What is the lightest .44 mould available ??

[Ohio Rusty]

I'm asking as I may be buying one of the classic Charter Arms .44's with the 3 inch barrel (think son of sam gun). I'm looking for a mould that casts a .44 bullet in the 165 to 180 grain range. With a gun that light, my 240 grainers are a bit heavy. I have a 180 grain wad cutter mould in 44 I can use, but I'm searching for other light bullet designs from knowledgeable folks here on the list .... just to see what my options are ..... The .44 wad cutters would be hard to reload quickly if needed.
Thanks .....
Ohio Rusty ><>

[dkf]

NOE has a 110gr and 153gr full wadcutter and a 142gr SP but none of them are in stock. Accurate has a bunch of lighter designs in their catalog and can cut whatever you want.(for the most part)

A bullet I have been using for light loads in .44mag is a 178gr (drops around 180gr for me) from an NEI mold.(429 178) It doesn't have a crimp groove but for the loads I use it in I don't have to worry about the bullet jumping. A pic of the bullet below.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm285/SDV10/178429%20cropped.jpg (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/SDV10/media/178429%20cropped.jpg.html)

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I have an old Lyman 429348 that is a full wadcutter with most of the bullet outside the case. I bought it specifically for use in Charter Arms Bulldog. I have not got around to casting with it. I'll loan it to you if you wish to try it in your Bulldog. As long as you post results. Oh, and return the mold too. Picky. I know.

[winelover]

Those light for caliber bullets are more than likely going to shoot low. That means sight picture compensation, unless adjustable sight are equipped.

Just purchased the Bulldog "On Duty". Two and half inch barrel and shrouded hammer. I was thinking that light bullets would be the way to go until I shot it. Everything shot low, including 240 grain bullets, as well as 165 grain Hornady Critical Defense. Have NOE's 265 RNFP mould for my Marlin 1894, so I loaded some up, low and behold, they shot to POA. Actually, the recoil isn't that bad and not anywhere near my 357 LCR.

I was looking at ordering a 4 cavity Accurate 43-190L for this revolver but nixed that idea. If I ever do, it would be primarily for the Marlin. BTW, the throats are all even @ .432 diameter.....so fat bullets aren't a issue.

Winelover

[Forrest r]

I bought a h&g #142 mold just for the bullgog. It cast's a 200gr hp.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/200grhps_zps8d0f7899.jpg (http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/200grhps_zps8d0f7899.jpg.html)

[longbow]

You want light, NOE makes several very light .44 moulds:

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=37&osCsid=j02rgvrf644ubj5hl3vdemnfe7

I wanted something pretty light for a plinker in my Marlin so got Accurate to scale a down a .45 cal 165 gr. they had to .433:

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=43-165B-D.png

The TCFP design is good for the Marlin tube magazine and that nose shape would make it much easier to load into a revolver as well when compared to a wadcutter.

Accurate has a variety of styles in extra lightweight boolits from 115 gr. to 177 gr. then 185 gr. on up which is the "normal" weight range. Tom will cut whatever you want too so if you don't see what you want, he will make it happen and it joins his catalogue designs. You can scale designs up or down, design your own or say "I want the nose from that bullet put on that one" and that's what you get.

Someone obviously liked my choice but wanted a tumble lube version:

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=43-165BT-D.png

You need fast powders under such light boolits so may have to develop your own loads. I started with 185 gr. top end loads using IMR4227 but they did not work well leaving lots of unburned powder so I decided to go with faster powders. That fixed it.

Longbow

[gwpercle]

Those three spire pointed NOE 44 moulds just plain look wicked!
Would certainly help in the quick reload dept. if that's a concern.
Gary

[Artful]

Those three spire pointed NOE 44 moulds just plain look wicked!
Would certainly help in the quick reload dept. if that's a concern.
Gary

Gary if you mean those pointed like this
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/N.O.E._Bullet_Moulds_434_199Gr._SP.Jpg

Those are patterned after the Arcane rounds in a group buy
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?98344-The-POINTY-Boolit-Mould-Buy!&highlight=Pointy

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo255/FEDE_EL_SOMALI/Sinttulo-1.jpg (http://s381.photobucket.com/user/FEDE_EL_SOMALI/media/Sinttulo-1.jpg.html)

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?200179-Arcane-Style-mold

[Guesser]

Probably a .433 round ball; runs at 120 grains+/-

[Ohio Rusty]

That 43-165B looks like the kind of boolit I'm looking to load. I have a 240 grain round nose but heavy boolit in a light gun gives alot of recoil, and a plain round nose boolit is a poor choice for CC.. I have the 429348 wadcutter mould, weight 180 grains, and that is the boolit I was planning to use in the gun .... probably using Unique or RedDot and work up loads. BTW Forrest ... I like those 200 grain HP's real well you show. I'm a believer in hollow points. I think if I can keep the boolit range from 165 to 200 grains, that will help make the gun more controllable.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[richhodg66]

Probably a .433 round ball; runs at 120 grains+/-

I have such a mold around here someplace and have been thinking about just this, but haven't done it yet.

That 429348 is a good choice if you can find one. My Dad cast a bunch for me a long time ago and they are nice in that little lightweight gun, but do tend to shoot low.

[Ohio Rusty]

I think I may have found what I am looking for. Magma Engineering has a 44-165 flat base flat point boolit mould, 2 banger made like the lyman moulds. The other is a 164 grainer for the .44, and that mould is a 6 banger -- www.biglube.com named that boolit the .44 slim - a 164 grain truncated cone boolit.

Either one of those are the 165 grain weight I'm looking for. When you are going to carry a .44 special, the total weight of the boolits together also adds to the weight of gun. I hope to keep the weight down and have a good self defense boolit (and keep my pants up). The other consideration was to get Magma's keith style 44-190 mould and have it hollow pointed which should make it about 175 to 180 grains, but then I have more money in the mould than what it is worth. That would be a great hollowpoint self defense boolit though ........ A 175 grain soft lead .44 hollowpoint boolit at 900 fps .... talk about a terrorist stopper !!
Ohio Rusty ><>

[mtgrs737]

I have a Saeco 420 which is a 200 gr. flat nose boolet for the little CA Bulldog. I figure that the large meplat will provide as much stopping power as a hollow point at the velocity that the 44 spl. can deliver out of a 2 1/2 - 3 in. barrel. If you would like to try some, I will send you a dozen or two, just PM me.