44 Magnum and 180 and 200 gr lead RNFP

[ShrinkMD]

I am curious what loads people are using with hard cast (16bhn) bullets in these weights. As my earlier post on 240 gr lead bullets said, I am interested in using Bullseye or 2400.

Thanks!

[bbailey7821]

Personally, I'm a W296 fan. I shoot Lyman 255g SWC ahead of 24g. It'll get you around 1300 fps and it's really accurate out of my SBH

[Larry Gibson]

With the Lee 429-200-2F in magnum cases 6 gr of Bullseye works very nicely for me. 870 fpe out of the Colt 4" barrel and 940 gps out of the Ruger 6 1/2" barrel. Very accurate and very pleasant to shoot.

Larry Gibson

[bobthenailer]

With the Saeco # 420 , 200 gr tc , loaded in 44 mag cases ive had great results with , 5.5 gr of BE or Tightgroup @ 800 fps or 7.0 gr of BE or Tightgroup @ 950 fps . Ive shot this load out of several revlovers and its accurate from every one !

[ShrinkMD]

I made up a batch of 200 gr rnfp with 21 gr of 2400, which is the starting load listed in the Lyman lead bullet book. It says that load is for a 200 gr #2 alloy, but then they list a 210 gr bullet with a lower max of 2400, and said it was of linotype.

Now that I'm thinking of it, will I have a problem with this load being too hot? I figured that starting at the start load, which was 2 grains lower than the max would be ok, but in looking at the difference between the 200 and 210 gr bullet, the difference in alloys seems to really lower the load more than I would have thought.

The other thing that is weird is that when I type any 2400 loads into my older copy of Quickload, they come out too hot. I guess that is a whole other topic.

So, should I have any problem shooting these? I used Wolf and CCI LP primers, just to test to make sure that the hammer spring will fire them. My 629PC came from the factory with an amazing trigger, but I want to make sure it will fire more than Federals!

[GabbyM]

I've run a few Saeco 200 grain #446 RNFP over 20 grains of AA#9.
Recoil is tolerable.
I use that same charge under a Lyman 429215 and it’s starting to kick. Then when it gets under a 240 grain bullet it does kick and quits being fun to shoot.

[Blammer]

I'd be sorta partial to this powder for starting.

[Shuz]

Lee 200RNFP and 9.0g of Green Dot gives 1024fps outta 4" Smith and shoots well.

[ShrinkMD]

Hopefully I will get to shoot them this weekend. I guess I need to get some Unique for those 1000 fps loads.

It seems on many posts that people consider that speed to be a magnum load, but still reasonable on the brass, the gun, and your wrists (although maybe not in that order!)

[Ben]

You might want to take a look at the SAECO # 446 at 200 grs.

[Shuz]

Ben
I agree. I have a saeco 446-A 4 banger and it looks so similar to yours that I can't tell any difference. I will say that mine casts boolits that weigh 206g outta ww+1% tin.

[Ben]

Shuz

I'd have to go and check my notes, but it also seems that mine are a shade more than 200 grs. also. Who knows.......our blocks may have been cut with the same cherry.

Ben

[GabbyM]

Here's a photo of the Lee 200 grain on left and Saeco 200 grain #446 on right.
The Lee has a crimp grove but you have to look close to see it. Meplat on my Saeco is .320". With my 6" barrel revolver it's not hard to send a 200 grainer super sonic.

[NHlever]

You might want to take a look at the SAECO # 446 at 200 grs.

That is a good looking boolit Ben! I have a couple of 200 grain molds, but they are RNFP designs, and I like the looks of yours better. Actually, I should say that mine are closer to RN than FP.

[ShrinkMD]

I got hold of some unique, so we'll see how 8.5 and 10 do.

[ShrinkMD]

Well, I tried Wolf and CCI LP primers for the fun of it, and here is what happened:

New Starline 44 Magnum brass
21 gr 2400
200 gr RNFP from Dardascast
Wolf or CCI LP

Shot from 629 V Comp 4" with comp attached

The Wolf group showed 1144 fps, SD of 27.4

The CCI group showed 1174 fps, and SD of 20.9

I can't comment on accuracy because these were too hot for me and I was flinching, but they were fun to shoot. Next time I will load up some Unique and go a little slower.

So not only were the Wolf primers nearly impossible to seat correctly due to being oversized, their performance was weaker and a considerably higher SD than the CCI. I didn't run the statistical test (I forget how) but something tells me that the difference is enough between the two to be statistically significant.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Keep shooting , you will easily grow into those loads.
Now a 325gr. 44 at 1200'/s is unpleasant.

[Buddy]

I run the Lee 310's at a chronographed 1465 fps avg. in a DW 744VH8. I don't see anything unpleasant about it. If you work on your flinch problem you can shoot those heavy loads with ease. It's only recoil, it's not going to do bodily harm. At least not for a few years.