44 Special and Lyman 429640???

[brian]

Has anyone used the Lyman 429640 (devastator HP mould) in conjunction with a 44 Special? How soft (20:1??) can you go with the alloy before leading is an issue (assuming good bullet fit and lube) with normal 44 Special pressure loads (~ 13K CUP) Any kind of expansion at 44 Special velocities? I just found a 696 so am starting a new project :-D
-Brian

[Bass Ackward]

Brian,

You should be able to use pure lead for most 44 Sp applications if everything is right with the gun and your reloading. Although pure lead will be difficult to mold that with. 20-1 is an expensive mix but I do use it often. Another option might be 50/50 WW and pure with just a touch of tin. Then you can water drop it if you are having problems with leading in a new gun.

Expansions is always a subjective. If you shoot into a steel plate, almost anything will expand. That hollow cavity will open up if shot dead on. Otherwise at an angle it can collapse and fold up closed becoming far less effective. If it doesn't expand the way you want it to, you can fill the nose with something like candle wax. That really makes them open violently. Just make sure you take the increased weight into account when you load.

[Lloyd Smale]

i didnt have problems with it leading even out of 30-1 but it didnt shoot well that soft. I would have to guess that with its big hollow point it tends to deform quite a bit in the gun if its to soft. Id cast it at at least 5050 ww/pure.

[Glen]

That's a pretty heavy bullet for a 696. And between the thin cylinder walls and the short barrel you're not going to be able to get velocities up high enough to get that one to expand unless its cast of pure lead. In my opinion, the 696 is best served by lighter weight bullets.

[dubber123]

I think he should just sell me that 696 and get a .44 mag. I missed the boat when these revolvers came out. Darn.

[Nazgul]

I bought a 696 a few years ago, found it one day by accident. It is one of the sweetest revolvers I have. It is accurate with the Lee 200gr and Lyman cowboy 240 gr FN. Never considered a HP mold, may have to try it.

[Ghugly]

You might want to take a look at this. http://www.gunblast.com/Cassill_Bulldog.htm The 696 has to be at least as strong. I've fired more than a few of the 429421's with 7.5gr of Unique through a Bulldog and it will definately get your attention.

[EDK]

The little 696 doesn't get much range time from me, but it is a lot better with 200 grain LYMAN COWBOY BULLETS and 4.5 of TITEGROUP. One outing with a 250 grainer and 7.5 of UNIQUE was enough for me.
I need to get a mould for LEE 200 grain full wadcutters or save for a SAECO. A wadcutter doesn't need a lot of velocity to hit pretty hard. Any kind of hollow point in a 696 would look wicked, but expansion would be iffy--in my opinion--with anything not guaranteed to have you flinching and other bad habits.

JUST MY OPINION FROM ALMOST 40 YEARS OF SERIOUS STUDYING

:castmine: :Fire: