NEW MEMBER....need 41 cast help!

[bisleyfan41]

first of all, i'd like to introduce myself. my name is shane. i'm 36 and have hunted and loved shooting my whole life esp handguns; even more specifically single action rugers. i haven't reloaded ammo (other than shotgun) before...i'm starting now and am esp. not familiar with cast boolits, although they are what interest me most and is what i'll be using exclusively. i'm a member of some other forums and that's where i saw some posts from some feller named 45nut (didn't know then that he's a site owner). never thought nothin' of it, but he had a link to this site. so i came on over and lo and behold there's an overwhelming bunch of knowledgeable dudes (and maybe some dudettes, too) here. seems to be a great site with friendly folks who seem to get along (except maybe over on the 357 freedom arms thread:roll: ).

here are my questions:
i'll be using a 7.5" bisley blackhawk in 41 mag(love this gun!) to hunt deer, mostly give or take 50 yds. hopefully broadside, and may need to take a shoulder or 2 out.
i do not cast yet(one step at a time) so i'm looking for a good commercial boolit.
can i get complete penetration at around 1000fps from anything out there? or will i need more mv?
what composition as far as hardness do i need for various velocities? i've heard that too hard a bullet won't do as well unless pushed to higher velocities and that the softer alloys start leading at some point as well. it's all very confusing to a newbie cast user.
i haven't measured the throats on this gun yet, but i will if this helps (my father has borrowed the calipers, so i can't right now) i notice the various cast boolits run from .410 to .412

i appreciate any and all advice and thank you for indulging these novice questions. this is all new to me. looks to be a wealth of knowledge here-thanks for having me.

[Uncle Grinch]

Welcome Shane,

You have hit the mother lode if you are looking for cast boolit info (that's what we call'em). This forum is one of the friendliest and knowlegable that you are likely to find.

I too am a fan of the .41 and shoot a Ruger SA and a Marlin '94, both with cast boolits.

Most of my hunting loads are either a Lee 240 grain at 1100+ fps in my Ruger or Lyman's 41028 220 grian at 1200+ in my Marlin.
My alloy is mostly WW with a little lino to sweeten them,. They are water quenched and run around 20 Bhn, so they are fairly hard.

I have been sizing mine at .410, but recently have tried .411 since honing out an extra sizer die. Haven't gotten a lot of data on these newly sized boolits yet.

As far as commercially available boolits, you may have slim picking looking for .41's. There are some specialty makers out there, but I have never used them.

PM me and I'll send you a few of mine. I'll even include some 200 grain full wadcutters.

[leftiye]

Not that it's very popular to do, but at the 1000 fps (and maybe 1200 fps) speed you mention you could (if you wanted) use 5% tin alloy and make soft lead hollow point round nose boolits. Use gas checks to help your soft alloy out. If you can't find a hollow point mold, they can be modified to be hollow point molds. Most popular nowadays are full house loads using hard cast boolits with large flat noses. Either way, a heavier boolit will aid in getting penetration.

[45nut]

i'm a member of some other forums and that's where i saw some posts from some feller named 45nut (didn't know then that he's a site owner). never thought nothin' of it, but he had a link to this site. so i came on over and lo and behold there's an overwhelming bunch of knowledgeable dudes

SP by chance?
Oh and welcome to CB.glad you made it over.
Give Bullshop a call,,link below. He can find the 41's you want or make them.

[rmb721]

bisleyfan41

Check this out: www.moyerscastbullets.com

He only lists one bullet for a 41. It is a 215 grain SWC plain base.

He has a price list on the web site.

[7br]

You also might try leadheads at http://www.proshootpro.com/

Or you might be able to beg some from some of the fellers on the board.

[26Charlie]

Welcome Shane,
I have the Ruger Bisley .41 also, and some others. A 210 gr. flatpoint plain base bullet ahead of 9.0 gr. of HERCO or 8.0 gr. UNIQUE is a very pleasant load about 1000 fs, and a 220 gr. Keith-style Semiwadcutter ahead of 19.0 gr. H-110 is a good full-house hunting load, about 1350-1400 fps.
Don't worry about hardness - commercial bullets are whatever they are, and tend to be harder than you would make if you cast your own out of wheelweights or range scrap. The .41 Mag is a fine hunting cartridge.

[RugerFan]

Bisleyfan41,
I also have the twin of your pistol (and a plain jane BH .41 mag also). Regardless of the bullet, my Bisley Hunter likes IMR 4227 better than anything. 2400 and H110 are very close behind. I use mostly custom bullet molds with weights ranging from 215 to 265 gns. These days I mostly shoot a 240 gn Keith-gc with 19.0 gns of 4227. So far I have killed 2 hogs with this load. Bullets zip clean through them. Oh and my cylinder throats are .411" so thats what I size my bullets at.

[Obsolete]

Years ago I had a New Model BH in 41 Rem Mag.I used to use both J and CB's in it.Mine seemed to prefer the 220 Gr PB SWC that I bought from a local caster who sold them up at the range .... These were every bit as good as the Jacketed stuff over 296 at a shade over 1300 and milder loads over Unique.I tried the GC 215's but mine just liked th 220's better........... But in a moment of complete lunacy I sold it and have kicked myself ever since.:-?

[GLynn41]

Lead head makes 230 Keith with a .31 meplat ( flat nose part) which shoots well and is very reasonable in cost-Montana bullets also has some plain based bullet or gas check bullets in the 220-240 grain weight which are the LBT bullets and a
.320 meplat-- both will give a good hole- and 230-240gr at 1000 fps if close should do what you want-- another 200 fps would certainly help though-- try going by throat size - welcome-this is cool place-

[bisleyfan41]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys and for the above links and leads. I'm gonna chase down as many of these as I can. And thanks for the recipes; I'll give them a try , too.
I feel pretty lucky in finding this gun. I found it on gunbroker. It's blue with a 7.5" bbl-like the newer bisleys except it has a fluted cylinder-no roll engraving. It was made in 1986 according to Ruger and the original owner had put it away and never shot it-BRAND NEW! First trip to the range with some factory 250gr. Win pthp jacketed (sorry i used the j word), the gun shot first cylinder-full of six all touching except one at 25 yds!! This gun has been begging to be used for the last 21 yrs. and I'm gonna do it.
Mike, thanks for the offer, as soon as I get set up to load, I'll pm you about the bullets. I really appreciate it; that's mighty generous of you.
45nut, sp is where I linked here from, and I think I've seen you on handgunhunt, too? Great site you have here. Alot of good features as well as people.

[bisleyfan41]

Guys, i finally measured the throats on this gun and they all ran .4100. My question is what's the deal with choosing a cast boolit? I see them being sold in various sizes .410" .411" .412". What's the difference? What would happen if iI shot a .412" through the .410 throats? Should I be worrying about something else? Sorry for the newbie questions, but it's confusing? Thanks for your help.


BTW, I made my first ever run around looking for scrap ww today. I stopped by 4 diff shops. 2 were already saving for someone else, 1 was selling to a scrap yard. The other hooked me up with a bucket-full. I went home and put it on the scale.....112 pounds!!! WAY COOL!!!!:Fire:

[fourarmed]

With .410 throats, you should start with .410 boolits, although .411 would be OK. How did you measure them? A dial caliper is only approximate. Upset slugs and a micrometer work fine. Pin gauges are fine.

[RGS]

I have several .41s. 2 are Ruger Blackhawks. They all seem to like the 230gr Keith style bullet from Leadhead.

These are full power hunting loads and accuracy is best at the max load. I use H110 and WLP primers. These will most likely travel along at something over 1200fps. This may be a bit more blast and power then you are looking for.

My target load is a 210gr SWC with 7.8gr Unique for about 1000fps. This should work great on 50yd deer. The Leadhead 215gr SWC BB looks exactly like my 210gr bullet.


https://secure25.securewebsession.com/proshootpro.com/order.htm

[USARO4]

I can't help you with a source for commercial bullets, cause I don't buy them. I cast my own using the Lee tumble lube designs. I shoot 170gr for light loads and 210gr for the heavy stuff.

[GLynn41]

USARO4 -- I have one the tumble lube molds but have not gotten it to do well -- I gather yours does? Mine weighs 230 gr out of wheel weights