1st time casting for rifle

[45fan]

Hello all, well I am going to start casting for a rifle I recently got, this will be my first time. I slugged the barrel and I am getting .4315 (44 mag 20" barrel lever gun). I have a few questions. What size should I size my boolits? Any difference than sizing for pistols? Should I use straight COWW lead or a different alloy to prevent leading on hot magnum loads in a rifle? Will I need to use GC's or can I load hot rounds with PB? What is a good powder for this application as well? Any info will be greatly appreciated, thanks gentlemen.

[runfiverun]

treat it like a revolver as far as diameter and loads go.
if you have a marlin add another thou on top of the normal oversized diameter, and a little bhn to the alloy.
other than that oal, and nose shape, will determine if your rifle will feed the round the cartridge becomes part of the feeding mechanism on a lever gun.
I use plain based boolits in my lever guns and will shove them along to about 1650 fps or so.
but I have run all of mine from about 800 fps up witht he same boolit and just kept switching powders going faster and faster.
I finally just settled on a medium slow powder at a medium fast boolit speed.
the sights correspond to changes better this way.
you can just go on up to H-110 and hold low at 50 yds.

[Yodogsandman]

These questions are pretty basic and are included in all the threads on the basics. "hot magnum loads", "hot rounds" didn't you say this was the first time loading for a rifle? Slow down there pardner!Your going to need a good reloading manual and a bible! Remember... When shooting a pistol, that load is at arms length. With a rifle, it's next to your face!

[45fan]

Thanks for the info runfiverun. I use H-110 in my 44 revolver loads so that will work out great. How much powder is giving you the 1650 fps, and with what boolit?

[runfiverun]

2400 is my preferred powder but on occasion I do some 110 loads.
with my 94 I use the 429667 or a home swaged jaxketed bullet I make that goes either 250 grs or 300 grs.
in my browning 92 I have to pay strict attention to oal so it only see's the home swaged.
in my rossi 92 I use either the 429667 or the 429241, I modified my lifter slightly to make the 241 work.
19.3 grs of 2400 gets me to 1600 fps easily, 9.3 grs of unique is my everyday load, 10 grs of 800-x is super nice to shoot and 12 grs of steel is very comparable to the 800-x load.
I have used 22 grs of the H-110 [airc without going and looking but it was straight from the book]
other boolits I use a lot of is a 240 rnfp from magma engineering [I bump a hollow point in this one and slightly
re-shape the nose], and a 200 rnfp designed for the 44-40 that I bump swage to 430.

one thing to be aware of is that some brands of brass will give you 25 or so fps variation in velocity from another.
so keep the brands separate when doing load work-ups.