OAL for RD 265 gr boolit in Mag cases

[ghh3rd]

I've loaded quite a few of the Lee 310gr boolits in magnum cases, but don't know if the overall length of the rounds with the RD 265 gr boolit should be the same as for the 310gr.

Anyone load the RD 265gr boolit who can tell me? These are tumble lube boolits, so I have plenty of grooves to choose from.

As far as powder load, I figure that 22 gr of 296 or 110 should be a good starting point.

Randy

[HammerMTB]

I've loaded quite a few of the Lee 310gr boolits in magnum cases, but don't know if the overall length of the rounds with the RD 265 gr boolit should be the same as for the 310gr.

Anyone load the RD 265gr boolit who can tell me? These are tumble lube boolits, so I have plenty of grooves to choose from.

As far as powder load, I figure that 22 gr of 296 or 110 should be a good starting point.

Randy

Randy, I use the RD boolit, and my thoughts are these:
If you look really closely at the boo, you can see that the top groove is different than the rest. That's the one meant for the crimp. In that groove, the OAL will take care of itself.
You certainly could crimp in any of the TL grooves. If you had a compressed load, maybe you'd want to. But my use of the .44 has not made it necessary up to now. :smile:

[44man]

Overall length means nothing as long as the round fits the gun without sticking out of the front of the cylinder. Being back from the front means nothing either.
Just use the crimp groove. 22 gr is the most accurate in a Ruger. Use a standard LP primer.

[knifemaker]

Randy, I use that bullet and 22 gr.-296 powder load in my Marlin 1894 44 mag. While doing load testing for accuracy. I have crimped in the second lube groove located below the normal crimp grove to see if it would improve accuracy. It functioned just fine in my Marlin at the extended lenght. Accuracy did pick up a little on 5 shot groups at 50 yards, but this may be true or not true for your rifle.
I am still doing testing on that rifle for the best accuracy groups and I had to open up my Lee tumble lube sizing die to increase the sized dia. of the bullet to fit my rifle bore and have not shot any rounds after completing the work on the sizing die. I will then re-test the new loads at different lenghts trying to determine where my best groups will be.
My Marlin rifle is a early 70's model and I had Marlin remove the Micro-groove barrel and replace it with a new "ballard" style rifled barrel. The old micro-groove barrel had tight spots that went down to .429 and the majority of the barrel was .432 dia and it would not hold any decent groups. The new barrel has been a improvement and I hope to get it down even further with some experimenting on my part. Most of the Marlin users on here will tell you that proper bullet size to groove dia. is normally the most important thing to good accuracy using cast bullets. Decreasing the bullet jump in the chamber will help in some rifles based on my experience with several rifles using cast bullets. I have one 45/70 that loves to have the bullet ogive just touching the lands for it's best accuracy with a 350 gr.Ranch dog bullet design.

[longbow]

I haven't used the RD 265 gr. yet but will be getting one soon.

My experience with the 1894 Marlin is similar to knifemaker's. My microgroove bore had tight spots under the dovetails so I lapped them out.

Also, my Marlin really has a problem with OAL and doesn't like SWC's at all. I have modified the cartridge stop so allow longer OAL but will likely use the RD crimp groove unless seating out further gives better accuracy.

I can't speak on revolvers but if you have a Marlin, slug the bore and check functioning for OAL before you go loading up a whack of ammo.

Longbow