41 cal shooters - mould ID needed

[sleeper1428]

Over 20 years ago a friend of mine asked me if I would cast him some boolits (he called them bullets but I didn't try to explain the difference) for his revolver chambered in 41 Magnum. Not having a mould for that caliber, I turned to Lee and ordered the only mould they had available at that time, a mould that has the number 90332 stamped on the side. This DC mould drops SWC boolits that weigh in at 244 grains (+/- a quarter grain) when cast in Taracorp Magnum alloy equivalent (2-6-92). This particular mould is no longer listed by Lee - they now have a 210 gr and a 195 gr only - and while I've emailed Lee inquiring about this mould, I was wondering if anyone on this forum might own or have used this particular mould and might therefore know the nomenclature of this mould. Also, if you do use this particular mould, do you have any load data that I could pass on to my friend for use in reloading using this boolit. Any assistance would be appreciated.

sleeper1428

[Leftoverdj]

Nomenclature would almost certainly be 410-240-SWC per Lee's practice. Lyman's data for their 240 grain .41 will be close enough. Eight grains of Unique or 16 grains of 2400 would be reasonable starting points with the possibility of working up two more grains with either.

[azrednek]

That was my first non-black powder mould. I cast, loaded and shot hundreds before I wore the mold out. I can't remember the exact loads using Unique and 2400. I used data from an older version of Cartridges of the World. Most of what I shot were loaded with an apx load of 4.5 - 5 grs of Bullseye I measured using a Lee spoon. The mild load of Bullseye did a good job on paper. The load recommended in Cartridges of the World using 2400 and a 240 gr lead SWC was a bit to hot, it flattened and backed out primers. If you find the load I strongly encourage you to back off considerably and work your way up.

[big dale]

I had one of those single cavity molds and cast it of straight w/w. I most often loaded it with 8 grains of Herco for a load that was estimated at around 900 fps. It was a very comfortable load in my old 4 5/8 inch Blackhawk. I also loaded it with probably too much 2400, but all the screws kept backing out. (grin) Even then the cases were much easier to get out of the cylinder than those first two boxes of Remington factory loads were back when I first bought that gun. Those first factory shells were Hot! Hot! Hot!

Big Dale

[Prince555]

I have that mold in a single cavity and with wheel weights they're 244 gr or close.
I'm shooting them with 21gr W296. and get constant bullet holes touching at
15 yards on indoor test range.
I have 2 Ruger Blackhawks. That load may be on the Hot side so work up
carefully as it has considerable power & recoil. I've shot 21.5 gr of W296
but dropped back as recoil was fierce with the 4 5/8 inch barreled Ruger &
not as bad with the 6 1/2 inch model. I'd say that's pretty much a Ruger Only
load.

[dannyabear]

I have a double cavity mold (90332) that I don't nned and getting ready to list on ebay, if anyone is looking for one.

[sleeper1428]

Nomenclature would almost certainly be 410-240-SWC per Lee's practice. Lyman's data for their 240 grain .41 will be close enough. Eight grains of Unique or 16 grains of 2400 would be reasonable starting points with the possibility of working up two more grains with either.

Yes, 410-240-SWC is what I suspected it would be as far as the Lee DC mould nomenclature is concerned. I was just hoping that someone would have one or have used one so as to confirm my guess. As I say, I'm casting these boolits for a friend, actually my chiropractor, who is quite a hunter and shooter but he hasn't gotten into casting boolits as yet. I'm hoping that if he tries these out that he'll like them and then get interested in getting into casting.

Everyone, thanks for the suggestions as far as loads are concerned. I'll pass this on to him with the admonition that he should start at least a grain and a half or two grains below the load suggested for W296 and work up in 0.5 grain increments until he gets the accuracy he wants. And I'll suggest the starting loads indicated for Unique and 2400, again with the idea of increasing in 0.5 grain increments until he achieves the best accuracy. He's a bear hunter and carries the 41 Magnum as a back-up sidearm so he may well be more interested in knockdown power rather than long distance accuracy so he'll probably want to work up some pretty 'hot' loads.

sleeper1428

[r6487]

I have that mold in double cavity box has 410-240-swc. I used 8.5-9.0 grains of Unique in SW Mdl 57.