LEE 160g .429 WadCutter...

[badge176]

I have that mold on it's way from an EvilBay win... Anybody have much experience with this one? I'll be running it through a pair of Ruger SBHs...

[gray wolf]

A little on the light side for me, BUT, that's just me.

[RedHawk357Mag]

That is an odd size mould, I am not finding much on it. In Lyman Cast #3 they mention a #429348. Is it similar? Aside from the 180 gr.

[Thin Man]

Somewhere around 30 years back I discovered this same mold pattern and started casting with it for my 44 Special family. I have a S&W M24 clone (built from a M28) and these boolits and the Smith made great friends of each other. After load development my final standard load involved a light charge of Bullseye powder. Back then I was a member of a local club that held regular, but not frequent, three gun matches of 22, centerfire (usually .38 Spl) and big bore (44 and 45) in handgun competition. My toys were a High Standard H-D Military Trophy, S&W K-38, and the S&W M24 clone in 44 Special. On my first match with the 44 a good friend was going to compete with his Gold Cup 45acp. He joked that no revolver could match the accuracy of a Gold Cup and that he would "shoot rings" around me. He did. Not only did I win the big bore match, I won all 3 and the entire match that day. Although this was 30 years ago, that friend is still chapped about his loss to a wheel gun. Your mold will create good boolits for the caliber. From my work with this pattern it responds well to light loadings but not heavy or high spped loads. Enjoy it for what it is - a 44 caliber boolit with the weight and mild recoil of a conventional 38 caliber boolit.

Thin Man

[longbow]

I don't have that one but I do have an Accurate #43-165B which is a 165 gr. TC design. Load data is scarce for such light boolits in .44. I did find some data and I tried using some 180 gr. data as a starting point. I found that FAST powders work best for me anyway.

I tried IMR4227 as it is my go to powder for cast boolits in .44, .303 and .308. The 180 gr. load gave almost bloopers ~ just not enough weight to get 4227 burning right.

10 grs. of 700X was a pretty zippy load. A little zippier than anticipated but no pressure signs. I would recommend 6 to 8 grs. to start. I have not tried Unique yet but plan to. Powders like Bullseye, Red Dot, Green Dot, 700X or similar in small charges will probably work best.

Longbow