I admit I am hooked.

[Friends call me Pac]

Last year I cast some NOE 165gr ranch dog style boolits for my Winchester 30.30 I didn't care if I shot a buck or a doe as long as it was legal and I got them with my own boolit. Well, I did get one and was tickled it was a buck.

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Now the bug has really gotten to me. Last week I picked up a Winchester 94 AE in 44 mag. I ordered a NOE 265gr ranch dog style mould today. When it comes in I will be doing a load development for this rifle/ boolit combo. My Lyman book doesn't show what load to use with a 265gr bullet. I have plenty of 2400 and 1 pound of 296. Anyone shoot this combo and wouldn't mind giving me a starting point? I have the 30.30 ready to go but but man I want to get a deer with my new rifle and boolit bad. With most of my hunting 100 yards is a long way. Most shots tend to be less than 50 yards although big boy up there was shot at about 90 yards away.

On a side note this pound of 296 is an unopened bottle. The price tag on it says it cost $16.49 from Gibsons. Wish it still cost that much today. I believe I bought this back in the very early 90's. It has been stored in a cool dry place all of these years so it should be good to go.

[Digital Dan]

Nice buck! You're really good at stalking to sneak up like that and get a pic while he's nappin'. :bigsmyl2:

You can use 300 grain bullet loads for starters without blowing anything up. Never had any success with 296 but paper patced 300 grain lead dotes on L'il Gun.

Try this link and you'll find some info: http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

[gunarea]

Hey Pac
My info is all sideways except I like 2400. Two 44 mag rifles, neither a Winchester. My 429421 Lyman and soft alloy drop at 261gr. The Marlin gets 1050fps with 15.2gr of 2400 and is pinpoint accurate. The Henry does it almost as accurately at a bit higher charge of 17.5gr of 2400 running 1115fps. These are chrono results. Although 2400 loads go higher, this is what delivers accuracy in my rifles. Nice moose you killed. Here in Florida we have deer as large as the one in your photo, in zoos. This is my feral pig getter load. They are also safe in my Ruger three screw as backup for those close encounters. 2400 is my choice due to the low register sound of the gunshot so my ears don't ring from a successful hunt. It will be necessary for you to work up the load that is best in your rifle. Please let us in when you get there. Good skill to you.
Roy

[ArcticGoose]

Nice buck. Hard to beat hunting with your own boolits. I have to agree with you on the 296, wish it was still at that price.

[richhodg66]

Great buck! That Ranchdog bullet is great in .30s, I used it in a .308 to take a nice buck a few years ago.

[Indiana shooter]

First off Nice deer!!

Second, that 265gr RD boolit is sweet. It shoots great in both my 44s with 22.5gr of 296/H-110 chronographed out on my 7.5" SBH at 1400 fps. ( this is a very warm load by my data, reduce 10 percent and work up) It also shoots well over 16.3 gr of 2400 in both my single shot and SBH. I'm not sure about the pressure on this one as I used 300gr bullet data and worked up, so be sure you do the same!

[runfiverun]

when you get that Winchester make sure to slug it's barrel, they tend to run a bit on the larger side.
I started swaging my own 44 bullets because of the trapper I got, and I let the 45 colt one go because it wouldn't play nice with all the other 45 colt guns and demanded a different diameter and load.
the 44 shoots a lot better with 430-431 diameter jacketed bullets if that gives you a clue as to what it would want in a cast diameter.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

From Ranch Dog himself:

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/bin/TLC432275RF/data/loadnotes01.pdf

[Friends call me Pac]

I've been waiting to shoot this 44 since last weekend. I loaded up some plain base 240 gr lswc to try in the rifle. They are the same bullet that I shoot through my Super Blackhawk for practice. I loaded it up with 18.5 gr of 2400 which is the low end in my Lyman book for 44 mag rifle. I just wanted to shoot it just to see if it would go bang or not. I took it to the range this afternoon along with my M94 30.30 AE. My 30.30 likes a fouling shot or two so I put three through it and gonged the 300 yard steel 3 times in a row. Of course I was the only one at our range so of course it happened.

Next I took the 44 over to the 100 yard range. Since I had never shot it I set the target up at 50 yards. I shot 3 times and had minute of deer in a 8" circle target. I know that is a big target at that range but like I said I basically wanted to see how it shot. Surprisingly it was on paper without any sight adjustments. It was low and to the left but within the circle. I'll go back to the range in a few days and really get it dialed in now that my new mold came in today. But for now I was happy.

I had 7 rounds left so I walked over to the 850 yard range to see if I could even hit the 300 yard berm with my new carbine. First two shots were in the dirt well before it even got to the berm. I figured out if I held even with the top of the berm and a foot or so to the right I could actually ring the steel. Once again there were no witnesses of course.

I do plan to hunt with the NOE ranchdog style bullet but has anyone hunted with one of these lswc bullets. I know it is designed for cutting holes on paper but it sure shoots good in my rifle. lastly after 10 shots there was powder residue but no leading that I can see. I ran a few patches through the barrel and she should be ready for the next round.

Got my mold curing in the toaster oven out in the garage. Plan to pour some tomorrow. I am so looking forward to hunting with this little rifle.

[Indiana shooter]

A buddy of mine bought some of my lee SWC off of me a few years ago. He was going to use them for hunting, so I made some up in a 1 in 30 alloy. (I was still very new to casting) He and his son killed 3 deer that year, he said all boolits passed through with quarter exit holes and all three died within 50 yards. Of course I never saw it first hand and he's been known to stretch the truth so YMMV.

[csatrustburg]

With some help from a member on here I just got two 44s shooting a nice 1 to 1.5 inch groups at thirty yards! Both from pistols one a ruger redhawk likes 432-265 Noe boolits Felix lube and 21.5 h110. Second a 629-4 it likes a 250 Kt Felix and 17.5 2400 I really hope to kill one with a handgun this year with a boolit first time casting this year but have been shooting all summer getting ready for the season opens sat. Hope these help you out the 110/296 is pretty much same powder!

[Friends call me Pac]

I did some searching on here and I saw a Keith bullet design that sounds like a semi wad cutter but may be wrong. Heard mostly positive about that bullet as a hunting bullet. I'll have to do another search on the mold design to see what it actually looks like.

Anyhoo, I took this pic a little while ago. The target was at a modest 50 yards and it was the first 3 shots I have ever fired from this rifle. Pretty dang close. When I get these NOE bullets cast up I'll head back and work up a load for the rifle. The SWC I was shooting were plain base and I had no leading problems with 18.5gr of 2400 after 10 shots.

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[Grendel99]

That is one awesome buck, congrats! Bucks rutting in your neck of the woods? The SWC's should work just fine, especially if you get at least one shoulder. The 44 caliber Keith bullet is a plain base SWC, Lyman 429421. I've killed a few deer with it and it did very well out of my Super Blackhawk Hunter. The Lyman 429244 Ray Thompson SWC would be really nice out of your rifle too. It has a gas check and slightly larger meplat than the Keith bullet. I have heard that the Keith can be too long for certain 44 Mag leverguns to cycle. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. People either crimp them over the first driving band or load them in 44 Special brass to get them to cycle.

[Friends call me Pac]

Spent all day working with this carbine. The NOE 265gr RD with 17.5gr of 2400 was the best combo I came up with today. Target is an 8" circle at 100 yards. Shooting from the bench and bagged up. The 17.5 load was very consistent. Here is a typical target from today for that load.

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Tapped the sight over just a tad and got it hitting more in the center. Next part of today's tinkering was trying to find the best load of 2400 pushing the same bullet but with a 50/50 lead & WW mix. The load used for the straight ww was not it. I had to drop it down to 16.5 to get my best group. It was consistent although not as tight as the ww groups.

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I think I should be good to go.

The only thing different between the two mixes was with the ww my 45 45 10 tumble lube was just the way I like it. Just enough that I could tell it was on the bullet. The 50/50 bullets had a heavier coat due to my squeezing the bottle too hard and getting way more on than I wanted. All bullets had a GC and were shot as cast. I did not size any of them. Could the different lube thickness make a difference as to why each mix shot better with a different powder charge? Lastly after 50 rounds or so I had zero leading that I can see. I did run a couple patches through at around #40.