44 special leading issues

[Beamer]

I Have a s and w m24-3. Bought new. I really want to shoot lead slugs but Have been having leading problems. Have tried gas check 429215s, 250 rcbs keith, 240 plain Base h and g. Sized at .428, .429, and .430. All lead with 5 rounds shot. This is just where the boolit enters the barrel, both lands and grooves. I tried to slug the barrel but having difficult time getting a good reading. Thanks

[gnostic]

My 624 and SB leaded the barrels, when I shot up a box of 500 SWC .429 that I bought. Neither revolvers lead the barrel when the bullets are sized to .430. You might want to pull the bullet from a loaded round, to be certain that you're not sizing down the bullet in the loading process...

[Outpost75]

You also want to check the cylinder throat diameters and size bullets to that size. IGNORE the groove diameter of your barrel.
Many S&W cylinders run large. My Model 29-2 shoots best with .432 bullets.

243677

[Tom_in_AZ]

My 624 and SB leaded the barrels, when I shot up a box of 500 SWC .429 that I bought. Neither revolvers lead the barrel when the bullets are sized to .430. You might want to pull the bullet from a loaded round, to be certain that you're not sizing down the bullet in the loading process...

This. It is possible to size down and create leading issues.

My Ruger SBH prefers .432

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[Walks]

I had both my Colt .44Spl's Reamed out to I think 14degrees ?. Sorry it was 30+yrs ago. It stopped my leading problems. Same Gunsmith did my S&W 624 at the same time.
Matching bullet diameter to chamber throats and bore diameters really helps. That's why I have different loads for My Colts and S&W Revolvers.

I can use the same diameter bullets for .44Mag Smith & Ruger Revolvers. And My 1980's Winchester. 44Mag Rifle at .431dia. But my old Browning 92 needs .432 bullets. Leaded badly until I finally starting casting with Linotype to get a .432dia bullet and a custom .432 size die for my Lyman Lube-Sizer.

Had Lyman ream out an undersized #429664(or 665) 240gr to drop .432 bullets from #2 alloy. Later I got a N.O.E. #TL432-240-RF that dropped perfect .433 bullets with COWW.
Now after almost 40yrs that old Browning shoots like a house afire.

Have 3 different bullets for .44WCF Too.

Pain in the neck to have so many different bullets with so many different diameters.

But isn't that why we do this anyway.

[Forrest r]

My 624 & 29-3 both needed .431"/.432" cast bullets or bad things happen

[lotech]

My 624 & 29-3 both needed .431"/.432" cast bullets or bad things happen

I've seen the same in my 24-3s and 29s, all guns I've had for a long time and shoot only cast bullets in.

[Thumbcocker]

I run .431 in my 24 with good results

[Duster340]

What kind of velocity are you pushing the boolits at?

[RED BEAR]

That is unusual that you are getting leading with gas checked bullets i run plain soft lead in my 24 usually don't push much over 800 fps and size .430 and have no lead problems at all. The second cleaning patch usually comes out clean .

[376Steyr]

You didn't mention what alloy you're using. If you're using wheelweights or harder, with a modest charge of Unique or Bullseye, your bullets probably aren't "slugging up". Plus matching cylinder throat diameter is a good thing too. I was baffled for years about why my .429 diameter, rock-hard, commercial cast SWCs leaded and shot patterns out of my .432 throat .44 Special over a moderate charge of Unique. Then I found this site and learned a few things. Try an alloy of half wheelweights, half pure lead, size to .432, and see if that helps.

[Larry Gibson]

What lube?

What load?

What alloy?

Leading at the location mentioned almost always is a result of the lube not working.

[mdi]

As a start, you need to fit the bullet to the gun. I have found .428", .429" and .430" to be too small for my 44 revolvers. Slug the cylinder throats or measure (pin/plug gauges or ball gauges, calipers aren't accurate enough for small IDs) and size/purchase bullets the same diameter. This will be a good start and 90%+ of the time this is all that's needed to get clean shooting boolits...

[Mal Paso]

A lot of recent S&W 44 Mags have throats in the .428"-.429" range which is intentional for shooting jacketed bullets. I reamed mine .431". Measure your cylinder throats.

[murf205]

A lot of recent S&W 44 Mags have throats in the .428"-.429" range which is intentional for shooting jacketed bullets. I reamed mine .431". Measure your cylinder throats.

Ditto on this. My new 24 S&W came from the factory with .428 throats and a .429 barrel and it leaded quite a bit. After reaming to . 431 the leading disappeared and the accuracy got a lot better. The factories are geared for jacket rounds so we have to adapt. Get some pin guages and measure your CLEAN cylinder throats.

[DougGuy]

I tried to slug the barrel but having difficult time getting a good reading. Thanks

It likely has a 5 land and groove bore, which is difficult to measure even with the correct tooling, you need a 108 degree V block and a comparator, but there is an easier way to figure it out.

Slug the bore and see if the slug goes through the cylinder throats. In a perfect world, a revolvers dimensions read not unlike a common kitchen funnel. Larger diameters in the back getting progressively smaller as the boolit travels. Ideally, cast boolits should be sized .001" to .002" greater than groove diameter, and cylinder throats should be sized .0005" to .001" greater than boolit diameter. Using this formula, the slug should drop through the cylinder throats fairly easily. If it doesn't, the throats are smaller than they should be.