Bullet Mould for 44 mag.

[reloader28]

If it were me I'd load the 310gr lee over a healthy dose of H110/W296.

Another vote for the Lee. This is what I do

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Not throwing stones at the users of heavy for caliber handgun bullets, as I've cast and shot a lot of 300+ grain bullets, the most from an LBT (Lead Bullet Technology) 310gr Wide Flat Nose mold. I put those out the 5.5" barrel of my RUGER RedHawk and just over 1300fps.

However, I have seen damage to the base pin - cylinder rotation pin - and the spring loaded base pin retaining pin on the RUGER BlackHawk from the use of the heavies - 300 - 330gr.

I know the RedHawk will stand up to that level of sustained usage, it has and is still tight and strong, but also understand that in many firearms, the use of those bullets at magnum velocities WILL take a toll.

So, just be aware that is the price you may possibly pay and consider the use of the very adequate 240 - 280gr Wide Flat Nose cast bullet for most usage.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[sixshot]

Again, I can't emphasis enough the fact that you need to shoot a load you can handle fast & accurate, you aren't hunting bears in the situation you mention, you are using a handgun for bear protection & there's a difference.
For bear protection it's very possible you might need a fast follow up shot so you need to be able to handle the recoil & make your shots count, a bear is extremely fast, like 10 yds in 1/2 second if he's in attack mode. You need heavy bullets yes but you don't need maximum velocity, big bullets will get the job done if you are making hits. Bears aren't impressed with shots in the dirt, you have to hit them if there's a fight going on, just saying. A good single action, cocking with the left thumb can be shot quite fast & accurate if you are steady & practiced.
One other thing, how fast can you get your gun out of the holster? Don't use a thong, use a snap strap with a long over hang in case you are wearing gloves, makes it easy to un snap with the gloves on like the one's Mike Barranti makes. Every single time you see a bear take your gun out, no matter how far away it is, things can get western in a hurry, get that gun in both hands NOW!

Dick

[Three44s]

After a couple of trips to the local gunsmith I quit running my Smith Mountain gun heavier than the RCBS 250K. So in a Smith that boolit would be my choice.

Now I always tell people that my Smith is the handgun I would likely use to “get away from the bear, while my Redhawk would be the gun I would carry back to find the bear!

The RH & SRH revolvers take a lot of punishment, more than the Smiths can but also more than the Super Blackhawk, as well!

But there is more to the story about the “strength” of the Redhawk and Super Redhawk.

The cylinders of these guns are longer by about 50 thou. Using a boolit that gives the opportunity to seat it forward that amount gives the handloader an advantage.

My pick for a RH or a SRH would be the Lee 320 gr with the boolits seated to and crimped into the rear groove. This gives one more boiler room and precludes chambering in a Smith.


Three44s

[sixshot]

When you get into the real heavy weight bullets you need to be careful that you don't get bullet pull from the recoil & yes it can & does happen. Not saying it will but you better make sure it doesn't if you are shooting bullets in the 300-320 gr range, make real sure you have a good crimp, a pulled bullet could make things interesting.
On the subject of gas checks, use them if you want to but most will tell you it's a waste of money unless you are really going to lean on that load (hot) just use a good flat base design & save yourself $35-$40, your call. Shoot some of both at 25 yds & see if a grouse could live on the difference. I'm betting you won't see 1/4" difference if any at 25 yds. Once in a while they will but usually not. Now in a rifle & high speed they can help. Good luck.

Dick

[Bigslug]

Randy,

There's no shortage of good molds, and in looking at Accurate, you've found a good source.

Bullets in the 240 to 275 grain range will serve you well. I'm no longer one to go extra heavy for the sake of a number - the eye opener for me with cast bullets was needing NINE milk jugs to stop a hard alloy, .32" meplat 230 grain .45 ACP travelling at the military hardball speed of 830 fps (the typical LE duty load will stop in three). Backing the weight down into the reasonable middle ground will let you run at a bit higher speed, which will improve your trajectory somewhat and may add a little to wound diameter.

Gas checks are not necessary at .44 Mag speeds, but they CAN be handy. It really depends on how your gun has previously behaved with cast, and how deep you want to dive into measuring throat diameters, bore diameter, checking for and lapping out frame crush, etc... I'm heavy into handloading and light duty home gunsmithing for its own sake and prefer not to fiddle with gas checks whenever possible, so this stuff has become the new "normal". If your gun has leaded before and/or you just don't want to mess with any of that, then yeah, checks can be your friend.

The straight-up 260 grain Keith clone is never a bad call, and it's listed as the Accurate 43-250J. Tom can turn it into a gas checker easily enough. The 43-265F would be another good one to apply this treatment to. Those two designs have more of a moderate meplat in the .30 cal range and would be better all-around bullets for longer ranges. If you're ONLY looking for maximum blunt force trauma in carnivore-defense situations, Tom has any number of designs that can go as big as a full wadcutter, but bullets with meplat diameters over about 75% of bore diameter tend to start destabilizing at longer ranges - don't expect a lot of accuracy past 75 yards.

[Idaho Mule]

Having held the job position before and covering a couple miles in the back woods of Idaho I am going to suggest that you follow sixshot's advice. In a fight you need control, not blast an aircraft carrier out of the water power. Yes, you still need power, but control is of the utmost importance so you can put the load where it needs to be. That heavy 41 bullet at 1000 fps out of your 57 will do the job. I bet you are pretty friendly with the 57 too, it carries and handles very nicely. As sixshot said, bears are VERY quick when they want to kick your butt, have the gun out and in your hand at the soonest opportunity and hopefully the bear heads the other direction. Make sure to have some clean underwear back at camp too. JW

[guntechholsters]

I learned a while back, 310gr lee, you need to put a heavy crimp on it.
For critters that can eat you, I wouldn't necessarily go full house, you want to have quick and accurate follow up shots.

[Blammer]

here's a few to look at

[AlaskaMike]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread yet (apologies if I missed it), is depending on what generation your 4" model 29 is, it may not be very wise to use it with heavy bullets like in the 300 gr. range. Hopefully smarter S&W aficionados than myself will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe with the 29-3, S&W beefed up the internals based on problems encountered by silhouette shooters who were using heavy bullets. Sometimes the cylinder would unlock during recoil and rotate back, so when you went to fire the next shot the hammer fell on an empty chamber.

So, bottom line--use some consideration if yours is a 29-2 or earlier.

Mike

[kobeinu]

I like 300gn in a .44mag but it should look like the LBT at the bottom left. Or Lee 310gn in the middle back row.

[Ramjet-SS]

270 grain at moderate velocity will get the job done. Heavy heavy loaded 44 magnum
recoils to beat the band. Unless you are well disiplined shooter with many thousands of rounds down range in defensive high stress drills I highly doubt you can run that gun loaded as some describe.

I look at animal defense the same way I would self defense of my family against a PCP filled bad guy. You put rounds on target until the threat is stopped.

Now go out run about a half a mile pull that weapon loaded heavy and put bullets on target. Oh make sure you are using lateral movement and the target is closing distance on you......popping and snapping its jaws.....

Again it's not about shooting clean through a threat it's about stopping the threat. So that said a good moderately loaded 270 grain WFN will run head to toe on most animals and a person can actually shoot the gun and hit the target.

I like the cross draw holster as well but also be mindful of the muzzle when you draw that weapon is it covering friendly people around you? Is the muzzle covering any part of your body during the draw. Again think high stress fast draws under stress. Load up some moderate loads and some heavy loads shoot both double action which one are keeping or even hitting the target with?

I like a good revolver I own and carry one for self defense as part of my rotation. I even just ordered a S&W 325 Thunder Ranch edition 45 ACP with a 4" Barrel that uses moon clips for reload. But most days I carry a Springfield XDS or my PPQ 45. Leighigh defense ,area for some outstanding penetrators for that caliber but the Winchester Ranger T 230 grain HP has proven record of stopping power so that's what I mostly carry. Back to revolver I purchased that particuler one because it is light weight, powerful handgun, reliable and in proven caliber. I have Ruger RedHawk Backpacker in 44 and rarely carry that gun it kicks like mule it is heavy on the belt and carrying that thing all day takes its toll. I would have a trigger tune done on any Ruger revolver for better double action trigger. Long pull but smooth makes a huge difference in hitting the target in double action. Notice I did not say lighter just smoother and consistent.

I like the rifle you chose makes good sense. Do any of you wranglers carry a good defense shotgun in the back country? I thought a good slug or the newer sabot ammo in a rifled slug gun would make for a great back country everyday camp gun. One could run birdshot for that occasional spruce grouse or varmint. Some 00 buck with flight control wad is really devastating at 25 yards and under. Mossberg makes some fantastic 590 guns that are tough as nails.

[pmer]

I have a 4'' Model 29-10 and the two boolits I usually use with it are the Lee 310 and the Mihec 503 clone. I caught myself thinking about a lighter boolit to plink with but haven't bought anything yet. MY Smith likes boolits sized to .430 and shoots the 503's in 44spl brass or mag brass very good. Been shooting the #503 with 11.6 grains of Blue Dot in mag brass. And the Lee 310 seated long with 15.8 grains of 2400. They are both very accurate loads and should be good practice level loads. The nice thing about my 29 are its excellent trigger and throats that aren't too big or too small out of the box. Light 44 mag revolvers aren't easy to master but the Lee 310 about 1200 fps or less should be good to go.

Sounds like a neat job with some good future stories. A bag of potatoes in one hand and a model 29 in the other. I had a Rossi 92 .45 Colt and was shooting 300 grains at 1600 fps with it. The chamber was over sized and it stretched brass out like crazy. Shot a big white tail with that load. Accurate Molds has some 300 grain designs with a nose length short enough to work reliably in a lever action. That way you can go with a nice crimp in the crimp grove.

[kiwi]

Take a look at MP moulds 432-640 it comes with pins for 260 HP 270HP and 280FP in my lead mix of 50/50 WW/Pure + 2% tin it is a few thou shorter than the Keith
250 gr SWC, I don't shoot them myself I sell them mainly to Handgun Silhouette shooters and hunters using them for subsonic loads in Ruger 77/44's all feedback has been positive, one customer a pest control contractor uses the 270HP because the 280 FP was getting through and through shots on feral pig at 100 metres
with a muzzle velocity of 900 fps, The Silhouette shooters like them for their accuracy at 200 metres on the rams, In the last 2 years I have sold 4000+ of them without one negative comment,

[guntechholsters]

Blammer, did you cast those?

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I shoot that 250K out of .44 special. Seen some nice mushrooming with 16/1 @ 1000 fps. With bear it's all about shot placement. Heart, spine or brain. You can't have bears helping themselves to your grub or mules though it is probably far less hasle to have more supplies hustled in than to deal with fish n game dept.

I have never shot dangerous game but have read plenty on it.

[Blammer]

yes I cast them. all except the two LBT ones on the lower left

[dkf]

There is also the Ranch Dog 265gr. I happen to have a new 6 cavity RD 265 .432" I'd part with if you are interested.

[phaessler]

here's a few to look at

Always makes me skip a beat when I see you post them all........

[longbow]

Yeah... that's an impressive group of boolits!

Must make it hard to choose! But I'll bet there's a favourite or two in there.