Cast Boolits in H & R .44 Mag??

[Grampie not Grumpie]

Here in Mississippi we have a long deer season. It is even longer if you hunt in the "primitive gun" season as well. A primitive gun is a muzzle loader of various types and also a single shot break action gun larger than .35 caliber. With that in mind I purchased a H & K single shot rifle in .44 mag because I cast and shoot lead boolits in my .44 mag Ruger Single Action revolvers, (I have two).

Today I shot it for the first time to sight it in. I shot some jacketed bullets and when I cleaned it this evening I noticed the rifling was not like the rifling in my revolvers. It has many shallow lands and grooves, whereas my Ruger's have fewer and deeper ones.

My question is shooting cast boolits going to be a problem?? Is the barrel going to lead up? I don't want to "borrow trouble" and I can always load up some .240 gr Hornady XTPs for hunting season, but one of the reasons I picked the gun was for the convenience of have plenty of ammo on hand.

Any imput appreciated,

Grampie not Grumpie

[geargnasher]

I have one in .45 Colt that fits that description, it shoots plain-based, air-cooled wheel weights and water-quenched 50/50 wheel weights/roofing lead (about 15 bhn but very malleable) quite well with no leading. The key is to get a boolit large enough to put outward pressure on the bore when it's fully engraved so as to not leak. About .002" larger than groove diameter did it for me, your milage will vary.

I'd slug the bore and discover the groove dimension, my .45 ran about .001" larger than standard, that would be a good thing to know going into loading for yours.

Something else to think about is getting that trace copper fouling out with some ammonia-based solvent and patches before shooting cast or it might lead some. If your barrel's internal finish is like mine, it will probably grab some copper after only a few rounds.

Gear

[leadman]

Follow Gears advice and your shooting should be good. Gas checked boolits may be easier to get to shoot well with no leading. You will gains several hundred fps with the rifle over the revolver.

[PacMan]

You have all the answers you need so go shoot that baby.