44 Mag mold

[lead4me]

Can I get an opinion on a great mold for the .44 Mag. I will be shooting this out of a super blackhawk 10 1/2" & if possible my Desert Eagle. I want a boolit that I can hunt whitetail & black bear & a lot of target shooting. I like a boolit on the heavy side & I like to load the .44 hot. Just getting into casting doing the .45acp now & want to start casting the .44 & .357/38 also. Also would like to stay away from a GC style "IF" I can.
Any Ideas and if you can include a place where I can get it. Thanks

[WHITETAIL]

lead4me, Welcome to the forum.:drinks:
As for looking and buying check out Mid-Way USA.

[Heavy lead]

First of all welcome, second of all do yourself a huge favor and get in this group buy, http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=64662, second of all, from what you're describing my recommendation would be for this mould: http://www.natchezss.com/brand.cfm?contentID=productDetail&brand=LE&prodID=LEE90227&prodTitle=Lee%20.430%20310%20grain%20Round%20Flat% 20Nose%206%20Cavity%20Mold
The first mould is the boolit the Lyman 429421 should be, but this NOE from Swede will be 100 times the mould, won't be undersized and will be a joy to use and shoot for all your target needs and will certainly take deer and bear, the second mould is the Lee 430-310 flat nose, it has a big meplat and will shoot through an elk if you want, and most find it to be accurate too pushed hard. It is a gas check design, but IMO it's the best, most available heavy 44 out there. Lee moulds can be a **** shoot, I have this in a two cavity (I loath the Lee two cavities and like the 6 much better and not just because they throw more boolits) but am relunctant to move up to the 6 because it throws a nice fat .432 boolit and Gator checks fit perfect without a fuss.
Good luck, you're sure to get more opinions.

[WHITETAIL]

I think you are going to fine that Your choices are few.
Because You want a do all boolet.
For hunting you want a boolet with lots of wack.
For your DE. you want a boolet to function in a auto.
And paper does not care if it is gc. or pb.
If I were going to pick a boolet with your guns.
I would start with a proven boolet like RCBS 44-250K.:redneck:

[stubert]

I'll recomend the Lee 310 g.c. bullet, It is the most accurate bullet in my Rugers. I shoot a Super blackhawk and an old Red hawk. 20.5 grains of WW-296, mag. primer, Recoil is not bad in the Red hawk, its a bit stiff in the S.B.H. Both my revolvers are 7 1/2" the Redhawk wears a leuopld m-8, The S.B.H. wears a red dot. The Red hawk is much heavier.

[RobS]

I would say that if only paper and deer were what you planned then the Keith type bullet would be a good bullet as it tends to be quite accurate for most people. If only black bear (in addition to the deer and paper) is what you plan on hunting then the 245-250 grain Keith bullet design would take care of this need as well although I personally would go with a bit heavier bullet especially if brown bear is a possibility. The Lee 310 grain bullet is a good design and is accurate at lower velocities and continues to get better as you pick up the velocities. It has been shot without the gas check by many with good accuracy as well so you are not limited to only using it with a GC.

Once you narrow down your search with this thread and feel like you have your mind made up on a mold I would open up another thread asking about accuracy, possible favorite loads, effects with target/hunting, and general experiences with the design.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your mold exploration.

Rob

[Blammer]

I think one of these will do you just fine.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/44list.jpg

The Lee 3 crimp groove one I shot a deer with in 2008 and it penetrated him diagonally, vel was 1350fps. In through right shoulder out left ham. I was using my SRH 7.5" brl.

The NEI 250gr is one of my most accurate boolits, if you can find that one from NEI (an old Walt mould not a new one) you should be in tall cotton.

For a GC version the 429640 is a really good one and the wt is what you are also looking for. Any of these designs will punch a really nice hole probably all the way through what you're after.

The FULL Wadcutter, second from left, will only stabilize out to maybe 75 yds pushed hard. Up close it's devestating. :)

For practice mostly I'd look at getting a plain base mould and a lighter wt, to save your alloy. 10gr of unique and 250gr boolit will be good practice loads, IMO. Then I'd step up slightly to a heavier one say 250gr or so for deer, although I'd have no worries about wacking one with a lighter boolit. For bear? Well, I don't hunt bear, but for me; get a big ol heavy BIG meplat and have lots of rounds at your disposal for them.

[Shuz]

Can I get an opinion on a great mold for the .44 Mag. I will be shooting this out of a super blackhawk 10 1/2" & if possible my Desert Eagle. I want a boolit that I can hunt whitetail & black bear & a lot of target shooting. I like a boolit on the heavy side & I like to load the .44 hot. Just getting into casting doing the .45acp now & want to start casting the .44 & .357/38 also. Also would like to stay away from a GC style "IF" I can.
Any Ideas and if you can include a place where I can get it. Thanks

lead4me--welcome to the forum...Since you want to do a lot of target shooting, I recommend a Lyman 429421 or an RCBS 44-250K or any other mfr's design that has a front driving band shoulder just behind the ogive. These designs cut a nice paper punch type hole and are also good for hunting. The designs without the front driving band shoulder cut uneven holes and often tear the paper as they go thru. I have no experience with the Desert Eagle, so feeding may be a problem with the 429421 and it's look-a-likes. I know my Marlin 1894 is quite finicky when it comes to shoulder desing and OAL.
--Shuz

[mdi]

Welcome to the wierd wonderful world of Boolit Casting. You won't go wrong with the Lyman 429421. It's a proven design and been around a while. Lots of casters use it so info. is readibly available if you're having casting problems. I also recommend using plain wheel weight alloy with a bit of tin for fill out, air cooled, to keep things simple; get good casting practices down before you get into alloying/mixing lead, etc. Size the boolits to fit your gun (slug bbl and cylinder throats), use a decient lube and leading will be minimal.

If you run across a Ranch Dog 44 cal mold, snatch it up. I've got one in 265 gr RFN that shoots great in all my 44s.

[lead4me]

I want to thank you guys for the responses, I really like the 275 & 310 boolits. When it comes to target shooting I have my own range so I will be able to "Lead Mine" my alloy back to remelt. I have one for my .45 & smoke poles & one for my Magnum's & rifles. Do I have to have a sizer to install the gas checks? That is the only reason I was gonna stay away from them for now or can they be set by hand?
The Desert Eagle is what I used for hunting as it has a Holo sight on it & the Ruger SB I have used open sight for silhouette shooting.20099 The DE has the polygon rifling in it and I have read/heard that it doesn't like cast boolits same as a glock? Any truth to that or is it just a matter of finding the proper mix/load to function with that configuration?

[Walt]

Using lead in the gas operated Desert Eagle can be problematic.

[kingstrider]

I have four .44s and several molds for them but would say the most accurate is the Lyman Devastator. I also use it in my muzzleloaders with plastic sabots, great boolit.

[MtGun44]

Walt,

Is that info from personal experience? If so what exactly was the problem? I have heard from
many here that shoot lots of lead in various gas operated rifles with no problems at all.

Bill

[fredj338]

lead4me--welcome to the forum...Since you want to do a lot of target shooting, I recommend a Lyman 429421 or an RCBS 44-250K or any other mfr's design that has a front driving band shoulder just behind the ogive. These designs cut a nice paper punch type hole and are also good for hunting. The designs without the front driving band shoulder cut uneven holes and often tear the paper as they go thru. I have no experience with the Desert Eagle, so feeding may be
I agree, for most of your needs, tough to beat the RCBS 250K. Cast of ww, it will be closer to 260gr, no gc, very accurate. The Lyman 429421 is alos a good choice, I like the RCBS a bit better.
Forget using lead bullets of any alloy in the DE. It's not the rifling, it's the gast system. It's pretty finicky IME, lube & lead particle will cause issues. It's best to stick w/ plated or jacketed there, allthough occasional lead bullets use w/ a good cleaning of the gas cyl/channel will work.

[Artful]

Don't have a DE but RCBS SWC Keith works well in my Revolvers and Marlin Carbine - Welcome to the forum -

[44man]

I'll recomend the Lee 310 g.c. bullet, It is the most accurate bullet in my Rugers. I shoot a Super blackhawk and an old Red hawk. 20.5 grains of WW-296, mag. primer, Recoil is not bad in the Red hawk, its a bit stiff in the S.B.H. Both my revolvers are 7 1/2" the Redhawk wears a leuopld m-8, The S.B.H. wears a red dot. The Red hawk is much heavier.
Right on the money for boolit choice but 21.5 gr of 296 with a standard primer will increase accuracy 100%.

[Walt]

Bill,
No that's not from my personal experience. I bought a near new 50 Desert Eagle sometime back and have shot some of the 300 rds. of factory ammo that came with the deal. I have gotten the dies and some jacketed bullets and plan on reloading for it shortly. Any way when asking about it at a local gun shop a fellow who has the same piece in 44 mag said it was not wise and that the manual also stated that. I checked it and it does. He didn't go into great detail but said the polygonal rifling and gas system were the reasons. However I do load for all my Glocks and HKs with the same rifling and when using good loading practices have no problems with them. Just my 2 cents.....
Walt

[mroliver77]

Back to this. I am searching for EXPERIENCE shooting lead in the DE. Lots of gunshop exspurts lecture of the dangers of shooting lead in gas guns. Its always " lube and lead particles build up and clog the gas system" I shoot lead in other gas guns with no problems. The polygonal rifling makes me nervous and I am not sure how much gas this thing wants to cycle it. I cannot find much using search so thought I would ask.
TIA
Jay

[crabo]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=744337

The RCBS 250K is a good way to get to shooting now and not waiting for a group buy to come to fruition.

[Savvy Jack]

nevermind

[44Blam]

I have a custom mold from Accurate molds that has two cavities that are 43-240 A and two cavities that are 43-420AG. The A is a PB boolit and the AG is gas check. The mold works flawlessly.

They work great in my Henry lever gun and my Ruger Redhawk.

I recently ran out of the PB boolits so I did a big cast - about 20 lbs of metal and 500+ boolits later, I can shoot again for a month or two. :)

[Minerat]

I know this is an old thread but......
Bammer, I had someone send me some of these about five years ago and this is the first I have been able to find what it is. You say it is a Lee, I checked their site and can't find it. Can you give some more info?

Jack, send Blammer a Private Message on that Lee Boolit, he might not see this since it is so old.

[derek45]

Not sure what the desert eagle would like.

but my favorite 44 bullet is the ARSENAL H&G 503 clone. this is a true Elmer Keith design.


https://i.imgur.com/z1oEwmp.jpg

powder coated ( smokes clear )

https://i.imgur.com/kThabxW.jpg

after baking

https://i.imgur.com/nQGypmJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zuzwgAP.jpg


The big LEE 430-310-RF is another favorite

https://i.imgur.com/WcpfhB6.jpg