in the wind on a range is an exercise in futility. The higher the wind the wilder the shooting, particularly if it is a cross wind. The shape makes it skid on the wind and go bananas. Aside from the silly claim of 200 yards, the Lyman range must have been inside a big bottle. Your #348 will work great at 25 yds, and even 50, depending on the the gun, the correct loadings, you and the wind. I load a lot of WC's for the .38, .357, and .44Mag. In all instances the loads are reduced to 650-800 FPS. Specifically for the .44 Mag, I (don't have the same mold as you do) am using a 175 grain WC in a S&W revolver. I load 5.5 grains of Unique and at 25 yards can keep them in one hole off the bench. Using this lighter WC of 175 grains and a reduced charge and seating it flush with the case mouth gives ...one hole at 25 yards-all day. Other related data is a slight roll crimp, NRA formula lube, and boolits sized .429. I haven't tried any of this at 50 yards yet, but I would venture that with the poor aerodynamics the grouping would not be as good. Well we'll see. I hope that this has given you some idea of what to expect from your .44 WC. Good Shooting LLS

[26Charlie]

I used this 429348 on occasion in indoor 50 ft. US Revolver Assn matches in a S&W 1950 Target, with 5.5 gr. of 5066 which is out of production, but any pistol powder slightly slower than Bullseye would duplicate the load - Green Dot, 231, etc. Scores were good, 45 and up for 5 shots, recoil no problem.
when I tried to translate this load to the .44-40 S&W model 544 Texas Commemorative revolver, it wouldn't group nearly as well. I didn't have time to mess with it, just went back to the 429098 200 gr. bullet and the 200 gr. RCBS in the .44-40. I had been sizing to .430 for both guns.