Sizing for Ruger Bisly 44 Special

[AlanF]

What diameter cast are you shooting in you Lipsey's Ruger Bisley 44 Special?

[chsparkman]

.430 is working for me.

[pal82]

My throats slugged .432, I size to .4315

[Deep Six]

Not the Bisley version but .4315 is working very well in my flattop.

[35 Whelen]

Mine's not the Bisley, but a NM Blackhawk .44 Special. Cylinder throats are around .431-.4315". I've shot .432" but found .430", when the bullets are soft around 11 Bhn works just peachy. Loading for the .44 Special has taught me that soft bullets are better than hard.

35W

[Lloyd Smale]

Guess on mine i really dont know whats best. I know 430s in mine are VERY accurate. So much so that i havent bothered to even try anything else.

[Lefty SRH]

.431"

[Dale53]

Lloyd;
I had to smile at your reply. That's EXACTLY what happened to me, too. My "standard" bullet size for the .44 Special (I have a number of Special revolvers) is .430". I tried that in my two Ruger Flattops and they shoot really well. That ended any thought of experimentation. Excellent accuracy and NO leading, good enough for this ol' man...

I just run my regular .44 Special loads (the Skeeter load of 7.5 grs. of Unique behind a 250 gr Keith (home cast from a Mihec mould for the H&G #503) and I get five shot groups at 25 yards (off a rest) under an inch. Good to go... That chronographs at about 950 fps in my guns (depending on barrel length, etc.

If I wasn't already set up for a .44 Special I would use plug gauges and size the bullet to cylinder throat size...

FWIW
Dale53

[W.R.Buchanan]

LLoyd: I have to ditto your comment. I have so many loads for guns I shoot that have worked well enough on the first try to not even think about proceeding further.

Sometimes if you just do your homework up front you can make a pretty good guess as to what is going to work in your given case.

Other times it's just better to be lucky than good!

Randy

[AlanF]

Thanks guys.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup guys i did absolutely no load work up for that gun. Grabbed a box of shells of the shelf that worked well in another 44 special of mine. 7.5 grains of power pistol, a fed primer and rcbs 240 swcgc sized 430 cast out of ww plus 2 percent tin. Shot a 6 shot group of just under an inch for the first six shots that gun shot. Repeated it two more times and said good enough. Like your load dale it will take care of anything i want to hunt with the gun and its pleasant to shoot and ive got better things to do then sit on a bench working up loads.

[h8dirt]

I use a Lyman 430 H&I sizing die and a NOE 434-421 bullet with White's BAC lube for my BHFT Bisley. My older SBH prefers 429 with the same bullet/lube. A word of caution on the recent 44 Special pistols -- slug the bore and feel for thread crush just forward of the forcing cone. Mine had it bad -- I hope you are lucky and avoid this disappointment. If you have it, don't expect much accuracy. Mine shot pretty bad until I fire lapped it -- it took about 100 shots to clear it. Now, it's much better. I hope this helps.

[Rodfac]

Like Dale, I like that Mihec mold for the old 503 Keith bullet. I've sized mine to .430" and also to .432" with equal results and superb accuracy...sub-2" gps from a seated, back against the porch posts with the gun between my knees. I've had good luck with straight ww's, also with 1:3 Pb/WW and 1:2 Pb/WW. I find the larger 0.432" size works well with my Marlin 336 in .44 Magnum as well. It has a groove dia. of .432" or better and .430" bullets have zero accuracy. With .432" I get 1" gps at 50 yds with a peep sight mounted. Best regards, Rod

[AlanF]

Thanks for the feedback. I've ordered a set of push through slugs so that I can accurately measure the cylinder throats once I pick up my Bisley Flattop. I'm thinking I will size to the throats. Thanks again.

[W.R.Buchanan]

You're gonna like that gun!

Randy