WFN Cast Boolits for the Ruger 77/44

[Doubleg]

A few questions from a noobie. Does anyone have any experience reloading with a Wide Flat Nose Boolit in the Ruger 77/44 rotary magazine? I just got a 280 LFN mold from LBT but I'm trying to locate a .432 sizing die so I don't know if this will feed reliably yet in that magazine. Has anyone tried these or something similar in this firearm yet?

I also need a .432 lyman/RCBS type sizer bad but can't find one so if any of you pro's know where I can get one please chime in. I want to do this in steps down to .431 for the reason below.

I've got Pat Marlin's plain base checkmaker for this caliber. I've used the plain base checkmaker for my 77/357, Python's and Colt Troopers using pop can aluminum with excellent results but I don't have to size it down but .001 to swage the check on the boolit. With the 44, I'll have to start with the mold dropping at .433 then bring it down to a .431 where I will apply the check. I know if the alloy is too hard and you try to reduce a couple of thousands when applying the check, it can shear the checks depending on alloy.

FYI: The bore slugs for the 44 come out at .4295 and I'll be using a #2 alloy or a bit harder. Feel free to offer ANY advice based on experience using this scenario.

Thanks folks!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Doubleg,

The only issue I see at this point is that the LFN (Long Flat Nose) bullet may be overly long for the magazine.

Have your tried it?

I took two white tails last Fall with a 280gr Wide Flat Nose fired from my 77/44 at 1750fps. Both dropped where they stood. First one a side to side behind the shoulders at a lasered 95 - 100yds.

Second a nice buck at a closer range again a complete pass through. The buck was looking my direction and the bullet went through - completely - the neck bones then went into a shoulder penetrating the shoulder blade before exiting.

I was getting about a 3" - 100yd. group and have since bought a 240gr WFN mold and am hoping for better groups, but am in the early stages of testing.

I also bought a .432 die to try with this new bullet and as I recall, bought it from Buffalo Arms here in Idaho.

My 280gr were sized .431. I tested those bullets into the low 19s, but better accuracy was in the mid 17s.

Lil'Gun gave the best results with H110 a close second. Tested about 8 different powders.

I also put a Volquartsen trigger sear in this rifle which made a HUGE difference. In fact, with the aftermarket trigger spring the trigger was so light I re-installed the factory trigger spring leaving me with a VERY nice and crisp let off, that was not overly light as with the Volquartsen spring. The after market spring caught me by surprise a few times when testing on the bench.

Both of my molds are from Accurate Molds.

The 275 -280 gr is a .444 bullet I cast for my son, but it sure did the number on those deer!

Alloy, Wheel Weights - water quenched.

Never any sign of leading. Barrel always bright and shiny!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Kestrel4k]

I have pushed the very outer limits of ctg. length (to 0.005" repeatedly) in my 77/44, with a number of bullet shapes incl. WFN.
Am posting here as a marker, when I have my data in front of me I can contribute further. Thx,

[Tripplebeards]

Been casting for a year now so I am still learning every day. Haven't tried 280's but the Lee 310 feeds as smooth as silk seated at the last crimp groove. Average best groups with the 310's were around 2.5". I've also tried the devastator hp loaded past the crimp groove at 1.640" so it will feed out if the magazine. The best I've done with the devastator is a 2" group at a 100 yards. No animals harvested yet. I had some large groups and flyers last week...as usual with this rifle shooting cast boolits. Im pretty sure I figured out why. I discovered my barrel was rubbing on the flimsy plastic stock. In the last couple days I free floated it, lightened the trigger, and acraglassed the front and rear tangs. I'm impatiently waiting for it to dry and retest.

Oh yeah, I bought my rifle last year. The barrel slugged at .429 and I use a Lee .430 sizer. If my groups don't improve I'll order a custom size .431 or .432 to size. I figured if I get closer to MOA with the 2" load after glassing and barrel floating I won't bother jumping up in boolit diameter. I'm using a softer alloy than what you want to use. I've tried BH range from 7.5 to 15 so far. All PC and GC. I've settled (for now)on 80/20 plus 6% pewter added to the total weight for now. It has a BH of 13.5.

[Kestrel4k]

[...] Im pretty sure I figured out why. I discovered my barrel was rubbing on the flimsy plastic stock. In the last couple days I free floated it, lightened the trigger, and acraglassed the front and rear tangs. I'm impatiently waiting for it to dry and retest. [...]

A friend of mine fought that plastic stock in his 77/357 for a while; we both then went to the Boyds Laminate which IMO was a substantial improvement.

[Doubleg]

Doubleg,

The only issue I see at this point is that the LFN (Long Flat Nose) bullet may be overly long for the magazine.

Have your tried it?

I took two white tails last Fall with a 280gr Wide Flat Nose fired from my 77/44 at 1750fps. Both dropped where they stood. First one a side to side behind the shoulders at a lasered 95 - 100yds.

Second a nice buck at a closer range again a complete pass through. The buck was looking my direction and the bullet went through - completely - the neck bones then went into a shoulder penetrating the shoulder blade before exiting.

I was getting about a 3" - 100yd. group and have since bought a 240gr WFN mold and am hoping for better groups, but am in the early stages of testing.

I also bought a .432 die to try with this new bullet and as I recall, bought it from Buffalo Arms here in Idaho.

My 280gr were sized .431. I tested those bullets into the low 19s, but better accuracy was in the mid 17s.

Lil'Gun gave the best results with H110 a close second. Tested about 8 different powders.

I also put a Volquartsen trigger sear in this rifle which made a HUGE difference. In fact, with the aftermarket trigger spring the trigger was so light I re-installed the factory trigger spring leaving me with a VERY nice and crisp let off, that was not overly light as with the Volquartsen spring. The after market spring caught me by surprise a few times when testing on the bench.

Both of my molds are from Accurate Molds.

The 275 -280 gr is a .444 bullet I cast for my son, but it sure did the number on those deer!

Alloy, Wheel Weights - water quenched.

Never any sign of leading. Barrel always bright and shiny!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

Crusty Ole Coot

I have not tried it yet. I can make a few inert rounds to test the functioning of that bullet with the rotary mag and feeding. I contacted Buffalo Arms per your info to get a .432 sizer. Seems like they are basically a custom order shop. I will wait to get this so I can step this down to 431 carefully to apply the plain base gas checks. Who knows, I may not need them. Regarding the Volquartsen Trigger sear, I found a schematic/blueprint somewhere on the net last year on how to take the factory trigger down. I have access to machining equipment and followed the specs and now I have a fantastic factory trigger at 2.5 lbs - crisp! If I messed it up I was going to get the V-trigger kit anyway but it was a success for me. I can't wait to test this combo. I will try Lil'Gun if I can't get good grouping with H110 since I have 3 kegs of it. I use it for my 300 blackout and other magnum calibers. Thank you for the help.

[Doubleg]

A friend of mine fought that plastic stock in his 77/357 for a while; we both then went to the Boyds Laminate which IMO was a substantial improvement.

I will keep that in mind in case I run into stock issues. Thanks!

[Doubleg]

Been casting for a year now so I am still learning every day. Haven't tried 280's but the Lee 310 feeds as smooth as silk seated at the last crimp groove. Average best groups with the 310's were around 2.5". I've also tried the devastator hp loaded past the crimp groove at 1.640" so it will feed out if the magazine. The best I've done with the devastator is a 2" group at a 100 yards. No animals harvested yet. I had some large groups and flyers last week...as usual with this rifle shooting cast boolits. Im pretty sure I figured out why. I discovered my barrel was rubbing on the flimsy plastic stock. In the last couple days I free floated it, lightened the trigger, and acraglassed the front and rear tangs. I'm impatiently waiting for it to dry and retest.

Oh yeah, I bought my rifle last year. The barrel slugged at .429 and I use a Lee .430 sizer. If my groups don't improve I'll order a custom size .431 or .432 to size. I figured if I get closer to MOA with the 2" load after glassing and barrel floating I won't bother jumping up in boolit diameter. I'm using a softer alloy than what you want to use. I've tried BH range from 7.5 to 15 so far. All PC and GC. I've settled (for now)on 80/20 plus 6% pewter added to the total weight for now. It has a BH of 13.5.

That is good info. My bbl slugged at .4295 - almost .430. I plan on sizing to 431 after I get the plain base check on when I first size to .432. I'm guessing 431 or 432 should be a good bore fit with my alloy. I will take a look at that Lee 310 just in case the 280 turns out to be a no-go. Veral at LBT molds assured me that was THE bullet to use in the 77/44 with a proper fit. I will report back with my tests after I get the .432 sizer. I'll take some pics so you guys can see that plain base check on the bullet. I do this for my .357s and its worked out great with that. Thanks!

[Tripplebeards]

I shot this 100 yard group the other day with my ruger 77/44. I used a devastator boolit. It was sized at .430 with 21gr if H110 and had a Bh of 7.5. It was loaded at 1.640” and crimped with a lee factory crimp collet die.

I did polish and remove a few coils out of the trigger,installed vortquartzen trigger kit, free floated the barrel(it was rubbing on one side of the stock), and acraglassed the action, and threw on a better optic. Before I did the accurizing work I was getting 2.5-6” plus groups.

I was going to go two or three thousands over if I didn’t get a moa load with a boolit at .001 over out of the powders I tried. Tried four other loads and my 100 yard groups were anywhere from 1.2” to 1.5”. I posted them on my members page.

A thousands over worked for me. I'd tell you to give it a try it before you rule it out. If you don't have a lee .430 die they are easy to find...approx $20 on eBay.

[Doubleg]

I just loaded some 280 grain LBT LFN boolits for my 77/44. They were suggested to me to use in that particular gun by Veral of LBT but they won't work in that rotary magazine as is. The first one in the mag hangs because of the length. Using it single shot will work provided you've shot the boolit. It will not eject due to the design of the head. It hangs at the receiver area where it ejects but I think that area of the receiver can be modified as well. I'm considering one of two things. Take the magazine apart and modify it with some fine files and stones and/or try to use this in my Henry 44 carbine which is at another location so I will have to wait to get there to test it. That LBT mold is great, drops bullets very well at .4335 just like I wanted but it is a clear NO GO in a Ruger 77/44. I'll have to tell Veral it did not work. I've got the 275 grain Accurate mold on order that Crusty Ole Coot has since he said it will work. Maybe I'll get a lighter boolit from Veral to try if the magazine mod does not work but it's got enough metal to take down at least one or two millimeters. On another note regarding the 280gr LFN, if I could have got Veral to put the crimp band .315 from the nose it would have worked. I like how Tom at Accurate molds has the boolit design blueprinted out so you can get a better picture of how the boolit can be modified / changed if needed. FYI: I am using Pat Marlins checkmaker with the 280 grain boolit. I've used his checkmaker with my other PB cast boolits and they are great.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

I find that even though the Accurate molds are made so as to cast bullets that function in and through the RUGER 77/44 magazine, you need to have a firm hand when chambering the rounds. More so with the 240gr WFN also from Accurate which I am still in the process of testing. More of that when temp and available time allows.

The 240gr WFN seems to have the same nose profile as the 280gr, but it will hang up. Seems that a person needs to start the cartridge from the magazine in a firm and rapid and non-stop motion.

From what I read, Tom will make just about any mold a person wants providing it falls within the capabilities of his equipment. Then that design goes into his catalog of available molds.

I have an LBT mold and have had others, but I like Tom's molds better.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Tricountyfarmer]

That's how my 77/44 is to reload with hornady xtp. Must be how these guns are. Nonetheless I like mine

[AnthonyB]

What is the Voltquartsen sear you guys are using? Is is a 10/22 part or specific for the little bolt guns?
Tony

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

That would be made for the small RUGER 77 bolt action rifles such as the 77/44.

CDOC