Just got a nice Super Blackhawk.

[*Paladin*]

Hey all- I just got a BEAUTIFUL, like new, 1977 year blued Super Blackhawk in .44 mag, 4-3/4" barrel. I'll use it for plinking and packing in the hills. Anyone have any Lee mold suggestions for this thing? I'd like to have a light 200gr-240gr range mold and a 300 or so grain mold. I haven't shot it yet, because .44 mag is rediculously expensive.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Personally I would look at the 240gr gas check moulds, the 240gr with a GC can be loaded from light to hot.

[GSP7]

lyman 429421

[curiousgeorge]

Lyman 429421 with 8.0 to 10.0 grs Unique. Pleasant to shoot and will handle 95% of most shooting chores.

For the heavy boolit, think about going with a WFN design, which generally needs to be pushed pretty hard to work correctly, so that you can look at your ammo and know immediately that one is the "everything" load and the other one is strictly for bears, elephants, and lions.

[Wally]

The Keith bullet (429421) is a great choice for the Ruger SBHK but I've found the Lee 90285 (.44 Cal--200 RNF) to be excellent in this caliber. I load up to 1,050 FPS using Bullseye or Red Dot powder. Very accurate and you use less lead and powder. As I shoot mine at steel plates and for can plinking, I see no reason to use a bullet that is 25% heavier. The recoil is substantialy less and the accuracy is just as good.

[*Paladin*]

Thanks for the inputs! I'll look at the Lyman. I've never used an iron mold, and honestly, the cost of them has kept me using Lee molds, plus I like the 6-cav for sheer production. I'll see if I can't find a Lyman on e-bay or in the classifieds here. Is the 429421 available in a 4-cav? Thanks again!

[pat g]

I use the Lee 6 cavity 200gr. rnfp 429 and it works just fine.
Shoots accurate but I never load them to hot.

My son and I shot some out of his SBH 6.5 bbl. this weekend.

Pat

[white eagle]

nice I just picked up a bisley blackhawk myself

[GSP7]

Where's the pictures !

4 3/4" SBH must be a barrel shortened job

[*Paladin*]

Where's the pictures !

4 3/4" SBH must be a barrel shortened job

I don't think it's a custom bbl length. It might be 4-5/8". I'll have to take some pics and post 'em up. Looks like new except some moron at one point used the top of the front site as a hammer. Other than that, not a scratch on it and barely a pawl-ring on the cylinder.

[HammerMTB]

That's a handy size as a packin' pistol!
I'd find a 240gr in a SWC or RF design. I doubt you'd need a GC at the velocities that 4-5/8" will shoot.
I have the Lee 310GC, and will say that to drive that boolit from that short bbl you will have a snap you won't want to repeat much. It'd kill anything on the continent, but it'd maim at the handle end.

[sixshot]

My everyday load in 44 mag brass is 8.5 grs of Unique, a step up to 10 grs of Unique makes a great load for deer, etc. this is with the Keith #429421, I've had my mould for many years & its a 4 banger. The 10 gr load will shoot through most deer lengthways. I've done it twice.
My heavy load is 21 grs of 2400, again with the Keith bullet, its accounted for deer, elk, bear, hogs & antelope, plus a boatload of small game.
Why spend $3 a hundred for gas checks? That drives the expense way up & certainly isn't needed if you have correct bullet fit & hardness.
A couple of days ago on the Ruger Forum there was a #429244 double cavity mould for sale (new) for $45 shipped. This is the old Ray Thompson GC design & its a great bullet if you want to use gas checks.

Dick

[EMC45]

............429-421................

[NHlever]

I have the Lee 429-200-RF, and like it, but mine drops boolits that are a bit small for some of my guns. A .431 die just cleans the lube off the boolits. They shoot well in my 5 1/2" super blackhawk with it's tight cylinder, and bore, but not so well in my new Flattop .44 Special, or my Marlin that really need a .432 boolit. My Lyman 429215 casts a bit larger, but I really haven't found a load in my guns for that one that I really like yet.

[RobS]

Be careful with the current crop of Lyman molds; quality control has been lacking lately. The Lee 310 will do its job on big dangerous game or can be loaded down a bit and shot with pleasure and decent accuracy. Lighter boolits will be easier to find accuracy with for plinking but the Lee molds are limited a bit if need a boolit larger than .429 for your cylinders and bore. Really only two of Lees molds cast at .430-.431 as I've seen; the Lee 310 grain RF and the TL 240 grain SWC. In the past year or so my dad has tried two of the .429 molds and they both cast at .429 from WW alloy. The two .430 designs mentioned above cast at .4305-.431. After the dust settled, he shoots the Lee 310 and the NOE 265 RF designs to fill his cylinder throats which is his most accurate boolits. He still shoots the Lee 200 RF for light plinkers and they do OK for the intended purpose.