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Dr. A
12-12-2005, 05:54 PM
I wondered if anyone had any experience with this mold. I am thinking about using it in my 444 Marlin, and am concerned it won't mic out to .432 once made with wheel weights. The hollow point looks pretty large. Would this be too explosive for deer at say 1800fps?

The Nyack Kid
12-12-2005, 06:37 PM
It is my understanding that the Devastator series were designed to be an antipersonal boolit , that is why they have such a big hollow point in them . no dout they would kill a deer . at 1800fps they are going to expand quite abit . if i were to use that boolit i would turn the pin down to about the same size as the pin found on the 457122 HP

AnthonyB
12-12-2005, 07:32 PM
I bought the 44 and 45 Devastator molds when they first came out because I couldn't find any other HP molds at the time. The 44 would surely work dandy on a broadside lung shot, but I'd wait for that presentation and wouldn't try a raking shot. Never tested the 44, but the 45 over 8.0 gr. Unique is a great performer in the 45 - immediate expansion, then the petals shear and continue to penetrate radially. The nose breaks off like a Nosler Partition and the base continues to penetrate. I made a smaller plug for mine and have the option of the large cavity or a more traditional, smaller cavity. Tony

beagle
12-12-2005, 07:55 PM
Dr A....I shoot a modified .44 devastator in my .444 Marlin. By modified, we took the factory HP pin assembly and reduced the pin diameter to .140". I also made a plug so that I can make "solid" 429640s.

It shoots much better than any other bullet I've tried in it and feeds nicely.

Grab one and make a plug pin for it and I think you'll be happy./beagle

bdoyle
12-12-2005, 11:28 PM
Lyman also made the 429640 as a 2 cavity solid @ 270 grain. As cast 278 gr before lube and GC @ 0.432. I found it on ebay, only saw 1 before that. Thought it would be great for the 444 but I haven't tried it out yet.

Brian

Beau Cassidy
12-13-2005, 08:41 AM
I used one last year to whack a doe at 28 yards. DRT. It did a tremendous amount of damage. I find that it isn't very accurate past say, 50 to 75 yards. There seems to be a little shrinkage at the base of the hollowpoint that throws things off center. Other than that, it is one of my favorite boolits for terminal damage.

Beau

chunkum
12-24-2005, 09:36 AM
Dr A,
For what it's worth, I like my .44 Devastator mould. I bought all four of them, and wish they all were of gas check design. My .355 mould is being "revised" for GC right now by a compadre. I've only shot the .44 Devastator in my OMRBH 7 1/2" and it's very accurate for me at 50 yards at about 1350 fps. These bullets were designed to be effective cast with standard WW alloy according to what I've read. Not as easy to cast as my other bullets but then I'm sure you're familiar with the "hot and fast" technique necessary for casting HP bullets. I think you'll like the bullet.
chunkum

TCLouis
12-25-2005, 10:18 PM
Many good articles, but the one for the bullet you ask about is here also.

http://www.lasc.us/ArticlesFryxell.htm

Good collection of his writings.