How much meplat do you need

[glockky]

I have never cast the fist bullet just started smelting to get me a couple hundred pounds of alloy put up. I am looking for a bullet for my 44 in a handgun/rifle. I am not looking to spend a fortune on my first mold. The molds from lyman and rcbs and lee dont seem to have a wide meplat except for the 310gr lee which is a little heavier than what I want.

The NOE .432 265gr bullet looks good but I wanted to know if it was necessary to have that much meplat thanks for the help

[Ed K]

That boolit does not have an excess of meplat - about 72% or typical for a common SWC design. As to how much meplat you need? There is no one correct answer. One answer you may want to use in your decision making process is the following supplied by Veral Smith. It is a formula for determining a clean kill zone or range of velocity for a given boolit. Assuming this boolit & meplat:



The following chart displays a range of velocities that have a high probability of a quick, clean kill:



You want to select a velocity on the lower axis which will get you into the green zone. Either higher or lower is considered less than ideal. Understanding that a 22short in the brain will work and a 458 Win mag in the tail will not, the objective is to have an animal DRT or have a very short run with a typical boiler room shot. Also: this is not my work - just a graphical depiction of one man's ideas on the matter who is well known in the industry and a popular mold maker for many years.

[a.squibload]

This is enough:

[Beagle333]

These'll do, in a pinch.

[glockky]

who makes those molds beagle and squibload?

[a.squibload]

Those look good. I almost want to install a bolt or something
to shorten mine up, they're pretty heavy.
I would make 'em hollowpoint to lighten 'em up but my buddy
wants solids in case of bear attack. Maybe someday I'll have
all the molds I want...

edit: Glockky, we musta been typing at the same time.
That mold is a Hoch custom, he's in Colorado, don't know
for sure if he still makes molds. I can look for my info, still
have the box around here somewhere. They cast at 348 gns
using COWW. At the time I got the mold it was fashionable
to load 300+ gn WFNs for 44, I didn't realize they would be THAT heavy.

[btroj]

How much? No set answer.

How fast is it going? What alloy? What target?

Like everything is shooting cast- it is all about balance.

[Beagle333]

My pic is of the Accurate 359-162V. 81% meplat.

[303Guy]

a.squibload, what twist gun are you shooting those from and what velocity? Could I ask you for the basic boolit dimensions, please? Base diameter, meplat diameter, boolit length and nose section length? Thanks in advance.

[glockky]

So those are for 357 beagle. Those look good I would like to shoot some out of my 686

[725]

You don't mention what rifle or handgun you plan to use. I only bring this up as the profile will matter if you are using a lever action. It must be able to feed reliably. Some SWC's don't work in my lever. I've never had a bad experience with a Ranch Dog design and they are sure enough good boolits for revolver, semi, bolt, or lever action. Meplat is just fine, too. If I were you I'd be looking for a round flat profile.
Best of luck.

[a.squibload]

303guy, still working up a load, like 'em around 1000fps
in the Redhawk. Can't remember the twist!
They're about an inch long, cast at .430 or so with WWs.
I got a .432 sizer die so need to beagle to see if I can
fatten them up. Will measure nose length for ya but
off the top of my head the nose is just about the same
as the distance between the case mouth and the front of
the cylinder on the old Redhawk, minus a 16th maybe.
Get back to ya tomorrow.

[leftiye]

For starters pick up a Lyman 429244, or a 429421 somewhere. A classic SWC that is excellent all around what it lacks in mmeplat it will return in accuracy.

[Lead Fred]

Meplat are like breasts, some guys want as big as they can get.

Ranch Dog is the meplat enhancement doctor of molds

[Larry Gibson]

For starters pick up a Lyman 429244, or a 429421 somewhere. A classic SWC that is excellent all around what it lacks in mmeplat it will return in accuracy.

+1.

Agree 100+ % and couldn't have said it better.

Larry Gibson

[a.squibload]

Yep, meplat size might be overrated.
For me the main thing these are good for is wasting lead at the range.
Really swings the hanging steel plate though!
So far they shoot pretty good, but I have a 215gn mold that's about as much fun.

The stats:
length .927
nose length .375
meplat .359

I have a pile of 330gn 44 boolits (don't have the mold) that have more like a
truncated cone nose with a .280 meplat. Have shot lots of them.
I like the way the heavy ones launch, don't slap ya like a smaller fast boolit
(think 357 - ow).

[a.squibload]

.....

[leftiye]

Meplat are like breasts, some guys want as big as they can get.

Ranch Dog is the meplat enhancement doctor of molds

Great analogy, too much boob ain't good.

SWCs have been doin' a fair ta midlin' job for a long time. Though I actually prefer RNFPs. Bigger meplats are okay, so long as the increased drag works for you, and they aren't big enough to destabilize the projectile.

[white eagle]

I am in the bigger isn't always better camp
I used to get all my molds with large meplats but now I'm going for smaller meplat
it would seem that the less is more is true for me anyway.. accuracy is what I am after

[1Shirt]

I am of the old school, regardless of size: "If it works don't fix it!"
1Shirt!