choice of mould and Burrell design?

[redheron]

Hello everyone, I am new to casting but have been reading and learning about this for last 6 months and think I'm about ready to take the plunge. I work for an auto dealer and have been collecting the scrap ww for about 6 months and have quite a stockpile. My qustion is I will be casting for a ruger redhawk .44 7.5 in barrel with Leopold 4x. It will be used for hunting whitetails and target only. What would be the bullet design you would suggest, fb,gc,hp, gns...etc for this gun. I would like to run 1200-1400fps and shoot no further than 75 yards maybe 100 at range.Would you suggest water quenching the casts or is air dry ok. I am experienced in reloading just not casting. Any and all help and advice would be appreciated. You have a really great site here, glad I found it, what a wealth of info!!
John

[felix]

The 44 mag is large enough in powder space and boolit diameter to work on thin skinned game anywhere. Opt for a flat nosed boolit, the diameter of your cylinder exit holes. The 100 yard weight should be around 250 to 265 grains nominal. The velocity chosen should be around 1000 fps at the target. I am not a hunter, so I would opt a boolit with easy loading into the gun of choice. An example would be the typical round nose, flat point sized 70 percent of boolit width. ... felix

[redheron]

Should I slug the barrel and cylinder prior to buying a mould or will they usually drop larger and need sized down? I have slugged barrels befor but never have a cylinder? Slugging a cylinder for my ruger is the same? Lead slug pushed through the cylinder and measure? From what I have read during research my cyl should measure .0005 larger than Rifel grooves? What if it is larger, is it ok to fire a larger bullet than barrel slugged diameter . Wouldn't this cause leadi g or shaving of the bullet? Again I'm new and just trying to figure this out before I jump into this and find I got the wrong equipment! Thanks

[runfiverun]

hmm, something like the 429667 is pretty close to what felix recommends.
i think the meplat is a little bit smaller. it's a rnfp
it's also what i happen to use in my 44's.
that or the 429241 they both have bout the same flat diameter on the nose, one is a rnfp type and one is a swc type.
as good as i shoot i see no difference in a revolver, others might.

[454PB]

You should slug the barrel and measure the cylinder throats before you buy a sizing die. Yes, lacking a set of pin gauges, you slug the cylinder throats in the same manner as the barrel. Ideally, the throats should be .001" larger than the barrel, although I own several revolvers that have the same size throats and barrels and they shoot fine. If the throats are smaller than the barrel, they act as a sizing die and reduce the boolit diameter before it hits the forcing cone. Boolits can be several thousandths larger than the barrel with no leading or shaving.

[felix]

Barrel groove diameter must be equal to or smaller than the smallest cylinder's exit hole. If not, have the cylinder holes modified upwards. No need to size boolits if not larger than the smallest cylinder exit hole, keeping in mind your gun is not intended to be used as a target gun. In general, ignore the barrel groove diameter unless it is larger than the average of all the cylinder exit holes. ... felix

[redheron]

So if I hearing correctly, size all cylinders and take an average. This should be what I should cast for as long as it is larger than the barrel? If that is the case then I should not need a sizing die except for lube if I don't pan lube?

[redheron]

I keep reading bullet master and felix response and unless I'm an idiot which I may be they seem to contradict each other? Im confused now?

[redheron]

Sounds to me if the cylinders throats are smaller than barrel diameter, I see how cylinder can swage bullet down, fro
What I read that is not good? You don't want a smaller bullet hitting a larger barrel for accuracy?
I'm new to this, Ive been OCD on my .223 30/06 reloads for 20 yrs, but never reloaded for a revolver let alone casting! I think I'm addicted and I haven't even started, awesome!. Appreciate the feedback

[felix]

Correct; you got it. ... felix

[runfiverun]

Sounds to me if the cylinders throats are smaller than barrel diameter, I see how cylinder can swage bullet down, fro
What I read that is not good? You don't want a smaller bullet hitting a larger barrel for accuracy?
I'm new to this, Ive been OCD on my .223 30/06 reloads for 20 yrs, but never reloaded for a revolver let alone casting! I think I'm addicted and I haven't even started, awesome!. Appreciate the feedback

not only for accuracy,but if the boolit is sized smaller by a cylinder it will lead the throat and barell.
the barells throat can also cause this same problem in the barell.