any one shoot 445 SM contender

[dryfire]

i have had trouble getting cast bullets under 2"
I know powders are limeted, have used 296 and AA1680
mostly 1680 I was told to try 2400 but have had no luck with it.
the best i have came up with is cci350 AA1680 - 37.0gr /lyman #429244 255GC
I am new to casting just started last year, but the 44 shoot them well enough
I love this 445 but it has been the bigst challange i have ever had reloading!!!!
(Just thought it was time to stop and ask for directions)

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Last time up north there I used 1680 in my 414SM DW with a 265 gc and liked what I saw. This time up I am going to rechamber my 14" 41 mag to 414SM and start with 1680.
Read another Thread here where a feller is using RL7 with 300 grainers + in a 414 JDJ.
Mike in Peru

[runfiverun]

the issue with contender bbl's is thier throats.
you gotta get across that gap straight.
you might just need a longer boolit to be in the case and the throat at the same time.

i use aa-1680 in mine also, but same as mike, through a dan.
i have had good luck with h-4227 also.

[blaser.306]

I shoot a super 14" tc .445 supermag and it shoots better than I do ! My biggest trouble with it is with the lighter Boolits I cannot get enough elevation out of it . So I just started throwing 330 gr NOE rfn gas checks out of it pushed with 29.5 gr of 1680 lit off with a federal 155 and all is good ( untill my nervous system kicks in ) towards the end of a silywet match , 40 rounds in quick sucsetion seems to be about enough!

[dryfire]

well i have tree barrels between me and my buddy all (custom)***** dont want to go into a fcussing fit today.
with another 12.5" bullberry on the way, have NO complants with bullberry they are jam up!
the troat is perfect with a verry tight chamber
the bulberry likes the 240xtp/39.0-aa1680 with the other barrels 210gr.serria HP/
39.5-aa1680
I have used 310& 240 lee's

[dryfire]

what is the vol. on your 330gr

[dryfire]

And i have loaded some of the 255gr out to AOL:2.158" to get to the lands

[leftiye]

I don't have a .445 Contender, but I don't shoot anything hot in my Dan Wesson that weighs less than 300 grains. +1 longer boolit, no crimp, seat it out to touch rifling, if it can reach. Check also diameter of freebore (cast chamber) to be sure boolit isn't flopping around while it makes the jump to rifling (solution - bigger diameter boolits).

[dryfire]

I just found this web site the other day. I thought maybe someone might have some personal experience with one of these creatures. I do love these things but have had a lot more difficulty than I had expected to run into.
When I got the first one there was no brass on the market for the first ten months.
I had to cut my own cases from 303’s. With dismal accuracy I thought that it may be coming from that. Eventually star line did another run so we picked up six hundred factory cases and honestly I can’t tell any difference at all between the first two hundred I made and the star line except if you make you own you can run them to any length you want. We have barrels from two different makers one having a longer and fatter than standard, so the 303’s can be cut longer to help put the bullets up to the throats. Now this chamber is really something it’s .007 fatter than my bullberry and can run a 1.725” case rather than a 1.600” standard, as the bullberry does. Now between the difference in the two barrel makers and all the variables. I have had a hell of a time. I am on the seventh pound of powder now playing with these things. But I really love to shoot them I don’t mind that but, I would like to feel like I understood where I was coming up short. I have reloaded for many years but just started casting myself the last year or so. I have come up with two jacketed loads for them and have killed deer with them this year. One was shot at one hundred and forty yards and penetrated both front shoulders and I have seen 7-08s not do that (did I say yet I love these guns).
Originally my thoughts was to run heavy cast through them but just haven’t found what I am looking for yet I do weigh out my cast bullets and sort them to .5gr. batches. Am I looking for something that is not there? Am I expecting too much? Should I not expect them to shoot as well as a 44 mag? Do any of you gentalmen have any loads that shoot under two inchs??

[runfiverun]

if you are fighting a throat or ball leade or whatever it is they put in there [it's like the freebore in a weatherby]
plus the larger diameter of the chamber [and then add the messed up throat]
i think you are measuring the open area in front of the chamber as part of the chamber that's where the extra length comes from.
marlin does the same thing, and i used longer brass in my first marlin too.
it didn't work so well, i went back to normal brass and filled this area with boolit.
what you need is diameter. and length
look at how large around will chamber [leaving a little room for the case to expand]
and the longest you can use to get into the bbl to start with.
a custom with a short bore rider nose would be helpful, and driving bands to fill the gap.
a ranch dog for the 444 marlin might be a good alternative [at 433-434]

[7br]

what you need is diameter. and length

That's what my ex-wife said about me.

[Dutch4122]

look at how large around will chamber [leaving a little room for the case to expand]


The best way I've found to do this is to take an un-resized case that has been fired in your gun; and measure the inside of the case mouth. Subtract .001" from that measurement and size your booits to that diameter. So, if the inside case mouth of a fired casing measures .434" than you would size your boolits to .433" for that gun.

Hope this helps, :popcorn:

[dryfire]

So what your saying is to size your bullets for the chamber and (not the bore???)

[Dutch4122]

So what your saying is to size your bullets for the chamber and (not the bore???)

Yes, what you are doing is sizing the boolit to fit the diameter of the throat while still allowing enough room (.001"-.002") for safe case expansion. This method provides a boolit that is sitting straight in the chamber; and will start forward straight towards/into the rifling when gas pressure begins to push it forward.

The boolit will just swage down to fit the bore.

[Irascible]

Have you tried H4227 or AA5744?