Himmelwright and the 44 mag

[polara426sh]

I picked up a double cavity 429 220 last week at a local gun shop. It casts such an odd looking little boolit that I couldn't resist taking it home with me. I'd like to try some out in my NM SBH, but I can only find load data for the 44 Russian and 44 Special, and only have about 10 cases that are not mag length. Has anyone tried this boolit in the mag case? I was thinking about starting around 4.5 gr of bullseye, and maybe a small tuft of dacron to keep it against the primer.

[GLL]

I have never heard of anyone loading the 429220 in .44Mag.
I would like to see your results !

IDEAL 429220 on the left:
http://www.fototime.com/1D75AE0AFFBE517/medium800.jpg

Jerry

[BABore]

I picked up a double cavity 429 220 last week at a local gun shop. It casts such an odd looking little boolit that I couldn't resist taking it home with me. I'd like to try some out in my NM SBH, but I can only find load data for the 44 Russian and 44 Special, and only have about 10 cases that are not mag length. Has anyone tried this boolit in the mag case? I was thinking about starting around 4.5 gr of bullseye, and maybe a small tuft of dacron to keep it against the primer.

No need for the dacron with BE. I've used this boolit in the mag case with mild charges of WW 231 and Unique.

[polara426sh]

Well I tumble lubed some with 50/50 and loaded them up over 4.5 of bullseye. I decided to skip the dacron after only one case, so if there is a flyer in my group, that's the excuse I'll be using. I seated them just below the case mouth with a slight roll crimp. I should be able to get some down range tomorrow.

[44man]

I wonder what the funny nose is for? Weight shift?
You still depend on the shoulder for cone alignment and during flight, the rest of the boolit will still have a pressure wave like the wad cutter.

[1874Sharps]

I'll be, I have never seen a boolit like that before. Does anyone know exactly why Lyman came out with such a design? Interesting ...

[Groo]

Groo here
44man your last statement may not be correct.
The navy uses sub missile with what is called an aero-spike.
A dart like extension that splits the air and reduces drag [ many hundreds of miles]
The point may cause a similar effect as far as the air see's.
This will move the "pressure wave" out farther toward the edges of the wadcutter.

[polara426sh]

I'll be, I have never seen a boolit like that before. Does anyone know exactly why Lyman came out with such a design? Interesting ...

It was designed around 1900 by an engineer named A.L.A. Himmelwright for target shooting in the S&W model 3 in 44 Russian. I believe that his intent was for it to be as accurate as a round nose bullet, yet cut clean holes in the target for ease of scoring.

[Maven]

polara426sh, Take a look at this article: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell-Himmelwright-Wadcutters.htm

[Fishman]

Well that is too cool! I don't know why, but it is.

[44man]

Groo here
44man your last statement may not be correct.
The navy uses sub missile with what is called an aero-spike.
A dart like extension that splits the air and reduces drag [ many hundreds of miles]
The point may cause a similar effect as far as the air see's.
This will move the "pressure wave" out farther toward the edges of the wadcutter.
No comparison at all. Many military cannons are now SMOOTH BORE where the projectile steers itself.
Reading Fryxell's tests shows he thinks like I do. Alignment and twist match.
The low velocities shot with the boolit has a very reduced pressure wave, same as a slow wad cutter. That point will have little affect.
It is nothing but a too short wad cutter with no stability, made to make a round hole in paper at which it failed.

[429421Cowboy]

I have been very interested in this thread, i first got interested in the Himmelwright from Fryxell's book. As i understand it, it was the leap that started the SWC trend. I would have picked it up just because it is so cool loking!

[polara426sh]

Well, I got out just now and shot three groups of six at 25 yards. One group had two touching, and one had three touching, but the rest were all over the place. Groups were about 4-5 inches, with mostly horizontal dispersion. I'll have to try some more things with this boolit to see if I can get it to shoot. The seating plug was damaging the nose pretty badly, so I'll see if I can do something about that also.

The holes that were cut in the target were much closer to full caliber than the holes cut by a round nose, but they did leave vertical tears in the paper. Definitely not as clean of a hole as is left by a full wadcutter, or even my H&G 503. I'd really like to get this to shoot, as it is much easier on the lead supply than the other 44 cal. moulds that I have. With my alloy they weigh 177 grains.