New Rossi .44 Mag

[robertbank]

Well I just bought a Rossi .44Mag to go along with my .38spl/.357Mag.

I am planning on buying the RCBS 245 Gr boolit mold to run through the gun. Anyone got some pet loads for this boolit or similar boolit. Also what do you size your boolits to.

The gun has had the Steves gun upgrades installed. Only two boxes through it so it is just like new. Arrives early next week.

I figure the .44Mag will be enough for the local bears. Over on the Queen Charlottes they run around 500 - 600 lbs. No Grizzlies to deal with.....there, some around here.

Take Care

Bob

[chuckbuster]

Bob
I run Lyman 429421's over 10.0gr UNIQUE and a CCI 300 in my SBH. Not very original I know. They are 252gr in my alloy and sized to fit the gun at .432.

When I want to shoot THROUGH something (like both shoulders of a Black Bear) I have a 285gr GC SWC out of a custom mold. 19.0 gr. H110 with a CCI 350 in STARLINE brass.

[EDK]

You would be advised to get either the RANCH DOG TLC 432 265 or the NOE lube groove variation....or some other round nose flat point design. The LYMAN 429640 or one of its various clones from MIHEC or BRP would also be a good idea...I have the first three and they work in my MARLINS.

While your rifle may feed semi-wadcutters pretty well, a malfunction while you're giving something large and dangerous an "attitude adjustment" would ruin your day...for a long time if you survive. The meplat does the damage and the round nose will insure optimum feeding.

I don't know the quirks of ROSSI barrels...MARLINS seem to favor .432+, gas checks, hard alloy and high end velocity. Read Glenn Fryxells article on 1894 MARLINS over at lasc.us and adjust as needed. 1892 clones are supposedly stronger actions than 1894 MARLINS, but you can only kill things so much and I hate blowing up guns. I'd load high, but not maximum for my "life insurance gun."

UNCLE ED'S LAW: If you got to load maximum loads, you need a bigger caliber!

:cbpour::redneck::Fire:

[Hanzerik]

You would be advised to get either the RANCH DOG TLC 432 265 or the NOE lube groove variation....or some other round nose flat point design.


Great bullets. A guy sent me a bunch up from AZ to try out, both checked and unchecked. And they shot very well out of my 20" Rossi/Puma. Didn't try them out of my 16" .44Mag Rossi/Puma. I just recently bought everything I need to cast my own, just need to get off my butt and do it. The mold is custom made by Lee for Ranch Dog, and is a little more pricey then Lee's normal 6 cavity molds, but I think it's worth it.

Here is a pic (bullets on the right) Lube cleaned off for the picture.
http://home.bresnan.net/~hanzerik/bullets.jpg

While the two on the left are also .44 Mag from two different local manufacturers, they mic out to .430 diameter and gave me some leading issues. They shoot ok, but the leading and accuracy were not all that great. The RD .432 bullets left the barrel clean and shot very accuratly.

[Fire_stick]

Love my Rossi 20" 44 Mag. Shoots the Ranch Dog TLC432-265RF real good, with Lil'Gun or H110.

[Three44s]

My boolit in the .44 is the RCBS 250K but I only have round shooters in the .44 mag.

But my favorite powder may be worth trying for medium loads in your rifle.

I like HS-6 with the above boolit. It has worked well with any boolit I have shot in the .44 .... jacketed as well.

With the RCBS 250K I like 11.8 gr. of HS-6 and a magnum primer. It's very smooth .... just 7 fps standard deviation, very ameniable as to recoil even in a Smith Mountain gun ..... and accurate!

It runs about 1066 fps in my four inch gun and 1176 fps in a 7.5" Redhawk.

I would not call it a bear defense load in a rifle but it sure would be a do all load short of bears and it would beat a sharp stick in a pinch!

Three 44s

[robertbank]

Love my Rossi 20" 44 Mag. Shoots the Ranch Dog TLC432-265RF real good, with Lil'Gun or H110.

What do you size your boolits to?

Initially I am going with the RCBS 245 gr LSWC. If necessary I can always round off the meplat. For light applications I will try the above HS 6 load. I have some 4227, 2400 and H110 for heavier applications. I may later go with a heavier boolit but for now will see what I can do with the 245.

Keep the ideas coming.

Take Care

Bob

[txbirdman]

Bob,

I have a Rossi 44 Mag carbine and shot 429421's in it but you have to crimp on the drive band. The bullet's too long to work in an unmodified 44. My 20" carbine shoots well with that bullet and also the LBT LFN 300 gr. My son has a 16" big loop version that sprays both loads everywhere. It shoots jacketed well though. I need to try sizing larger that the .430 I use in my rifle to see if I can make his shoot with cast.

[robertbank]

I ordered the 431 sizing die to start with. It will be a couple of weeks before I get all my stuff together and will report back here on how it all pans out. I am just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit before taking my .357 Rossi out to play.

Take Care

Bob

[Fire_stick]

robertbank,

I am out of town right now, so I cannot look at my notes to give you the right size, originally (think I sized them to .430").
But I do know that the last boolits I cast, where sized to .432" for my Ruger SBH. I used a few of these in the Rossi and they did fine. Now that deer season is over, I can get back to shooting and tweaking.

[44 flattop]

I size to .431 in my Marlins without any problems. For bears as big as 500 to 600lbs, I'd go with a pretty stout load. I use the RCBS240SIL which weighs 260 grs 60/40 WW/lead with 23grs of W296 and it does a VERY nice job on elk and deer. Never used it on any bear as I don't pursue bear much anymore.

Years ago I took quite a few bear, along with both deer and elk with the Lyman 429244 and 20grs of 2400. I don't think anything, including the elk, went more than 10' after being hit by that load inside of 150 yards. Most were just boom/flop.

44

[blackpowder man]

My 24" Rossi likes just about everything i've loaded in it as far as accuracy. It doesn't like feeding Lee SWCs, especially in special brass. It won't feed round ball loads like my 94 Marlin .45 will. The ranchdog .432-265 that the others have mentioned feeds really well and shoots amazing groups. I even used the ranchdog boolits unchecked at a cowboy match and they fed just as fast as I could run the lever.

[reloader28]

I have 2 RCBS SWC boolits.
The 240gr GC drops at 250gr with WW alloy from mine.
The 245gr PB drops at 255gr with WW alloy.

BUT, the 245gr PB wont feed in my Puma without seating it a touch deeper than the crimp groove. I have to go half way up the upper drive band. That boolit is only a tiny bit longer but with a little bigger meplat.

The PB boolit from nose to crimp groove is .423 (works fine if I seat a little deeper)
The GC boolit from nose to crimp groove is .397 (works fine)

Thats not much difference, but its enough to not work in my gun. I size at 432, but I had to beagle the PB boolit to get it. I dont really have a favorite load yet as I'm still working with it.

I do have the Lee 310gr that comes out at 320gr that seems to shoot pretty good to at 100yds. For my rifle I have to use the upper crimp groove for the deeper seating.

This might just be my gun, but it should be close to the same as yours. Just something to think about.

[Hanzerik]

Further back in the thread someone asked about what another posters gun likes to feed. Both of my .44Mag guns have fed anything I have tried in Magnum cases; LSWC, RNFP, JSP, JHP (XTP-HP). Even empty cases (dropped down through the cartridge guides, onto the lifter while it is in the down position, can't remember if I have ever tried through the mag tube). I don't know what it is, but it seems like with my .44s when the cartridges are lifted up everything lines right up and the bullet never touches the front edge of the chamber lips even with LSWC; it slides right in and the bullet starts to touch the chamber walls about a quarter inch in. I had a Marlin that would shave lead on any type of bullet going into the chamber, but it did seem that the feed angle was steeper then on my 92's. That Marlin (Cowboy Limited 20" Octagon Barreled Gun) was a beautiful gun, but I like the 1892 better so I sold it and bought another Rossi (16" Carbine in .44 mag)

Is there a difference in alignment in stuff on the .357 guns, I hear they are finicky about LSWC and other types of ammo feeding. You don't hear many problems with the .44 mag guns compared to the .357 ones. I would still like to pick a "16 357, but I'd rather have a 1895G instead. I like big bullets :-)

[robertbank]

Hanzerik my .357 Rossi has run every bullet combo I have threw at like poop through a goose using both 38spl and .357mag cases.

My .44 mag arrives tomorrow about a week ahead of my bullet moulds/ shell plate and sizing die.:(

Take Care

Bob

[looseprojectile]

I size the 265 grain RD and all the .44 boolits to .432 but use the sizer mostly to seat the gas check. Tumble lube and wax them. Can get 1700 fps and more. No leading and great power and very adequate accuracy. Similar to a 45 70 in power.
I have several .44 moulds and find that the RD boolit is all I cast nowadays for the .44 magnum.

Life is good

[robertbank]

Well gun arrived today. If it was new it would not look any better. No a mark on her. She has had the Steve's upgrade work done to her. Action is very smoooooth. Rear sight is stock but better than the stock rear on my .357Mag. I am going to shoot her for awhile before considering a Skinner rear peep sight. The gun does not have the FPB...bonus.

My mould, shell plate and sizing die should be here within two weeks then it off to the range. I am going to take the advice of my friend Brett over in NY and load lighter loads initially. My shoulder is bad enough right now and doesn't need anymore punishment.

Take Care

Bob

[northmn]

On a large black bear I would use any bullet style that would break the shoulders.

DP

[Four Fingers of Death]

Hanzerik my .357 Rossi has run every bullet combo I have threw at like poop through a goose using both 38spl and .357mag cases.

My .44 mag arrives tomorrow about a week ahead of my bullet moulds/ shell plate and sizing die.:(

Take Care

Bob

A bit off topic, but you did mention Geese and their toilet habits. My mate was a real villan as a boy. He would save a bit of bacon fat from his brekkie and then grease up a long piece of string. He would then feed it to one of his Dad's prize show Geese or ducks. They would gobble it up and pass it immediately, where it would be gobbled up buy another and so it went on. When he got bored with it, he would tie the string ends together and then bolt before his father heard the commotion, a half a dozen geese and/or ducks, strung in a circle together.

As far as wadcutters in levers around bears, that is just plain ol' asking for a slapping from a bruin I'm thinking.

The 92s are hell for stout, my Rossi will shoot pretty much anything accurately, but has the occasional hiccup on 44 Specials. RNFP feed slicker than frog snot! Mine doesn't miss a beat but the sights suck.

[Gripmaker]

I am curious about the Ranch Dog 265 gr bullet. Is this a tumble lube bullet made by Lee? It looks just exactly like the mold I bought from them a few months ago when they were clearing out over-run molds. Haven't shot it yet but have it loaded w/17.5 gr. 2400 in a 44 Spl case. This load is also great in 44 mag with RCBS 250K bullets...at least in my Ruger pre-prod. stainless Bisley. When I do my part, she puts 5 rnds in 3/4" at 25 yds and sometimes at 50 yds.

[reloader28]

It is made by Lee,but designed by Ranch Dog.
He puts alotta time and thought into them.
Since most of his boolits are a tumble lube design, I aint tried any yet.
But everyone who has, swears by them.

[robertbank]

You can always run them through a lubricator as well. +1 on Ranch Dog's designs.

Take Care

Bob

[357shooter]

Anyone try the Lee 429-200-RF in their Rossi? If so, how accurate were they? I'm thinking light loads, but with the slow twist it might work.

Hoping to order a Rossi 20inch 44mag in the next 2-3 weeks...

[The Ranger]

i cast some of those for my Rossi 92 44-40 but have not gotten around to shooting them yet.

[357shooter]

Post how they work out, loads and all the good info.

[crappie-hunter]

My Rossi purchased in Sept 2011, has an oversize bore .433, had LBT make me a 280gr LFN mold that I can size to .434. I won't post the load here but it is a good healthy charge of H110
Punishing on this 70yr old shoulder. Cresent butt plate does not help this. Kills whitetails with authority. Might be wise to slug the bore before buying supplies.

Have a 357 on layaway and am not buying anything for it till the bore diam. gets measured.

Have fun with your new toy.

[303british.com]

I know that you'll like that rifle, Bob. I have the same one. All I've managed is factory rounds, but I got some 200 and 240 gr. CBs from The bullet Barn to test. I also swapped out the stock rear sight for a Williams FP.

I may get a RD 265gr. mold down the road, but I'll try out some others first. I have a 310 Lee mold sitting here and I haven't made a single bullet yet. I got it cheap from ebay.

[robertbank]

I know that you'll like that rifle, Bob. I have the same one. All I've managed is factory rounds, but I got some 200 and 240 gr. CBs from The bullet Barn to test. I also swapped out the stock rear sight for a Williams FP.

I may get a RD 265gr. mold down the road, but I'll try out some others first. I have a 310 Lee mold sitting here and I haven't made a single bullet yet. I got it cheap from ebay.

I found the recoil brutal on the shoulder and had my 'smith install a recoil pad on the gun. It made shooting the gun a very pleasant experience. With the weather warning up here I plan to get out and do some work with the gun.

Take care

Bob

[303british.com]

I forgot to mention that I slugged the barrel and measured it at .431. I'll do it again to confirm. The RD 432-265 is becoming more attractive. I just have to see what diameter bullets the Lee die gives me with Lyman #2.

[Al_sway]

Anyone try the Lee 429-200-RF in their Rossi? If so, how accurate were they? I'm thinking light loads, but with the slow twist it might work.

Hoping to order a Rossi 20inch 44mag in the next 2-3 weeks...

I cast up a batch of these bullets for my new Rossi .44 Mag, and they have performed well as light loads. I was hoping to use the rifle and bullets for CAS, and I worked some loads down from 6 gr of Red Dot through 5.5 to 5.0 grain Red Dot. Velocity went from 1100+ down to 975 and some ragged holes at 50 yards for 10 shot groups.
As for other bullets, my Rossi also feeds the Lyman 240 grain Keith without a problem, crimped in the normal crimp groove. 13 grains of 800-x gives me around 1600 fps.
I forgot to slug my barrel, but loads shot well in any case, and no leading.

[robertbank]

Here is a picture of the recoil pad installed on my gun. The recoil pad certainly takes the sting out of shooting. Turns a painful exercise into a pleasant day at the range.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/robertbank/303Longbranch004JPG.jpg

Take Care

Bob

[303british.com]

That looks like a good fit, Bob. Congratulations.

[L Ross]

I shoot a Rossi 44-40 carbine and have loaded the Lyman 429215 gc ahead of a bunch of 2400 and shot 3 deer with it. No recovered bullets, two were heart shot and the hearts were not salvageable to eat. One shot in the back of the neck and it exited through the mouth and I have never seen a deer drop more dramatically. Sized to .431" I believe, but have no proof that Rossi uses the same barrel on the 44-40 and the 44 mag. .428" boolits key hole at 25 yds. 431" go into one big ragged hole.

Duke

[robertbank]

That looks like a good fit, Bob. Congratulations.

Thanks. I had my 'smith put a spacer in to lengthen the pull. The pad certainly tames teh recoil. It makes for pleasant shooting.

Take Care

Bob

[HBAR2989]

Shot a hog yesterday with a Lee 310 sized .430 & gc. pushed by 18gr AA#9 out of my new 16" Rossi. The shot took out both front shoulders like a cookie cutter. This is the load I plan on using for bear in june in Quebec. That load will shoot a ragged hole @ 50 yds, but probably drops 3-4" at 100yds.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Shot a hog yesterday with a Lee 310 sized .430 & gc. pushed by 18gr AA#9 out of my new 16" Rossi. The shot took out both front shoulders like a cookie cutter. This is the load I plan on using for bear in june in Quebec. That load will shoot a ragged hole @ 50 yds, but probably drops 3-4" at 100yds.

Excellent performance from a cheap rifle and a $20 mould! Love it!

[TXGunNut]

Excellent performance from a cheap rifle and a $20 mould! Love it!



I guess a hog makes good test medium, never tried shooting a bear, tho. Still testing bullets and boolits, I guess. ;-) Good job! Sometimes mo' money doesn't mean mo' betta.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I don't know about your hogs over there, but here they have gristle on their shoulder pads and a shot that can punch straight through that should surely punch through a bair!

But then again, what would I know, I know squat about bairs, apart from the fact that you really don't need to pi$$ them off with an underpowered mouse gun because they is way nasty enough already! lol.

[robertbank]

Mick the .44mag is ample for Black Bears. Grizzlies, well the .44mag will work and certainly better than a stick but I wouldn't go hunting Grizzlies with only the .44mag. Good round though for self defense in the wild at short range.

Take Care

Bob

[Four Fingers of Death]

Mick the .44mag is ample for Black Bears. Grizzlies, well the .44mag will work and certainly better than a stick but I wouldn't go hunting Grizzlies with only the .44mag. Good round though for self defense in the wild at short range.

Take Care

Bob

I think if I was in an area where there were grizzlies about, my handgun would be my 45 Blackhawk convertible (4 3/4" BBl, Imitation Pearl grips (makes all the difference, lol) with the 45Colt cylinder and a 300Gn Boolit, loaded for bair, as they say. If I went afield I would be carrying my 444 or 3006 as a minimum. If I actually went afield to hunt grizzlies, I would be properly armed up with the 45 handgun and my 338WM or 375H&H or possibly even my 416Rigby.

As to a lever gun, I don't currently have a 45/70 apart from a Trapdoor, but I think I'd draw the line at taking the 444, I'd be a lot more comfortable with a shoulder pulverising load out of a 45/70 or 450 Marlin.

[HBAR2989]

The hog was probably only 200lbs, but it was a test. the bear shot should only be 25 yds or so over bait. I think my old Lee 255 gr would be better as a all around hunting load. Ya gotta love the cheap mold, wheel weights, and good groups. have no complaints. Now, 45/70, or 357 mag next.

[TXGunNut]

What's all this talk about cheap? Sometimes, not very often but sometimes, quality doesn't cost extra. I don't have a problem with that! :smile: I have the resources to experience the pricey stuff but I'm still a tightwad and enjoy a good bargain. Rossi makes good stuff, Lee makes good stuff, you make good stuff. Good results shouldn't surprise you. Nicely done, looking forward to a bear hunt story.
Grizzly (and brown, and Kodiak, and polar) bears are awesome animals and quite honestly scare me more that most four-legged critters. I know black bears are smaller and supposedly less dangerous but this big ol' Texas boy is still a little scared of them. I've run them out of camp with a riot gun or a noisy pan but I still worry about what a critter with that kind of power can easily do to me.

[HBAR2989]

Hopefully by the time the bear hunt happens, we got the picture posting thing down. My wife is going to hunt as well. She will be using her 20ga 870 with breneke slugs. It's our first bear hunt, so we are noobs at this. She's getting expensive, we got her muzzle loader buck at the taxidermist right now.

[Bullwolf]

One of my shooting buddies just picked up a new 24" round barrel blue Rossi 44 Mag lever.
(It had the Taurus name on the outside of the box too)
It was pretty inexpensive at Cabela's, so he figured it couldn't be all that bad for under $300 bucks.

He brought the 44 Magnum Rossi along with us to the range at the last minute. It's his first 44 Magnum, and he didn't have any shells for it. He also couldn't find any 44 Magnum rounds for the gun at Walmart. Luckily for him one of the sporting goods store chains that's open on Sundays had some odd brand 180 grain J-word stuff on the shelf. So he bought a box of the 180 grain 44 shells at the last minute, while we were on the way to the range.

The bad news was that the Rossi hated the 180 grain ammo. It didn't shoot groups, it shot patterns at 50 yards, and that was when we managed to even hit the target.

I have a Winchester 92 chambered in 44 Magnum, and it will at least shoot a group at 100 yards that keeps all the hits on a paper plate. So I expected a bit more accuracy out of the Rossi than this.

I shot his gun a handful of times to see if I could do any better, and to help rule out operator error. Even shooting rested off bags my results were the same as his. It was very windy, and darn cold that day, so we just called it at that point, and went home.

I felt really bad for him after all that. He was just trying to see how his new gun would shoot, and he was pretty disappointed with the guns performance. If I ever wanted to buy a really cheap used Rossi 44 Magnum Lever action rifle off of a friend for a song, that would have been the time to make an offer. Fortunately, for him I'm not that kind of person.

I had read that some of newer Rossi's 44 lever actions have pretty large bores, like .433 or so, but try as I might I just could not talk him into slugging his new rifle, or letting me slug his gun. He just isn't a cast boolit shooting kind of guy. No matter how many lead boolits he has seen me successfully shoot, he still thinks that cast boolits will lead his gun, and make a mess out his barrel. He is pretty much addicted to shooting J-word stuff, and a large contributor of my supply of once fired re-loadable brass.

Thinking that maybe the rifle just didn't like the 180 grain 44 Magnum shells, I suggested that he try out some typical weight, and some heavier factory 44 Magnum rounds. Like 240 and 300 grains from a known manufacturer next time.

I also cast some boolits with my Lee C429-240SWC hollow point mold. The alloy I used was a 50/50 mix of WW lead & Linotype, and it tends to cast large.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=539&pictureid=3880
I tumble lubed the boolits in 45-45-10, and didn't size them. I simply loaded them as cast. It was the quickest way to get an oversize 44 boolit that I could think of short of beagling my mold. I figured if they shot well through the Rossi, that I would lean more towards the larger bore hypothesis. I crossed my fingers that the Rossi chamber would be large enough to accept a non sized hand loaded 44 magnum round. I loaded up the cast 44 boolits over 10 grains of Unique, using a standard primer. I took the oversize loaded 44 boolits along with us when we went shooting the next weekend. Not the most original load in the world, but it's one that has always managed to work for me, and if it ain't broken, then why fix it?

When we went to the range again, he was a bit discouraged about starting out at 50 yards after the last time, and had pretty much lost all faith in the rifle's sights. So this time he started at 25 yards instead.

The good news is my oversize cast boolits chamber just fine in the Rossi. They were really mild to shoot through the rifle, and they were also quite accurate in the gun. If the boolits even managed to lead his clean bore at all, it sure wasn't visible when looking down the barrel. Any traces of leading that might have been there were long gone after shooting the rest of his factory J-word fodder through the gun during during our range session. He was pleasantly surprised when he cleaned the gun later on that night.

The factory 300 grain rounds he bought shot right to point of aim through the Rossi, and the 240 grain rounds were hitting a bit higher than the 300 grain stuff was, but they all worked much better than the original 180 grain ammo had.

At least he isn't as disappointed with the Rossi this time out. I was glad he left on a positive note, and with better feelings about the gun, and about cast boolits.

I really would have liked to have slugged the barrel, just so I could see what size it was. If it was my gun, I would definitely slug it, and I would also put a recoil pad of some kind over that short curved metal butt stock. I would have liked to stretch out the range farther as well. (25 yards for a rifle, err carbine but still come on?)

Since I already have a Winchester 92, and have been down that road before, I am just going to call the whole thing a win because he is much happier now. He can work his way up to farther ranges at his own pace, and on his own time. Most of his shooting will likely be at tin cans at my place, or shooting off my porch at the 50 foot gong. The factory ammo he is shooting now will be accurate enough for that kind of thing. It will also mean more 44 Magnum brass for me too!

It sure is a nice looking rifle for what he paid for it, and I am glad he is happy about his new purchase again.


- Bullwolf

[kliff]

I love reading posts like this, as my 45LC 92 is in the shop right now. I feel certain warranty will cover it, and it will be back soon for a long life of service. had to just be one of those 1/1000glitches that cause the feed ramp to snap in two. It never fed properly either, so the repair will most likely cure all. :)