Boolit sizer die for colt saa 44

[tbryan]

I have a Colt SAA revolver , third gen. I am about to start casting 250 grain slugs for it and am not sure what Boolit sizer die to use. From what I have been reading, older guns use .454 size to diameter , and newer ones use .452. I am not sure if my Colt would be considered an older model or a newer model. What size sizer die would be recommended for my gun ? Also what would you that are using this combination recommend as a good medium load for it ?

[Guesser]

Your lead says a SAA "44"........but you talk of sizing 454, 452,.....Makes for confusion. Can't advise unless clarification is provided.

[PS Paul]

If 45, drop boolit from mold. Fit boolit into cylinder throat. Push-fit=good. Loose-fit=need larger boolit. No fit=size down until it does. Simple!

[HeavyMetal]

Yep need to know is SAA 44 or 45 caliber, in either case PS Paul has your answer!

[DougGuy]

44 Special? 44 WCF?

Specs on the 44 WCF a.k.a. 44-40 call for a groove diameter of .427" in the barrel, almost NONE of the modern manufacturers adheres to this SAAMI spec, might find an Italian clone with a .427" barrel but most use .429" or .430" the same barrel blanks as they would use for 44 Special or 44 Magnum. You need to slug your bore and measure it with a micrometer to determine exactly what your groove diameter is.

Boolit diameter is a lot different too, the 44-40 calls for a boolit of .425" ~ .427" and loading dies will not generally work with a .431" boolit for a 44 Special/magnum, and then there is the necked down portion of the 44-40 case that might not even go into the cylinder with a .431" seated in it, so there are a few questions that need sorting out before advice can be given as to what boollit diameter to use.


Now.. If you are talking about a 45 caliber SAA, yours being 3rd generation would have a .451" groove diameter, so you'd want to size to .452" for it but again slug the cylinder throats and see what you come up with. You will want to fit the boolit to the throats unless they are undersize or uneven in which case work to the cylinder would straighten out the throats and you size half a thousandth under throat diameter..

[tbryan]

Typed a 4 instead of a 5. My mistake. Thanks PS paul. I will do just that. Is this applicable for a Blackhawk Ruger 45 also ?