Howdy gents,
I picked up a brand new 7.5" Ruger Redhawk chambered in 44 magnum a few months ago and have run into some accuracy and leading issues in the latter 4-5" of the barrel. Hoping to tap into the expertise on the site and diagnose what my problem is.
Here are the details of the load...
- New Starline 44 magnum brass
- Lyman 429241 boolits
- .4295-.430"" sized via Lee push-through sizing die (mould casts ever so slightly undersized)
- alloy is WQ'd 50/50 clip-on WW and range lead that tests around 18-20BHN
- tumble-lubed *very* generously with 45/45/10
- COAL of 1.695" (strong roll crimp in the crimp groove)
- CCI #350 large pistol magnum primers
- 25.0gr of Hodgdon H-110
- Chronographs an average of 1,425fps from 10 shots
Details of the gun...
- New 7.5" Ruger Redhawk Hunter model
- The barrel slugs out at .4295"
- A .430" sized boolit will just barely get stuck when dropped through each chamber throat but can be pushed through with little effort...a .429" jacketed bullet will fall through with little resistance.
- Cylinder gap is .004" as measured by the local gunsmith
Accuracy is in the 4-6" range at 50 feet off of a benchrest with the cast loads I've tried so far. With factory jacketed ammo, I can put them in one ragged hole. Like I said above, with this H110 load, the first 2-3" of the barrel looks pretty clean but the latter 4-5" is just smeared so I suspect my load is to blame for the poor accuracy. I think I might be pushing the boolit too hard so I tried a 10gr charge of Unique with a Winchester non-magnum large pistol primer but that leaded the entire barrel too...forcing cone all the way to the end. I haven't chrono'd that load yet but according to Lyman's 4th Ed Cast Bullet handbook, I'm guessing it's in the 950-1,000fps range...slightly better but still poor accuracy.
Since the lower-velocity Unique load still leaded quite a bit like the H110 load did, my gut says it could be one of several things: I'm using 45/45/10 in a magnum cartridge with a non-TL style bullet, the bullet is undersized for the bore diameter and not sealing properly, or that I'm simply pushing a plain based boolit too hard and need a gas check (groan!)
What do you guys think it might be? Since the gun itself has good measurements in all the critical areas (bore dia, chamber throat dia, etc) I really don't think I'm dealing qith a gun quality issue.
Thanks! ~ Jech