mold for a 44 carbine?

[twopatch]

my dads has a ruger in 44mag. it looks like the 10/22. I am looking for a mold that feeds in it. Has anyone had any experence with cast bullets in a simi-auto?

[Tom Herman]

Welcome aboard!

I don't have any experience with .44 semiautos, but if what you have is a tubular fed magazine, you'll want a RNFP (round nose flat point), or a SWC. You DON'T want a full round nose due to the contact between the bullet and primer!
I use the most excellent Lyman 429421 in my .44 SPL revolver.
From feeding rounds into my Taurus Thunderbolt rifle (.45LC), I found that the length was critical (under a certain length worked great), and it wouldn't digest long ammo. Once the ammo length was corrected, either the RNFP or SWC worked great.
In a gas operated gun ( I seem to remember loading commercial jackets bullets for a friend's Ruger), the load has to be right to cycle.
Once we hit the right combination, the gun was accurate and reliable...

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[mtgrs737]

I have the Lyman 429667 it has no shoulder on the nose to catch on edges during feeding. They work good in revolver speedloaders. Will the lead or lube foul the gas system on your Ruger? I always wanted one of those Rugers! Good luck!

[twopatch]

737 That's a real good question? I looked on ruger's web site, and read the instruction manual. They said all commercialy manfactured 44 mag will work. " we particulary recomend jacketed bullets,because they are the most accurate." Hummmmm. I guess I will keep on looking around,and see what I find. I wonder if the sks guys have that problem?

[JIMinPHX]

If that gun has a detachable rotary box magazine, then it is the new version & I know very little about it.

If it has a tube magazine then it is the old version that has been out of production for quite some time now. The factory book that comes with that rifle recommends against using cast boolits for fear of clogging the gas port. I would at least stay with gas checks if you are going to go against the factory recommendations. Also bear in mind that parts for that gun are few & far between these days. If you mess it up, you have a problem on your hands. Please treat it gently. It is a fine old shooter. I have been known to pull inch groups with one of them at 50-yards with iron sights. My best results come from heavy charges of H-110 under 240 or 300 grain flat nosed bullets.

[twopatch]

twopatch

I have used the RCBS 44-240-SWC in two different Ruger carbines and have not experienced any feeding problems at all.

COOL ,that helps alot. Any problems with lube getting into the gas mechanism?

[twopatch]

If that gun has a detachable rotary box magazine, then it is the new version & I know very little about it.

If it has a tube magazine then it is the old version that has been out of production for quite some time now. The factory book that comes with that rifle recommends against using cast boolits for fear of clogging the gas port. I would at least stay with gas checks if you are going to go against the factory recommendations. Also bear in mind that parts for that gun are few & far between these days. If you mess it up, you have a problem on your hands. Please treat it gently. It is a fine old shooter. I have been known to pull inch groups with one of them at 50-yards with iron sights. My best results come from heavy charges of H-110 under 240 or 300 grain flat nosed bullets.

Its the old one,my dad got it new in the 60's. He had killed many deer with it. I have killed 3,or 4 with it. It is a great gun, I will stick to jacketed bullets. Thanks everyone!

[badgeredd]

twopatch,

I've been using both the Lyman 429215 and 429244 in both of my Ruger 44 carbines. Both have shot 2" groups or less at 50 yards. I load them near full power loads as lesser loads aren't as accurate in my guns. I haven't tried any other boolits at this time.

Good luck,

Edd

[Larry Gibson]

Its the old one,my dad got it new in the 60's. He had killed many deer with it. I have killed 3,or 4 with it. It is a great gun, I will stick to jacketed bullets. Thanks everyone!

No need to stick with jacketed bullets. I shot one of those quite a bit back in '74-'75. Your rifle has the tube feed and a slow twist (1-38"). I found that accuracy was pretty good with the PB'd 429421 (Keith) with mthe standard revolver magnum loads until 1500+ fps was reached. The 429244 GC mould I have runs 270 gr and it did not shoot well unless top end loads were used (because of the slow tist). I found that the Lyman 429215 GC's 215 (mine ran 221 gr fully dressed) was the best "top end" cast bullet to use. With a max revolver load of 2400 fps the velocity was 1760 fps and accuracy at 100 yards ran 2-3" for the tube full. That was a jack rabbit killing load! Hard cast 429421s over 9.5 gr of Unique mad for a pleasant load and accuracy was fine until the bullet got past about 150 yards.

I would imagine the current Lee C429-240-SWC would be a fine cast bullet in your Dad's Ruger. The classic Keith load of 22 gr 2400 will push it well into the 1600 fps range and it should do nicely on deer. I imagine a very good plinking load could be made using the PB Lee 429-200-RF. Those would be my initial choices if I had that Ruger today.

Larry Gibson

[twopatch]

Thanks everyone, It helps alot. now I know what to look for. ... Jay