.429" in 44 Magnum

[Dr Dave]

Does anyone have experience with .429" hard cast boolits in their 44 Magnum?

I have recently acquired 1,000 hard cast 240 grain SWC boolits that are .429" in diameter. The fellow who cast them says they have a Brinell hardness of 16. I plan to handload them for use in my 7 1/2" Super Blackhawk, but I really don't know how just hot to make my loads. I understand that I will need 22,750 p.s.i. to get them to obturate, but I am concerned about the effect that their smallish diameter will have upon obturation and accuracy.

By the way, my standard powders are Bullseye, Blue Dot, 2400, and H110.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[HeavyMetal]

I think Bluedot would be your best bet for mid range loads in that pressure range. I'd start out with 12.0 Grains Bluedot and adjust as need for comfort.

This should get you in the 1100 to 1200 FPS a nice comfotable load in the SBH!

I've used Unique in the same pressure range with 429's and never had an issue with leading or accuracy.

Big plus is you can shoot it all day and not get tired or flinch.

[Dr Dave]

HeavyMetal,

I'm glad to know that I am not the only one with a mess of .429" cast boolits. For a while I thought that I might have made a big mistake. Your recommendation of 12 grains of Blue Dot sounds like a nice moderate load for general use.

Thanks for the feedback.

[runfiverun]

18-19 gr 2400 is a pretty fair load also.

[Dr Dave]

18-19 gr 2400 is a pretty fair load also.

Runfiverun,

When you load up 240 grain SWCs and 18-19 grains of 2400, what primer do you use?

[MT Gianni]

Dr Dave, welcome to the forum. I hit Cast Boolits at the top of this thread, went to wheelguns sub-catagory and search this forum. It had 14 pages of threads for the 44 Magnum. That is a lot but you probably should read up on slugging your bbl and lubes if you don't get satisfactory results with what you have. Gianni

[Dr Dave]

MT Gianni,

Thanks for the search tip. I tried looking at each thread subject, but that takes a good long time. Maybe I'll save the rest of my 44 Mag questions until I have done some more searching.

[runfiverun]

i use this load in both my colts and my 44 and i like to go with a hotter primer.
i've tried cci=300's shot well but left powder in the bbl. winchester is much better.
and my 44 really likes fed mag match.
i even use small rifle magnums in my 30.carbine with 2400.
i never see it in print but i think 2400 burns way better with a hotter primer.
and enough powder to get right up to the bottom of the bullet, not really compressed
but to the base at least.

[Dr Dave]

Runfiverun,

Neither Alliant nor Speer lists magnum primers with their 44 Magnum loads for 2400 powder, so I imagine that you are getting some sort of pressure increase from your magnum primers. No problems, so far? Well, then here's a question:

My son recently gave me a 1,000 count box of Winchester WLP primers. The box states that they can be used in standard loads or magnum loads, but I'm a bit skeptical. If I were to make some moderate loads for my stock of .429" 240 grain SWCs, what will the WLP primers do to a 12 grain charge of Blue Dot? Experience tells me to stick with CCI 300s. Any thoughts?

[Ricochet]

Winchester's standard primers have long been considered "magnum primers," because nearly all their factory ammo's been loaded with Ball powders since the late '60s and earlier. They introduced designated Magnum primers due to demand from consumers. The special feature Winchester primers have is powdered aluminum to help ignite the hard-to-light powders.

[Dr Dave]

Ricochet,

That's good to know. I guess when I use Bullseye or Blue Dot I'll stick with my CCI 300s. I have plenty of WW296 and H110 that I can light with the WLPs, but what about maximum loads of 2400? Do you suppose the the WLP primers would cause excessive pressure?

[454PB]

As Gianni said, you need to know your cylinder throat and bore diameter. I used to own a Ruger SBH, and it had a .431" bore. .429" ACWW PB boolits leaded and were inaccurate if driven over about 1000 fps.

My pet Bluedot load is 15 grs. ahead of the WLP primers, and a 250 gr. PB Keith design. These clock around 1350 fps in my 7 1/2" Ruger Redhawk. As always, that load is safe in my gun....you have to work up your own loads. I've found the Winchester LP primers (for magnum or standard loads) to work well in all my large pistol applications.

[Dr Dave]

454PB,

You're right. I need to slug the bore. Of course, hearing that your SBH was a bit large makes me even more concerned. Now, please don't tell me that your SBH was a "liberty" model.

[jlchucker]

I've used .429 boolets (Lyman mold 429215) in my Winchester trapper carbine for nearly 20 years now. I've never tried for a 100 yard group, but at my range there's a berm littered with clay pigeon fragments just beyond the 100 yard backstop. No problem plinking these fragments with this boolet behind 21 grains of 2400.

[Scrounger]

I've used .429 boolets (Lyman mold 429215) in my Winchester trapper carbine for nearly 20 years now. I've never tried for a 100 yard group, but at my range there's a berm littered with clay pigeon fragments just beyond the 100 yard backstop. No problem plinking these fragments with this boolet behind 21 grains of 2400.

Do you know these are .429 bullets because you measured them? Most molds drop bullets several thousandths over their nominal size (.429 in this case). I have several ".429" molds that drop .434 bullets.

[Dr Dave]

Well, I haven't slugged the bore just yet, but I did the next best thing. I took a few .430" diameter 240 grain Hornady soft-swaged SWCs and pushed them through each chamber of my Super Blackhawk. After that, I pushed through a few of my hard cast .429" SWC boolits. There is a real difference, but not a one falls through cleanly. The .430 soft swaged did show more resistance, however. This is not very scientific, I know, but I'm not quite up to slugging the bore this afternoon.

I guess I should also mention that I tapped each of these boolits about 1/4" into the muzzle of my SBH and I met with a lot of resistance with each one. Good imprints of both grooves and lands. Again, this is not science, but I feel pretty goood that my .429" SWCs are not going to slip through without some spin.

[Dr Dave]

Do you know these are .429 bullets because you measured them? Most molds drop bullets several thousandths over their nominal size (.429 in this case). I have several ".429" molds that drop .434 bullets.

Scrounger,

No, I have not measured them myself. I simply took the caster at his word that has sized them to .429". All I know about his casting process is the BHN of his lead (16) and the manufacturer of his molds (Saeco).

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Let's not forget that the harder the alloy, the larger (and lighter) the bullets a mold will drop.
Morgan

[Scrounger]

If he sized them, then they are probably very close to .429". Aren't you curious whether .430" or .431" bullets might shoot a little better? I know you're satisfied now, but would better be so hard to take?

[runfiverun]

the load i showed is almost 2 grains under max.
a hotter primer does jump up the pressure some but i equate it to about 1 gr powder
the blue dot is a faster powder then 2400, herco is faster then b-dot and h-110/296
is slower than 2400.
the load is stout enough and fast enough it is also accurate.
i also put a good crimp on it donot get carried away with the crimp just firm and even.