44 mag & NOE 319gr bullet

[Dom]

A couple months back I acquired an NOE 44cal ( pictured ) 319gr PB bullet mold. Wanting to get my power level from a projectile with greater mass, as opposed to a lighter bullet at a higher velocity. The bullet dropped from the mold at 316grs. Cast from my supply of COWW, it tested right at 13.5 BHN on my LBT tester. Picture shows, before & after PC. Sized in a Lee .430 push thru sizer. The bullet has a upper & lower crimp grove. Crimping in the upper grove allows feeding thru my lever rifle. Bottom grove used for my Ruger SBH 5 1/2" bbl. With the bottom grove used it easily fit well inside of my revolvers cylinder ( pictured ). So far just some preliminary shooting with a moderate load of Unique , delivering about 850 fps with excellent accuracy, & very mild pressure. My goal is to get about 1000 fps from the 5 1/2" Bbl. Haven't decoded yet on what powder to use. Weather is cold right now. Will wait awhile for some warmer days . Looking forward to developing a load .

[Dom]

Any one have an idea of what a max load of Unique would be behind this 316gr bullet? Since I have a good supply of Unique, this would be my first choice.

[black mamba]

If you can give us an OAL of the bullet, and the length from base to the bottom crimp groove, we can give you some decent approximations. Longshot or HS6 would be excellent choices for powders.

[Dom]

OAL of the bullet is .842. Base to the lower crimp grove , .340. I do have HS-6, but because I have so much Unique I was hoping to use it. But do have a good supply of HS-6 if it is the better choice. Thanks so much. .

[black mamba]

Gordon's Reloading Tool shows 11.0 gr of Unique right at 36 kpsi for 1035 fps from your 5½" barrel. 15.0 gr of HS6 shows 1145 fps at the same pressure, over 100 fps more velocity. I have found HS6 to be more accurate than Unique, as well. 10.4 gr of Unique should give you your 1000 fps at 32 kpsi. All of these figures are of course estimates, so start low and work up. That bullet at even 900 fps will go through just about anything!

[Dom]

Your info is wonderful. The 900 fps you quote for this bullet sounds like a great load. Will give it a try. Weight does give greater momentum, which translates into penetration. Just what I'm looking for. Will do some testing for accuracy at the 900 to 1000 fps , max. This lode intended strictly for short range power/penetration. Again thank you so much.

[farmbif]

not that unique isn't a good powder but 14.5-15 grains of no9 ought to get you right at what your wanting

[TurnipEaterDown]

ACC #9, W296, FS111 should reach 1100+ w/ that bullet.
I use the 310 LEE at 316 grains (from an older mold it had shallower grease grooves) w/ powders equivalent to the ones mentioned, and I get ~ 1250 fps in a SBH. With 2400 I cut it back a bit -- maybe 1150.
Looks like the NOE may intrude more, so less powder volume means probably Not using LEE 310 data, but the attainable energy of projectile should be equivalent at equivalent pressure.

[405grain]

I'm going to second the opinion that HS-6 is an excellent choice in this application. I only load a puny 250 grain bullet for my 44 mags., but 14.0 grains of HS-6 is both accurate and authoritative.

[cowboy4evr]

HS-6 is an excellent powder and should provide you with what you are looking for , and maybe a bit more . I strongly recommend a full magnum primer . I use CCI 350 . I don't like the winchester LP is an " in between " regular and magnum . I want a full strength magnum primer when loading HS-6 powder , same for H110 , IMR 4227 .

[black mamba]

Cowboy, some advocate a standard primer with HS6 saying it is more accurate, and you only need the magnum in cold weather. I agree with you, and use either the CCI 350 or the Federal 155 with complete confidence and even better accuracy than the standard primers.

[Dom]

Here is exactly how my test came out. Starting with 9 grs of Unique I got 953 fps (in picture). Perfect!! Exactly the type of load I was looking for. With 9.5grs Unique my chrono said 1035 fps. I'm sticking with the 9gr Unique load. Gives me exactly what I'm looking for with very manageable recoil. Surprising just how manageable the recoil is, along with very respectable accuracy. Pressures appeared to be mild. Pictures of the fired cases: Left shows the fired primer of the 9 gr load, & right shows the fired primer of the 9.5gr load. Still decent rounded edges on both. Accuracy was spot on at 25 yds. A bullet with lots of mass for deep penetration. Only using 9 grs gives me a load that is very economical to shoot, with very ample power. For me this is a win, win. A 316gr bullet at 953fps out of a 5 1/2" Bbl about 10' from the chrono. Very happy with the out come. Thanks all.