curioushooter
07-05-2020, 02:01 AM
From Left to Right the H&G 503 (MP Molds Clone), Lyman 429421 (Arsenal Clone), and Lyman 429244 (MP Molds Clone). My experience with these bullets are entirely from a single S&W 624 I own with a 6.5" barrel. This is a 44 special which I shoot with heavy handloads and normal SAMMI spec loads in all three of these bullets. I have listed the bullets in order of when I acquired them, so I have the most experience with the grand old 429421. I use carnuba blue.
264424
264425
The 429421 seems to be the standard by which all other bullets are judged. The original Keith design. Bullet is standard wight to a little heavy for caliber. Meplat is actually pretty small as a percentage of the diameter. It has a long nose and a rather radical wadcutting shoulder. It has a very large grease groove, one I consider excessive. It has proven itself for generations and has proven very accurate in my testing. Mine weigh 255 grains lubed.
The 503 is the last of Keith's designs. It is, I suppose, all the things that Keith would have changed to the 429421 and came after the advent of the 44 magnum. It has longer driving band, a less radical shoulder, a more round-nosed ogive profile, a larger meplat, more bearing surface, a shorter distance from crimp groove to base (leaving more space in the case), and a smaller grease groove. It weighs slightly more, about 258 grains. I consider every one of these adjustments an improvement. It still cuts a nice hole in paper, and presumably the larger meplat would mean greater wounding potential. The smaller grease groove certainly still has plenty of lube and it uses less which is nice. It shoots cleanly and when cast of 96-2-2 leaves no leading in my 624.
The 429244 was a Ray Thompson design and from what I understand intended for the 44 magnum not the 44 special. This I understand is the reason for the gas check. The particular mold I have is a hollow-point mold, and I've come to prefer gas check designs with hollow-points since antimony reduces retained weight of the bullet under expansion, and I've found that gas checks keep the barrel cleaner with binary alloys. The 244 has a very similar forward driving band to the 421, yet it is clear to me that the 503's nose is a lot more like the 244's, putting more weight forward and leaving more room in the case. Keith seems to have imitated Thompson in this regard, as I believe the 503 came after the 244. The 244 is a thoroughly proven design even at long ranges. In hollowppint form it may be the most versatile bullet and its copper diaper, though costing about as much as the alloy to make the bullet, would offer the 44 magnum shooter a measure of assurance.
It would be a hard choice if I had to pick just one of these, but I think I would pick the 503 if I had to. If I had a 44 magnum I may tempted to pick the 244 because of the gas check. I consider the 503 to be the apogee of 44 SWCs. At least, I cannot think of anything I would change.
I've found the supplied top punch for the 503 works better than the 421 for all three. The 421 top punch puts rings on the 244 and 503 if used. I size all .431 as my 624's throats are all .432. All have proven to be of excellent accuracy potential with the right load. So far a slightly beefed up Skeeter load of 8 grains of Unique with the 421 has been the most accurate.
264424
264425
The 429421 seems to be the standard by which all other bullets are judged. The original Keith design. Bullet is standard wight to a little heavy for caliber. Meplat is actually pretty small as a percentage of the diameter. It has a long nose and a rather radical wadcutting shoulder. It has a very large grease groove, one I consider excessive. It has proven itself for generations and has proven very accurate in my testing. Mine weigh 255 grains lubed.
The 503 is the last of Keith's designs. It is, I suppose, all the things that Keith would have changed to the 429421 and came after the advent of the 44 magnum. It has longer driving band, a less radical shoulder, a more round-nosed ogive profile, a larger meplat, more bearing surface, a shorter distance from crimp groove to base (leaving more space in the case), and a smaller grease groove. It weighs slightly more, about 258 grains. I consider every one of these adjustments an improvement. It still cuts a nice hole in paper, and presumably the larger meplat would mean greater wounding potential. The smaller grease groove certainly still has plenty of lube and it uses less which is nice. It shoots cleanly and when cast of 96-2-2 leaves no leading in my 624.
The 429244 was a Ray Thompson design and from what I understand intended for the 44 magnum not the 44 special. This I understand is the reason for the gas check. The particular mold I have is a hollow-point mold, and I've come to prefer gas check designs with hollow-points since antimony reduces retained weight of the bullet under expansion, and I've found that gas checks keep the barrel cleaner with binary alloys. The 244 has a very similar forward driving band to the 421, yet it is clear to me that the 503's nose is a lot more like the 244's, putting more weight forward and leaving more room in the case. Keith seems to have imitated Thompson in this regard, as I believe the 503 came after the 244. The 244 is a thoroughly proven design even at long ranges. In hollowppint form it may be the most versatile bullet and its copper diaper, though costing about as much as the alloy to make the bullet, would offer the 44 magnum shooter a measure of assurance.
It would be a hard choice if I had to pick just one of these, but I think I would pick the 503 if I had to. If I had a 44 magnum I may tempted to pick the 244 because of the gas check. I consider the 503 to be the apogee of 44 SWCs. At least, I cannot think of anything I would change.
I've found the supplied top punch for the 503 works better than the 421 for all three. The 421 top punch puts rings on the 244 and 503 if used. I size all .431 as my 624's throats are all .432. All have proven to be of excellent accuracy potential with the right load. So far a slightly beefed up Skeeter load of 8 grains of Unique with the 421 has been the most accurate.