Seat Mihec 434-256 deeper than crimp groove

[mortre]

I was thinking of buying a Ruger 77/44 for use with this bullet. But after doing a little research, it looks like I wouldn't be able to fit it in the magazine if seated to the crimp grove. The magazine has a max length of 1.610" and seated to the grove, these should come out to 1.685". Could I seat and crimp these over the front driving band instead? My .44 Special loads would fit, but I'm not sure how safe that would be.
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[chsparkman]

There was an article in an old (2008?) American Handgunner by John Taffin where he did this. He decreased the powder charge, but I don't remember by how much, and got the same velocities as when they were seated to the crimp groove. Might google it.

[dkf]

I've been seating the MP 503 to 1.700". The Ranch Dog/Noe 432-265RF would be better suited.

[mortre]

I've been seating the MP 503 to 1.700". The Ranch Dog/Noe 432-265RF would be better suited.
I realize I could buy another mould, but I get little enough time to cast. I would rather not add another one to try and keep stocked.

In the end, what I am really looking for is a fairly quiet load that I can use to harvest a deer on my property without annoying the neighbors in front of my house. It would only need to be a 30 yard shot or so, and we're talking about a spike or fork horn at most. Nothing fancy, just a a freezer filler. I might just scrap the idea for a S&W 69 or my 30-30.

[dkf]

Then I'd make up some test loads at 1.610" and do a light crimp, even if it is one the band. I wouldn't expect much if any bullet jump with a mild load in a rifle. Reduce the load slightly for deeper seated bullet and work it up. Don't know what powder you have in mind. Maybe something like AA9, 800X or even HS-6. If you can chrono them it would be helpful to see how the spread is, velocity, etc.

[mortre]

Well, I don't want to buy the rifle unless I am positive it would work without issue. Currently I don't have anything in 44 magnum, just a 44 Special. It has a 3" barrel, which would be considered poaching here regardless of season or tags. I think I will move on to looking at a M69, or just go with the 30-30. As far as powder is concerned, I have Universal, Unique, 2400 and 296. I'm leaning towards Unique or Universal as I'm not trying to make a bear load or long range "hunting" load.

I've never shot anything with a cast bullet, so I am a little hesitant to use the 30-30. I've heard that 30-30 cast can lead to some long tracking jobs, and I'd rather not have a shot deer run into the wrong neighbors yard. I was thinking a larger slug into the shoulder bone or neck would have a better chance of dropping it within a few yards. If it wasn't for the need to keep the deer from running to far, I'd just use my bow.

[Ola]

My .44 Special loads would fit, but I'm not sure how safe that would be.
Safe? In what way? I mean, you CAN shoot .44SPL loads in .44 Mag gun. I think there is your solution..

[mortre]

Safe? In what way? I mean, you CAN shoot .44SPL loads in .44 Mag gun. I think there is your solution..
Generally yes, but I'm not sure that holds true with rifles as well as pistols. There is a LOT more barrel and not much powder (6.5gr Universal).

[Ola]

It holds true also in rifles. If you are worried getting a bullet stuck in the barrel, well, there is only one way to find out. Try one and if the bullet goes through the barrel, try another. Make sure the barrel is clear after every shot until you are sure.

The "6,5 gr of Universal" tells me absolutely nothing (I have never used that powder). But if that is a "regular" .44 SPL load, it should work just fine. There should be no problems even if it is a "mildish" load.

[Forrest r]

You'll have no problem shooting 44spl's in rifles, contender bbl's or anything chambered for 44mag. You will actually gain some velocity because of the long bbl on the rifle.

A link to a website called ballistics by the inch. You'll get the idea when you look at it. They show the velocities of thesame load in different bbl lengths.

http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/22mag.html

I've owned several 44mag rifles over the decades and I always liked shooting 44spl's in them. Light 44spl plinking loads turn into thumpers when put in a rifle. Most 44spl loads will do 1200fps+ with that bullet. The guy that designed that bullet "keith" used in 44spl's to hunt deer etc and ran them in the 1200fps range.

As you already asked, yes you easily could just crimp over the front drive band of that bullet. Countless 1000's of shooters/reloaders used to do that with another "keith" bullet, the lyman 358429. It's to long for the short s&w model's 28 and 27 cylinders when loaded in 357 cases. Another option is to taper crimp the bullets on the drive band when loading them in 44mag cases.

In reality 44spl's in that rifle would be perfect for what you want to use it for. Most 44spl loads with unique or universal will have more than enough smack to take a deer down at the ranges your talking about.

I do find it interesting that your looking at a bolt gun in 44cal. I've owned lever actions and semi-auto's in 44mag, the feed tubes on those things aren't picky about such trivial things as a bullets oal.