Need Help Selecting Hunting/Target BOOLITs For Rossi 92 in .44 Mag

[TurkeyHuntsman]

Group:

I reload, but I don't cast. Have some limited experience shooting HC BOOLITS; have loaded HBWCs for my wife's .357 revolver. They shoot very well for target use.

I've now got the bug to try HC boolits in my Rossi .44 mag levergun. I need something around 240 grs for target use, also need a boolit for hunting deer and hawgs. If I could find just one boolit that does it all, that would be great. Or, two different designs - one for hunting and one for target would be OK too.

Now, here come the questions:

1) Gas-check necessary, or not? There is a tremendous amount of contradictory info out there. Some say a properly-made, correct-hardness boolit will NOT need a GC at .44 mag rifle veocities, others say the exact opposite. Why such divergent opinions? It implies different people have had different experiences...but why?

2) What boolit style(s) will work well for my application(s)? I know the Keith 240 - 250 gr SWC is a legendary hunting performer, but I was told NO WAY in my 1892...it won't feed properly because of the front band. So what design(s) are more appropriate for my lever gun, yet will do the job?

3) Lastly, any advice for a good commercial caster where I can purchase the recommended boolits? I will load them, but there is not going to be any casting around here - for a while at least. Perhaps I'll get into that part of the hobby a bit later. For now I just want to try some HC in different applications and see how they work out for me.

BTW, I use 2400 as my go-to powder in the .44 special and .44 Mag loads. Love the muzzle flash!


Thanks very much for any advice you might provide,
-TH
San Diego, CA

[longbow]

Can't help directly with a Rossi 92 as I don't have one and haven't handled one.

I do have a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag. and it was one that did not like SWC's at all. The Lyman 429421 was too long to feed well and jammed up often. Even seated with the case mouth crimped over the front driving band it was shorter and fed except it hung up on the chamber mouth both on meplat and front band/crimp.

I did some work on the carrier which helped but still had problems. I bought a Mihec 434640 (Lyman 429640 clone) which is an RNFP and it feeds very well and is accurate. I can't recall exact weight but with the large HP they run around 260 gr. and solid they run around 270 gr. I like it!

Since I also had a Mihec version of the H&G #503 SWC I decided to do some more work on the gun to get that to feed and in the end I was successful. Now both feed and shoot well but so far the H&G #503 seems to be a hair more accurate (this is the 250 gr. Keith SWC).

So maybe from that you can take the bit that SWC's can be made to feed in lever guns but it may take some work.

A better approach might be to buy a few of several designs in the weight range you want and try them out. Beartooth Bullets can probably fix you up with a selection. Also, don't forget to slug your bore. Not sure about Rossi's but Marlin's are notoriously oversize so many commercial moulds do not cast large enough to fill the grooves.

FWIW

Longbow

[LeftyDon]

Oregon Trail makes a RNFP 240 grain cast at .431" that should work if the SWC's won't. Do a search for O.T. bullets and look at their .44's.

[725]

Can't think of the mould off hand, but here is a 215 gr SWC boolit that seems to cycle very well.

[crappie-hunter]

My Rossi 92 44 mag has a bore diam. of .433, so I had to have Veral Smith make me a mold that dropped at .435-.436 so I could size to .434.

Mold is a 280gr LFN and one cavity is plane base and the other Gas check. My alloy is lyman #2 clone water dropped. Feeding on this one is excellent.

You should check the bore diam. of your Rossi before trying cast , not all but quite few have bore diam. larger than .431, if that is the case you may have trouble finding a commercial cast that will do well in your Rossi.

[Baja_Traveler]

Since we live in the same town, I could give you some 245gr Keith boolits to see if they will feed in your rifle. I just cast and size/lubed them yesterday from my old RCBS mold for my Colt SAA .44 special. If they work, you can come over to my place and spend a day in my backyard casting up as many as you want...

[phaessler]

Sent a pm to you TH.

Pete

[dbosman]

My Ruger is not a lever gun, obviously. It feeds and loads Keith style bullets with no issues. Even .44 special cases with the Kieth bullet seated to .44 mag length. Your Rossi may surprise you. And, you may be able to tune it up a bit.

A chamber cast could probably answer questions regarding bullet sizing.
Don't forget there are Round Nosed Flat Points and RNFP hollow points.

As to question one, opinions are opinions. What works for you in your gun matters. For instance - alloys vary. Even wheel weight and linotype alloys vary depending on... any number of things.

Fortunately for the gas check debate there are several bullets available in both styles.

[TurkeyHuntsman]

Guys: Thanks very much for your collective advice. At least now I've got a starting point and some different bullet styles to consider. At the advice of most everybody, I will be slugging my barrel to see if commercially-cast bullets will even work for me.

Phaessler and Baja Traveller, I just sent you both PMs.

-TH

[snaketail]

I'm late to the conversation, but I do have a Rossi 92 and can say they do feed almost any boolit. I'd go with a Keith style SWC. Expansion isn't really needed with the big diameter boolit...consider a .243 that expands to .40 cal - you're still ahead.

Try several loads and shoot what works best.

M

[Larry Gibson]

TurkeyHuntsman

Now, here come the questions:

1) Gas-check necessary, or not? There is a tremendous amount of contradictory info out there. Some say a properly-made, correct-hardness boolit will NOT need a GC at .44 mag rifle veocities, others say the exact opposite. Why such divergent opinions? It implies different people have had different experiences...but why?

At 44 magnum velocities out of your rifle the GC bullet will invariably be more accurate. It also provides the ability to use a softer alloy for better terminal performance in game. Opinions diverge because many just don't like using GCs, because of the extra step or perhaps the cost. If you can test both decide for yourself. Take a PB' d 240 - 250 gr cast bullet and a GC'd one and load them over 22 gr of your 2400. Shoot them both at 100 yards (a mag full will suffice) for accuracy........you will very quickly see the difference. Now if you want to load the PB'd down they can be just as accurate but then you won't be shooting real 44 magnum level loads.

My experience is with a couple M94s, several Marlins and several Rossi M92s in 44 magnum and 357 magnum. I've tested numerous PB'd and GC'd bullets in each. The GC'd bullets always outperform the PB'd bullets in accuracy and terminal effectiveness (because they are cast softer and/or HP'd). I do shoot lots of PB'd cast bullets in my lever guns but don't push them to magnum level velocities simply because accuracy is poor in my opinion.

2) What boolit style(s) will work well for my application(s)? I know the Keith 240 - 250 gr SWC is a legendary hunting performer, but I was told NO WAY in my 1892...it won't feed properly because of the front band. So what design(s) are more appropriate for my lever gun, yet will do the job?

I found the Marlins were persnickety about the bullet nose style not liking many SWCs. The Winchester M94s and Rossi M92s fed every thing except WCs slicker than scum on a Louisiana swamp.

3) Lastly, any advice for a good commercial caster where I can purchase the recommended boolits? I will load them, but there is not going to be any casting around here - for a while at least. Perhaps I'll get into that part of the hobby a bit later. For now I just want to try some HC in different applications and see how they work out for me.

Do a web search for cast bullets. You'll find numerous makers there. Check their site for the bullets you want and then call them to see if they have in stock and will ship.

BTW, I use 2400 as my go-to powder in the .44 special and .44 Mag loads. Love the muzzle flash!

That will do nicely.

Larry Gibson

[JesterGrin_1]

For Hunting I think it would be darn hard to beat the Lee 310Gr RNFP/GC. Depending on the size of your bore you may have to lap the mold to get the diameter that you will need.

[pdawg_shooter]

I got real lucky with my Rossi M92 in 44mag. I load 3 bullets for my S&W model 29. All 3 feed and shoot well in the M92. Hornady 240gr hp, a lee 240gr SWC with 45-45-10 and a 280gr RNFP from a Lyman mold and BAC lube.

[TurkeyHuntsman]

Hmmmm...curious. I'll now have to try the Keiths out in my Rossi 92. Quite a few guys here feed them in R92s without any problems. I wonder why the guys over on the Rossi forums steered me clear of the Keiths? Perhaps it was just coincidence that just a few guys there had feed issues, and it became "accepted knowledge" that 92s just dont feed them? I'll need to try for myself.

Larry your GC discussion is interesting - but can you elaborate a bit more about the improvements in accuracy? "Better" accuracy from the GC might mean a 10% smaller group size than a PB at 100 yds, or it could also be much more pronounced, like a 50% reduction in group size. Since I'm more of a hunter than a target shooter, my personal goal is to keep 'em all in a 6" diameter circle at 100 yds - the "kill zone" so to speak. Perhaps the more simple PB bullets will give me everything I desire, or are we talking unacceptible 100 yd. hunting accuracy at magnum velocities with any PB?