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Thread: Most accurate 44 mag design?

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
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    I shoot plain-based bullets at 1400 fps with extremely good accuracy out to 100 yards. Bullets from my Accurate 43-240K mold will outshoot any of my gas checked bullets. I believe this is because the bases are extremely sharp and uniform, slightly more so than Hornady gas checks.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatelvis View Post
    I see a couple of you guys state that the GC designs tend to group better than the PB boolits. Do the rest of you agree with this observation?
    Like Thumbcocker said, let your gun tell you what it likes. I have a Ruger SRH that shoots either really well and a 4" 629 that much prefers GC'ed boolits, a model 24 S&W that has to have GC's and an old 44 Hand Ejector that prefers pb boolits. The 629 and the mod 24 have the newer style of S&W rifling, so that may be why they need a GC to shoot their best. Your 629 may be like mine, in which case, I would lean towards GC boolits. If you are thinking of a new mold, you could buy a 4 cav with 2 of each design.
    Last edited by murf205; 01-09-2019 at 11:02 PM.
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  3. #23
    Boolit Master

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    I have five 44 mag moulds all are very accurate from quite a few guns but the best accuracy is with the RCBS 240gr gc sil bullet which weighs lubed & sized 265gr with a softer alloy than linotype

  4. #24
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    Tatume just made the point about the back ends of his PB boolits being sharp and clean. That is the key to the whole issue.

    As Elmer said; "the back end is the steering end."

    No reason why a PB boolit shouldn't shoot as well as a GC boolit except if the trailing edge isn't perfect. with a gas check the back end is the same on all the boolits as long as you get the check on square. Thus the back end is perfect.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
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  5. #25
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    fatelvis I think for the type of shooting you are doing there wouldn't be a need for a lot of trials with different bullet types. Keith type SWC's have been doing it all from the start.

    Between a 4" 29 and a 7.5" SBH I used a lot of unique, from 7 to 10 grains, in my loads. The 7 thru 9 were for paper and plates, 10 was for silhouettes. They all worked for what the job required. The 429421 was my go to as commercial bullets were available of that type and the swaged or other commercial SWC's worked for shorter range use. Never tried or needed GC bullets even for the rams at 200m. The Keith bullet did it well.

    Early on I saw a guy use a Colt 44 special on the silhouettes and although he didn't do that well his special took down the rams when they were hit. This pretty much told me that heavy loads weren't needed for targets to that distance. 10 grains worked well for the time I used the SBH.

    Also used some 4 - 4.5grs of Bullseye in special brass for indoor events like plates. Never ran GC's or or messed with LFN's RN's or anything much beside 240 - 265 gr SWC's both cast and swaged.

    Truthfully I don't think either revolver ever saw more than 50 or so jacketed rounds in the time I've owned them.

  6. #26
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    Most accurate 44 mag design?

    Thanks for all the input guys. Another question for you:
    Do bevel based cast bullets perform as well as the plain based bullets, with the square heels? I ask, because most retailers offer BB boolits, and I am hesitant to buy them.


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  7. #27
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    BB have worked ok for me with the short range use, never tried them at longer distance.

    It's been said they are more prone to leading but it could also be that the commercial cast heads are harder than needed for light and mid range loads, or maybe smaller diameter.

    If I have some handy I'll mike a few up to see.

  8. #28
    Boolit Buddy
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    l shoot IHMSA Big Bore with my 44s out to 200Meters. My most accurate boolit @ 200M is a H&G #503..

    lts Keiths' original design with the square grease groove. Most of my other 44 mold boolits seem to be similar in accuracy to app 100yds. Out @ 200Meters the HG503 Keith is KING.. l think the KEITH has a higher BC than the other 44 molds l own...

  9. #29
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    light 44 bullet? the 240rcbs swcgc has always been my go too. If a 44 wont shoot that bullet it wont shoot period. Only downside is the cost of checks.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master BNE's Avatar
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    I have the same gun that the OP mentioned. It is more accurate than me any day with any Bullet / load.
    I'm a Happy Clinger.

  11. #31
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    Nice discussion. It bothers me when you all put a bunch of numbers down for a mold that tells me nothing about size or weight. In my RedHawk(4.2 inch barrel) I have found that 240 gr plain based lswc shoot the best with 19.5 grs 2400.
    gramps

  12. #32
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    H&G 503, the one on the left has a Pentagonal HP for 240 gr. The one on the right is a solid at 260 gr.

    I powder coat these and load them in front of 6.0 or 8.0 gr of W231 for Mid Range Specials or Magnums.

    Both will knock down rams at 200M.

    I have hit Rams at 200M with my S&W 696 with 3" barrel with the 6 gr load. Was holding 1 foot over the back of the Ram.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
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  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by luvtn View Post
    Nice discussion. It bothers me when you all put a bunch of numbers down for a mold that tells me nothing about size or weight. In my RedHawk(4.2 inch barrel) I have found that 240 gr plain based lswc shoot the best with 19.5 grs 2400.
    gramps
    Good point, I don't have diameter available but my 429421's were sized at .430, cast from COWW + 5% 50/50 solder and weighed 263 grains. Similar to sw282's 503 mold with a round lube groove.

    They were air cooled, fired over 10 grs Unique in a NM SBH 7.5" bbl. I did get some forcing cone leading just starting after 40 rds in a match, but not enough to have issues hitting rams.

  14. #34
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    Most accurate 44 mag design?

    Quote Originally Posted by 44MAG#1 View Post
    With a 6 gr load of W231 with that bullet you would be lucky to get 850 FPS from a 3 inch gun. With the gun sighted dead on at 100 yards the drop would be roughly 54 inches at 200 yards. With the height of the ram figured in with a 12 inch holdover you would still be W-E-L-L under the ram.
    Unless you have enough sight adjustment to get you close enough elevation wise to get you that close to the ram or the front sight is too short on that gun how did you accomplish this feat?
    I think this is just a classic example of aiming “about a foot” above, when it’s actually 4 feet. I totally understand this, given he is using the stock sights ( they seem HUGE compared to the “tiny” target), and the 3” barrel. Any kind of precise hold over gets pretty hinky when you start reaching way out there, especially if there is nothing at the target’s distance to give you a reference of measurement,( i.e. sand pit or a vegetated backstop). Also, that huge front sight would totally obscure your target, when holding over, making estimating actual holdover all the more difficult.
    I would be smiling from ear to ear if I could steadily hit 200 meter Rams with a 3” bbl revolver with open sights!



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    Last edited by fatelvis; 01-14-2019 at 11:50 AM.
    I shoot so that I can handload.

  15. #35
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    As I recall, I was holding the bottom of the front sight blade/top of the ramp, even with the back of the ram as close as I could with the coarse sights at that distance. The front sight on that gun completely covers the target and then some.

    The gun is sighted dead on at 25 yards so maybe it was more than 12"

    The real feat was I hit 3/10,,, and this was off a rest so don't think I'm all that good. But there was people watching.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
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  16. #36
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatelvis View Post
    Thanks for all the input guys. Another question for you:
    Do bevel based cast bullets perform as well as the plain based bullets, with the square heels? I ask, because most retailers offer BB boolits, and I am hesitant to buy them.


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    If you get BB boolits to work for you I will be cheering you on brother. From my experience, they just wont do the job. From "bought" boolits I got leading and not much accuracy (probably bad cyl/bore fit). Good sharp bases have been working great for me since day one.
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  17. #37
    Boolit Buddy
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    Mine is .429''...

  18. #38
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    I've found that the RCBS bullets seem to group the best in 44 and 41 magnums. My standard load for my Redhawk is the 44-240-swc with a Hornady gascheck sized .430" over 24.0 of W296/H110 and a CCI 350 primer. The big Ruger will put all 6 in an inch over sandbags at 20 yards. YMMV
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  19. #39
    Boolit Buddy PWS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale View Post
    light 44 bullet? the 240rcbs swcgc has always been my go too. If a 44 wont shoot that bullet it wont shoot period. Only downside is the cost of checks.
    Same here. RCBS 240gr SWC GC is my baseline bullet in 44s

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check