44 devistator mould

[emptyhead]

I am looking to get a mould for my 44 ruger and was leanng towards the lyman devistator mould . I seems that it would be a good all around mould to have. Also where can I pick upa box of gas checks that won't break the bank.

[IcerUSA]

If you plan on shooting volume I would suggest another mould , casting HP boolits is a slower process , also depends on if your shooting paper or hunting .
For paper most any of the 185 - 250 SWC's would work fine , for hunting I would go with the 265 - 310 grn range with a RNFP type boolit .
GC's , hmm , most of the supply houses are close but you can check them out , Mid-South . Graf's , Natchez , MidwayUSA , and others .
Otherwise keep an eye open for a group buy on Gator Checks , or you can deal with the Gator directly , do a search for Gator and you should find something , also his info is in the Group Buy section in the stickies .
Good luck and welcome to to the forum .

Keith

[emptyhead]

Not a high volume shooter on 44 so That's not an issue. Will check on gators stuff. Thanks

[crabo]

Emptyhead, will this be your first mold or casting experience? What distances will you be shooting at? That is a factor that you will want to consider. If the majority of your shooting is at targets and 25-50 yards, I think I would stay away from a hollowpointed and gas checked boolit.

Some people find that they really enjoy the casting and prep work more than the shooting. Casting hollowpoints is not a speedy process. If you find you would rather not spend as much time casting and prep, you might want to consider the RCBS 250K boolit. It is a plain based SWC that many people have found sucess with. It is easy to cast and work with.

Just something to think about,

[HeavyMetal]

I'll agree with Crabo an HP mold can try your patience!

The rcbs 250 K is a good mold! I have two and use them both for a qucik pile of boolits.

However if your going to insist on an HP mold I will suggest you buy a single cavity 429421 and have some one like Buckshot do an HP conversion.

The advantage here is same basic design as the RCBS boolit and no gas check!


I have two of the four devestator molds, I wouldn't buy the 44 because I didn't like the design and I don't own a 40!

[IcerUSA]

All else aside I like the 300-310 grn boolits in my SBH Hunter and in the 5 7/8" SBH I like the 240-250 gn SWC's , but that is just me . I did get in on a GB on a very lite 44 boolit and so far for plinkin it does a good job and saves alot of lead . :)

Keith

[Lloyd Smale]

personaly i like it. Sure its slow to cast and takes a little more patients but if you do your part its an excellent bullet that has shot real well in all of my 44s. It is a good killer too. Ive taken a couple deer and a buffalo with it and it worked great. It gives good expansion with about any alloy and cast out of ww with some tin gave complete penetration on a 1000 lb cow buffalo. The nose blew off and the rest kept going just like a nosler partition would have.

[chunkum]

When the Devastators were all on the market I purchased all four. They are designed for use with WW alloy (whatever that is :) ) The WW alloy 'round here seems to vary (from BHN - 12 to BHN - 15 ). At any rate, with the gas check design I've found I can get good results with alloy just a bit softer anyway (BHN 10 - 11.5) .

A few years back (2005) when I was hunting more, I loaded and shot some Devastators in my 7 1/2" Old Model Super Blackhawk Ruger .44 mag. My hunting load that year was 20.5 grs of L'il Gun in R-P brass using regular CCI Large pistol primers. I got an average MVL with this load of 1357fps with a SD of 24.04 and extreme spread of 58.79 over five shots. The Devastator in the alloy I was using weighed 266 grs. Accuracy was superb with routine close to clover leaf groups at 35 yards using the standard open sights. This is not a maximum load by anymeans and gave easy extraction and "healthy" looking primers. You could no doubt get a little more velocity out of lil gun with this bullet, but I was content with this one. I didn't get to shoot a deer with it that season but I'd expect it to be an excellent whitetail load.
Best Regards,
chunkum

[emptyhead]

This isn't my first mould I own Lyman and Lee moulds in 2 ,4 and 6 cavity. Have been casting for about five years. Mostly pistol with alittle rifle . Would be my first hollow point though. Large scale with the 44 isn't a concern. Thanks for all the help. Don't post much but am a daily reader.

[MakeMineA10mm]

personaly i like it. Sure its slow to cast and takes a little more patients but if you do your part its an excellent bullet that has shot real well in all of my 44s. It is a good killer too. Ive taken a couple deer and a buffalo with it and it worked great. It gives good expansion with about any alloy and cast out of ww with some tin gave complete penetration on a 1000 lb cow buffalo. The nose blew off and the rest kept going just like a nosler partition would have.

This kind of typing by Lloyd is why I decided I had to have one to add to the BoomerMikey 6-cav. Group Buy solid-nose version I got last year. It's all Lloyd's fault that Lyman (via MidSouth Shooter's Supply) got my $$ for a 44 Devastator. I haven't cast any up yet, but I'm looking forward to trying it out of my Marlin 1894 with a healthy dose of AA#9 powder. I use a very similar alloy, and wouldn't worry if my sights rolled across any critter in the lower 48 with this load and rifle...

My only concern about it is casting quality boolits. The junction of the HP pin and meplat is right at the ogive, basically leaving no meplat whatsoever... Not sure how high I'm going to have to run the temps on it to get it to cast well filled-out.

[kingstrider]

I use .44 Devastators in my S&W 629 and Marlin 1894SS. I recently started using them in a Thompson Center Encore muzzleloader with plastic sabots and found they are accurate enough for deer. It is not rocket science but the pin is tedious to work and the whole operation tends to make my wrists sore after a while. But its a blast to own and I'd recommend it.

[GLL]

I agree with Lloyd. This bullet casts well if you do not hurry the process, use high heat, and add a little extra tin to the WW. The nose is fragile and damaged if you open the mould too soon.

Jerry

http://www.fototime.com/EB2EEFBED537F5E/standard.jpg

[Loony44]

This is my first reply, been reading and enjoying all the writings and responses.
I agree with Kingstrider on the 44 devastator with the Encore. Very accurate and a friend shot a 5X6 Bull Elk at 120 yards, low left side, nose came apart, found pieces in the neck, opposite hind quarter, but main bullet continued through and exited other side. Elk jumbed landed on all fours and started shacking head getting lower and lower, 7 minutes later fell over.
Yes this bullet is slow to make any quantity but it is a good hunting bullet.

[MakeMineA10mm]

I agree with Lloyd. This bullet casts well if you do not hurry the process, use high heat, and add a little extra tin to the WW. The nose is fragile and damaged if you open the mould too soon.

Jerry

http://www.fototime.com/EB2EEFBED537F5E/standard.jpg
Oh yeah, and in addition to Lloyd's comments, Jerry's and Mikey's photos of this boolit make it irresistable!


This is my first reply, been reading and enjoying all the writings and responses.
I agree with Kingstrider on the 44 devastator with the Encore. Very accurate and a friend shot a 5X6 Bull Elk at 120 yards, low left side, nose came apart, found pieces in the neck, opposite hind quarter, but main bullet continued through and exited other side. Elk jumbed landed on all fours and started shacking head getting lower and lower, 7 minutes later fell over.
Yes this bullet is slow to make any quantity but it is a good hunting bullet.

Loony,
Welcome to posting on the site! This is a great place to just read, but it's also awfully friendly to post at. Bunch of great guys here.

[Papa Foxtrot]

The nose is fragile and damaged if you open the mould too soon.
How do you avoid damaging the nose during sizing and seating?

[MakeMineA10mm]

How do you avoid damaging the nose during sizing and seating?

Papa,
I won't presume to answer for Gerry, as he's a better caster than I, but in my experience, what Gerry is getting at is that the nose being so thin is easy to deform if one opens the mould or messes with the HP pin before the boolit cools enough to get firmly solid... In other words, if we get in too big of a hurry, the shucking of the pin and opening the mould can happen while the thin nose area is still plastic or warm enough to be dented when dropped. This condition would hopefully not exist by the time the boolits get to the sizer and seater.

Now, if you're talking about just general weakness of the thin nose area, even when solidly cold, I think some careful handling with good-fitting top punches are all that is needed. I bought a flat top punch for my sizer that was originally made for a large full WC design, but it works great with any flat point boolit, as it doesn't need to exactly fit the ogive of the boolit. All of my SWC, RNFP, and LFNs (even regardless of caliber) are shoved through the sizer die with this one top punch. Eliminates a lot of changing of top-punches too... :idea:

[Heavy lead]

Papa,
I won't presume to answer for Gerry, as he's a better caster than I, but in my experience, what Gerry is getting at is that the nose being so thin is easy to deform if one opens the mould or messes with the HP pin before the boolit cools enough to get firmly solid... In other words, if we get in too big of a hurry, the shucking of the pin and opening the mould can happen while the thin nose area is still plastic or warm enough to be dented when dropped. This condition would hopefully not exist by the time the boolits get to the sizer and seater.

Now, if you're talking about just general weakness of the thin nose area, even when solidly cold, I think some careful handling with good-fitting top punches are all that is needed. I bought a flat top punch for my sizer that was originally made for a large full WC design, but it works great with any flat point boolit, as it doesn't need to exactly fit the ogive of the boolit. All of my SWC, RNFP, and LFNs (even regardless of caliber) are shoved through the sizer die with this one top punch. Eliminates a lot of changing of top-punches too... :idea:


Ditto, I've come to use a flat top punch for everything. No alignment problems at all that way either.

[Papa Foxtrot]

Thanks guys - I had read elsewhere here that cast HPBs were easily damaged during sizing and this made me wonder 'bout seating too.

Now just hafta' wait for Midway to restock. I want to try these in both 45 ACP and 38 Super.

Papa

[chunkum]

Sizing and seating of this bullet can be tricky, particularly if your alloy is a lttle on the soft side or BHN - 11. For sizing in the old Lyman 450 I've used for years, I just get the correct nose punch when the bullet is a Lyman design. It's not like they are a budget busting expense. However, for seating, I improvise like everyone else but my standard Lyman seating die cooperatively does the trick for this one. In one instance using a very soft alloy, I found that the bullet nose "swoll" from the sizing and GC seating pressure just enough to prevent chambering (throat diameter disparity) but fortunately reversing the bullet in the die resolved this issue. This loading was in a fairly low velocy .44 Special load in an old Charter Bulldog.
c.

[WHITETAIL]

What I have done is make a newtop
punch that pushes on the inside of the
h.p.:drinks:

[Lloyd Smale]

i use a star sizer so it sizes nose first and the top punch pushes on the base. If i was having problems with a lyman or rcbs sizer deforming the nose id size it nose first without lube pressure then flip them over and size them normaly with lube. Back when i used a lyman I had to do it that way with long bullets like 4570 475 and 500s. If i didnt the sizer had a tendency to wipe on side of the bullet because they were staying straight so if i had to guess id bet that just about all of my bullets were doing it to some extent and could have benifited from this procedure. For loading if you seat with one die and crimp with another you will prevent any bullet nose deforming. Biggest trick to getting this mold to cast good bullets is keeping the pin HOT. I keep a propane torch on the bench and ever 10 bullets heat the tip of the punch till its red or close to it. Do that and get into a good rhytmm that is fast enough to keep your mold hot and it will make perfect bullets. I get no more reject casting with this mold then with any other. If i was going to cast for deer hunting i cast with a 5050 mix of ww and pure with 2 percent tin. When bigger animals are on the menu i used ww with tin added. If you want to have some fun with your inline muzzle loader you can make it into a hell of a short ranged varmit gun. I casted a pile of them out of pure lead. I loaded them in the inline using a sabot and a 100 grains of fake black. They turn animals inside out!!!!

[cbrick]

I agree with Lloyd on the accuracy, I recently got this mould for my 7 1/2 inch 3 screw OMSBH. I only cast 10 of them to see how well or if they would shoot. From the bench with only a half hearted effort and the Ruger iron sights all 10 shots went into 2 1/2 inches at 50 meters. When I got home, even before I took the guns out of the car I had the pot heating up to make more of them.

My alloy was clip-on WW + 3% tin and with a gas check it cast 264 gr. I used 9 grs of Tight Group (Hodgdon lists 8.6 to 9.6 grs for a 270 gr jacketed) and a roll crimp. I size nose first in a Star so no problem damaging the nose there. To seat the bullet I used a 45 cal seating stem for a flat point bullet and it didn't alter or damage the nose in the slightest or even touch the ogive.

This time of year in this part of the country the sun is very low in the southern sky and this affects my chrono screens, gives me very erratic readings. December thru the end of March I don't chrono much and didn't chrono this load. Next spring I'll see what this bullet can be worked up to.

The pin on my mould is a bit loose so I sent it off to Erik Ohlen to have a new pin fitted and also have the gas check shank removed. I ordered a second 429460 so I'll have this bullet in both plain base and gas check.

I'm anxious to do alloy, velocity and expansion tests with both versions of this bullet. New toys . . . Life is good!

Rick

[Nrut]

What dia. does the Lyman .44 cast?
Thanks.....

[cbrick]

Mine runs .4312" and about a 1/2 thou out of round. I ran it through a .432" die to lube it and shot it basically as cast.

Rick

[shotman]

Have buckshot remove .005 from the HPer and will make life better . The lee tumble lube is best . But you need to roll boolit through it .