It may be that your cast bullets are simply too hard. In my slow twist .44-40 rifles I use soft 8-10 BHN alloy such as 50-50 wheelweights and plumber's lead with 1% tin added to improve fill-out. Might also tame loads back to about 1300-1600 fps and you will do better. Case full of RL7 compressed as if loading black is stellar.
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How much Re#7 for a 200 gr cast would you suggest? I have Lee /data for RE#7 and a 240gr cast 22.2gr at 1230 fps to a MAX of 23.5gr for1290 fps. The rear buck horn sight was swapped out for a Marble flat top so now I can see before I even bothered shooting it. A local commercial caster has the NOE bullet 220-230gr you suggested in .430 so I will order a 100 before buying a mold.I have Re#7 , IMR 4198 ,Unique + IMR 4227 on hand.
Fill the case full so that you are compressing the charge 1/8" with the seated bullet, exactly as if loading black powder. About 26 grains with 200-grain bullet 1350-1400 fps.
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Will try that thanx. The smith is a local barrel maker from back when the earth was flat, Ron Smith who makes LH gain twist barrels for the 1000 + yard boys as well as varminters/hunters.There is a 3 year waiting list for his barrels . Only guy in Canada that re-bores rifles.I trust him to know what he's doing as he has a soft spot for old guns and dropped what he was doing to swap my barrel out in mere hours.It shoots fine with jacketed so now i just have to figure out a cast load for plinking and maybe deer or black bear this May.Although the 200gr Speer Gold Dots look nasty with the cavernous HP.
With IMR4198 works nicely, about 22-23 grains approximates the 1350 fps velocity of the RL7 load using the .430" 200-grain Hornady XTP, or 200-215 grain cast and is safe in the 1873 Winchester.
In a strong action like the '92 or 1894 Marlin I have loaded as much as 28 grains IMR-4198 compressed with 215-grain FN .430" from Matt's Bullets, and that gives 1700 fps from a 20" barrel, or 1640 fps with the 200-grain Hornady XTP, a +P load for modern rifles only!
Velocity of .44-40 Winchester loads in Rossi Puma, '92 Winchester clone, with 20” barrel:
Ammunition____________________Vel@15ft, Sd, ES
Winchester 200 JSP factory load____1158 fps, 18 Sd, 51 ES
Handloads in Starline cases, with Remington 2-1/2 primers
Remington 200 JSP, 24.5 RL7______1355 fps, 22 Sd, 74 ES
Hornady 200 XTP, 28 IMR4198_____1642 fps, 20 Sd, 63 ES
Matts Bullets 215 LFN 28 IMR4198__1701 fps, 12 Sd, 41 ES
Matt’s Bullets 215 LFN 7.8 Red Dot__1273 fps, 15 Sd, 57 ES
Matts Bullets 215 LFN 35 Goex 3Fg__1172 fps, 28 Sd, 98 ES
Accurate 43-230G 7.2 Bullseye_____1167 fps, 8 Sd, 25 ES
Last edited by Outpost75; 01-28-2018 at 03:07 PM.
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