The wonderful RD .44 boolit.

[44man]

I have said a few times how good this 265 gr boolit is from the SBH even though RD designed it for the Marlin. I went down to dump some brass today shooting cans and chunks of cement block at 100 yd's. I did pretty good with several different boolits.
I had some RD boolits in the box so I set up a 50 yd target and shot five. Just a few thousandths over 3/4".
Fellas, you can't go wrong with this boolit in your revolvers.
My load is 22 gr of 296, FELIX LUBE, Fed 150 primer.
No stinking LLA for me!

[Tristan]

Not just a hammer, but an accurate hammer!

[longuner]

44Man,

Have you run that bullet at slow speeds, say 1000 fps? been thinkin that may be a great addition to the molds, but want to see how it shoots at the low end..

Longuner

[44man]

Might be OK, I never tried it because I only load to hunt. Most heavy boolits don't do well slow but this one is in between, worth a try.

[Bret4207]

44man, this just occurred to me- are all your guns scoped like in your avatar?

[44man]

44man, this just occurred to me- are all your guns scoped like in your avatar?

Yeah, I love the Ultra Dots because of my eyes now. The Ruger SBH has a cheaper Bushnell Sportview red dot on it. Seems to work OK with the light recoil of the .44 although I have blown up a lot of stuff on the gun.
When I was young during my IHMSA days I could see both open sights and the target clear. I was able to shoot 1/2" to 1" 50 meter groups, but no longer. Lineless bi-focals help but I have to keep tilting my head.
You need to find the right target size for a red dot because the dots are large. But oh man, are they great to hunt with.
I even put a red dot on my Ruger old army for deer. You would be amazed how a round ball knocks the heck out of deer.
Red dots are harder to shoot groups with then a scope but I can see them.

[44man]

44Man,

Have you run that bullet at slow speeds, say 1000 fps? been thinkin that may be a great addition to the molds, but want to see how it shoots at the low end..

Longuner

I forgot to say that I am so used to the .475 BFR that the .44 feels like a .38 special to me. REAL pleasant to shoot. The BFR's also shoot tight ALL the time at any range, unlike Ruger's that vary too much. (Chamber dimensions too generous.) I can shoot a bunch of small groups with my Ruger one day but can't do it the next day. If I draw down on a beer can at 200 yd's with my BFR and hold just right, I will hit the can, any day of the week.
If I could only own one revolver, it would be a BFR! An oversize Ruger, put together right with perfect dimensions and twist rates.
I see no reason to load the .44 lighter then a boolit needs to be accurate. Even my 330 gr boolits feel like toys now.
Expand your horizons with larger calibers and the lowly .44 will will be so pleasant to shoot, you will wonder if you put enough powder in the load.
My 45-70 BFR is AMAZING with a lot of 3/8" and 7/16" groups at 50 yd's. The only limit is my vision. A miss is only my fault.
The only Ruger that seems to be consistant is the SRH. But I still love Ruger's!

[Bret4207]

Yeah, I love the Ultra Dots because of my eyes now. The Ruger SBH has a cheaper Bushnell Sportview red dot on it. Seems to work OK with the light recoil of the .44 although I have blown up a lot of stuff on the gun.
When I was young during my IHMSA days I could see both open sights and the target clear. I was able to shoot 1/2" to 1" 50 meter groups, but no longer. Lineless bi-focals help but I have to keep tilting my head.
You need to find the right target size for a red dot because the dots are large. But oh man, are they great to hunt with.
I even put a red dot on my Ruger old army for deer. You would be amazed how a round ball knocks the heck out of deer.
Red dots are harder to shoot groups with then a scope but I can see them.

Ah! I was wondering if you had some real good eyesight when I see some of your groups. I'm beginning to think a great many people, myself included, just don't have the eyes to wring the best out of a gun. I'm at the point where even a scope fuzzes out on me. I wish I could find an eye doc that would listen to me when I tell him what I want, but they just get this blank look and drift off into neverland when I start trying to explain what I want.

[leadeye]

I will have to give that a try. I tried using the RD bullets in my Smith but got that annoying cylinder problem from the recoil. I picked up a SBH Bisley at a show and will try the RDs in that. They work very well in my Marlin. May have to size them .430 or .431 as the cylinders are .430 and bore is .429.

[jeff223]

Ranch Dog boolits are wonderful just like you say James.They are the only cast boolits i shoot.

good shooting

[Shuz]

I will have to give that a try. I tried using the RD bullets in my Smith but got that annoying cylinder problem from the recoil. I picked up a SBH Bisley at a show and will try the RDs in that. They work very well in my Marlin. May have to size them .430 or .431 as the cylinders are .430 and bore is .429.

Care to "splanify" the annoying cylinder problem?--Shuz

[44man]

Care to "splanify" the annoying cylinder problem?--Shuz

I can help a little there. The cylinder stop is pinned at the top front and the inertia of it tends to allow it to stay forward under recoil. That unlocks the cylinder. Some have stronger stop springs and are not much of a problem while others with a weaker spring will move too easy.
My friends will unlock with 300 gr boolits and up but works fine with the RD.
Then heavy recoil will peen the unlocking pin in the center of the cylinder making the cylinder hard to open.
A hardened pin and a stronger stop spring will let you shoot heavier boolits. I just can't find a spring here in the shop and don't know where to get a stronger one. Maybe from one of the enhanced models.

[Whitworth]

I would be that friend and that is why I limit it to the Ranch Dogs over 21.5 grains of 296, and the gun (and owner) are plenty happy with it!

Oh, and those are red dots on 44man's revovers, not scopes, so there is no magnification at all........

[Dave Berryhill]

...I just can't find a spring here in the shop and don't know where to get a stronger one.....

You could try Wolff Gunsprings. They have coil springs in lots of different sizes. Measure the OD of the spring and the diameter of the wire. Call Wolff, talk to a tech and tell him what you're looking for. They'll send you a pack of long springs that you can cut to different lengths and experiment with.

Have you chronographed that 265 gr. .44 load?

[leadeye]

44man gave you a lot better explanation than I could. I am anxious to try out the Bisley over some distance.

[44man]

You could try Wolff Gunsprings. They have coil springs in lots of different sizes. Measure the OD of the spring and the diameter of the wire. Call Wolff, talk to a tech and tell him what you're looking for. They'll send you a pack of long springs that you can cut to different lengths and experiment with.

Have you chronographed that 265 gr. .44 load?

No, I don't believe I chronographed the load yet. Can't find anything in my book. I never take it down to work loads and just use it to see what I get but it gets to be a pain to set up for a few shots.
I thought about Wolfe but only need 1 or 2 springs. I have the spring pack and nothing matches.