H&g #503

[Worn_Holster]

I've got an H&G #503 4 cav mold coming from Miha, and most of my current loads are for 240gr boolits. I saw that a number of folks bought these molds on a group buy recently, and I was hoping that some might share their loads with me. I am shooting from a 1958 S&W 44 Magnum 6" barrel. I would like to hunt whitetail deer with these boolits using a hot load, but I would also like to find a more mild target load for this Keith style bullet. Any suggestions?

[Heavy lead]

Well I shoot a boatload of these (from the original Mihec 6 cavity aluminum group buy) over 10 grains of Unique and a Federal 150. A boring 1050 to 1125 it chrono's out of 7 different .44 magnums, it works, doesn't kill you, is accurate and will kill a deer just fine.

[EDK]

I bought the mould in aluminum off eBay from Miha himself...it was one of his test moulds. It has cast a bunch of boolits for me and I really liked it, so I bought one of the 4 cavity brass moulds too. I finally fired the brassie up last saturday...7 inches of wet snow!...and have shot a few of them this week...60 today and 80 sunday.

I sized to .432 with LARS' 50/50 XLOX/BEESWAX in the STAR. Loaded in 44 magnum brass with a Winchester LP primer and 6.5 of HP 38. Groups of around 2.5 inches from 5.5 and 7.5 inch VAQUEROS with 3 pound trigger pulls...probably better in a target sight gun with a good trigger....still got two and three boolit holes touching on a regular basis. Some minor leading in a fairly new gun with a low round count...cleaned it out with a XLOX lubed and gas checked RANCH DOG TLC 432 265...six rounds works well for me...lots more fun than cranking on a Lewis Lead Remover or CHORE BOY.

For another target load, try the SKEETER SKELTON load of 7.5 UNIQUE and work your way up if it doesn't suit. POWER PISTOL and HERCO are good choices; you might want to investigate RED DOT/PROMO for low end loads also. Brian Pearce has had a lot of good articles with data over at HANDLOADER....wish I subscribed to it years ago.

Stay low on the loads, especially for a S&W. The gunwriters who bought in to the .454 and the various LINEBAUGH type cartridges are praising 44 Special and 45 Colt now...carpal tunnel and other hand/wrist/arm problems are the price of all that "magnum fever." Elmer Keith's old 44 Special loads are heavy enough for me.

:Fire::castmine::redneck:

[crabo]

I like 10-12 of HS6. Gives me 2" at 50 yards.

[Ilwil]

The current Guns & Ammo magazine has a good article on .44 special loads and accuracy. It says a proven, best-accurate load would be 5.5 gr of Red Dot under a 240 gr cast SWC. I have never tried Red Dot, but I'm going to, because I bought one of those molds too. The article picture shows the fabled "one ragged hole" group from this load.

[Worn_Holster]

If I am not mistaken, the H&G #503 casts around 255, not 240 grns. That's why I am asking those who have loaded this specific boolit to share their recipes with me.

[Heavy lead]

If I am not mistaken, the H&G #503 casts around 255, not 240 grns. That's why I am asking those who have loaded this specific boolit to share their recipes with me.

My aluminum 503 lubed is 260 grains on the nose.

[GabbyM]

If I am not mistaken, the H&G #503 casts around 255, not 240 grns. That's why I am asking those who have loaded this specific boolit to share their recipes with me.

Little extra weight won't matter much with reduced 44 mag loads. As the weight is out in the nose not in the case.

In the Lyman load book I reference data for the #429244 gas checked SWC as it’s the closest to weight range. However some of the max loads are heavier than the 245gr #429421 loads.

I’ve tried 20 grains of AA#9 under my #503. Plenty for me. Between eight and ten grains of Unique is what I run under my 240gr light load bullets. Have tried 7 ½ grains under a 240 SWC but it just seams dirtier burning than 8gr.

[sagamore-one]

7.5 Red Dot + H&G 503 = success and happiness. Long barrel life too.

[EDK]

7.5 Red Dot + H&G 503 = success and happiness. Long barrel life too.

You just saved me some research and yankee dollars. I did very little with RED DOT because of very little data over 6 grains...need to widen my research...BUT the local gun shop has an EIGHT POUND keg of PROMO for $94. That is a lot of loads for little $$.

:Fire::castmine::redneck:

[Dale53]

You can use Lyman's data (Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition) for their 429421 with complete confidence.

Using .44 Magnum cases:

I use H110/Win 296 for heavy loads (deer hunting) 23.0 for practice and .24.0 grs for hunting. 25.0 grs is Maximum.

I use 8.5-9.0 grs of Unique for a medium load.

5.0 grs of Bullseye or equivalent of Red Dot, Dupont PB, or Titegroup for gallery use. My current standard is Titegroup at 5.0 grs.

This is also my "go to" bullet for the .44 Special with appropriate loads.

Dale53

[pmer]

I tried some 23.0 H110 and CCI 350s with boolits from my Mihec mold. The brass pushed out good and no leading issues. Lots of recoil... I think I'm going park that one till its closer to deer hunting.

[crabo]

I've done a little bit with it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=64379&highlight=H%26G+503+crabo

[MtGun44]

10 gr Unique is a personal favorite, extremely accurate and does about 1050 in a 4" and
1100 in a 6", medium hot load but not punishing you or the gun. Keith's 20.0 gr of 2400
is a powerful hunting load that is very accurate. 8 gr of W231 is more of a light plinker load,
but also accurate.

Bill