44 mag

[snipecg21]

Gentlemen
I'm getting ready to start casting for 44 mag. Should I use strait ww or mix with pure pb. And if mixing what ratio would you recommend ?

Opinions ?

[HWooldridge]

That is a wide-open question with almost infinite answers - depending on what you want to accomplish.

I settled on straight linotype in the SAECO 245 Keith style boolit many years ago, ahead of 15.5 grs of Blue Dot - it's accurate and kills anything I shoot. That is the only load I use in my old Model 29 - but I'm quite sure you will get other responses.

Best of luck.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yep, back when I loaded for 44 mag, I cast a lot of boolits with straight COWW. They worked great.
If you struggle with good fillout, add 2% Tin.
.
Now-a-days, since I have acquired a large quantity of Tin alloys and some pure Tin, I just automatically add 2% tin when casting for the similar 41 mag. That alloy casts so much easier and better looking boolits.

[Winger Ed.]

If you're pushing them up into the mid-ish teens for speed, I'd do WWs and a bump of Tin too.
If you'll getting low on WWs, maybe start adding pure Lead, until you get a hint of Leading, then up the WWs again.

[ShooterAZ]

If straight WW is all you have, it should work fine. As mentioned, if the mold doesn't fill out well add a little tin to your mix. I mostly shoot mid-range loads in my 44Mags these days, and even soft range lead works fine for me. For full snort magnum loads you could add a little bit of linotype for more hardness in order to prevent slumping.

[405grain]

Back when I was hunting hogs with a 10.5" super blackhawk and 245 grain SWC's at around 1200 fps, I was casting straight clip on wheel weights. I was near broke back then, and wheel weights used to be free. I'd get fairly decent expansion from what I could tell (I only recovered one bullet, all the others would pass right on through), and it looked like the slug retained about 95% of it's weight. Based on this I would recommend a bullet that is air cooled wheel weight with just a little added tin for good mold fill out. The bullet could be either lubed or PC, but I've found that gas checked bullets work best in my revolvers.

[P Flados]

I have pushed powder coated Lee 214 SWC boolits to full power in the 44 with just 8 - 10 BHN range scrap.

I have found hard lead to be more difficult to replace than medium soft "mystery metal" lead.

I recommend started with high WW (say 10 to 1) in a small batch (say 200). If it works, try a little less WW (say 8 to 1) on the next batch. Find out what works before doing any large batches.

Depending on the size of your stash and your expected usage rate, looking for more lead now (or very soon) is a good idea. It will give you an idea of what you will be up against if/when you use up your WW.

[Bigslug]

If you're intending to load them as true magnums, I'd stick with wheelweight + 2% tin, which should be just about perfect for the job in the 12-14 BHN range. You can water-quench that mix to get significantly harder if needed.

My .357 and .44 loads tend to float in the "load manual dead space" between the top end of Specials and the low end of Magnums, and I tumble lube. Of late, I've settled on an air cooled @10BHN mix of 20# of jacketed range scrap cores (0.3% antimony) with 4 ounces of tin, and it's working fine for my world of @1,100 fps and under. The 50/50 mix of WW to pure lead would likely be a rough equivalent - maybe a little harder - than that.

[Bazoo]

Another vote for WWs or WW+Sn for full magnums. I use 50/50 WW/Pb for special level loads and slightly above.

[Tripplebeards]

Depends on if you’re plinking or hunting with them imo. I’ve casted him from anything from 40 to 1 with a 7.5 BH to 15.4 BH in a hollow point out of my 77/44 rifle. I can tell you 15.4 BH at 1750 fps doesn’t expand on deer. I cut a rabbit in half at 136 yards with straight wheel weight ammo at the same velocity. I’m guessing the brittle COWW alloy sheered the pedals off. Might have added 2% pewter to the mix at the time. I plan on getting out during our holiday hunt with the 7.5 BH alloy at 1600 fps and see how they do on deer. I’m guessing a nice big hole in and out and and a lot shorter tracking job vs 15.4 BH alloy.

[Chill Wills]

Gentlemen
I'm getting ready to start casting for 44 mag. Should I use strait ww or mix with pure pb. And if mixing what ratio would you recommend ?

Opinions ?

IS the bullet design you are using have a gas check? Hardness can be softer and retain accuracy with a GC design if you are going to shoot game. Plain base bullets can hold up under full power and be accurate with the correct size bullets and hard enough bullets. You are just going to need to try a few variables.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I've had good luck using COWW and range scrap at 50/50, even with plain base bullets. However, my revolver (Ruger SS Super Blackhawk) has a polished barrel bore, 11 deg forcing cone, and the cylinder throats are slightly larger than bore diameter. I use a soft lube from Bullshop. I use a couple grains below max of H110/WW296.

[DougGuy]

A LOT of guys use 50/50 + 2% tin and soft lube. It works in everything I use it in and I never have to clean a barrel.. Leaves it "pre-seasoned" for the next shot.

[snipecg21]

The mold I'm using is an arsenal copy of the H&G 503. I plan for most to be mid to full power loads using H110 or 2400 powder. Pistol is a S&W 29, 6 1/2 barrel

[fredj338]

I am fine running range scrap to 1200fps or so with 2400. If going beyond that, then adding some lino to bump bhn, water drop out of the PC oven, sized properly, gives very good results.

[Rapier]

The standard 44 Mag load for decades in silhouette competition was a 240 SWC or jacketed over 23 grains of H-110/296. If cast bullets the alloy is hard cast and water dropped hot out of the mould. An alloy that makes a very consistent weight bullet and a fully filled out bullet that is very hard is 70% WW, 20% Linotype, 10% magnum shot, water dropped. The Magnum shot adds antimony and arsenic when melted at high temperature
.
This load was used to shoot the first revolver class, perfect score in IHMSA competition. The revolver used was a Ruger Super Black Hawk. This load became a standard load for handgun big bore silhouette competition. A note of caution, the Smith 29 DX is a reinforced version of the Smith 29 and will hold up to the heavy loads, but not the regular 29, and is the very reason Smith developed the DX. The standard 29 will shoot apart with a steady diet of the heavy load.
Shot 4 wild hogs in one day with the load, a 4x4 and I never recovered a single bullet. I never concern myself with expansion, only accuracy.

[hawkeye1]

I’ve been shooting straight wheel weights for years with great results. But after reading posts on this forum, I might try 50/50 mixed with soft lead. Will be curious the difference on deer. Plus it will stretch my WW supply a little farther.

[Indiana shooter]

My personal favorite load in the .44 is 13gr of HS-6 under a 265gr boolit. This gives me around 1250fps out of my 7.5" barrel. I use whatever scrap lead I can get ahold of, usually a mix of range scrap with a few handfulls of COWW, I have no issues with this load when PCed. If I step up my load to "full magnum" loads and push my velocity around and above 1400fps my accuracy degrades very rapidly. If I'm running full charges, I'm using COWW and lino mixed approx 4:1 then waterdrop after PCing.

[T.J.Smith]

4 to 1 ww to pure lead. Gas checked & sized .430 backed by 16.5 grains of Blue Dot. Has always done me good in a Smith 629 .321282

[405grain]

"My personal favorite load in the .44 is 13gr of HS-6 under a 265gr boolit."
This is pretty close to my "do it all, everyday load" for my 44 magnums. I load 13.0 grains of HS-6 under a 250 grain bullet, and it just works for 95% of my shooting needs. A good load that doesn't beat my 4" S&W 629 apart, but has plenty of oomph, and is accurate, clean burning, and gets the job done.

[lightman]

Straight wheelweights will work well. If I alloyed something different I would probably cut the wheelweights 50/50 with soft lead and add a little tin, maybe 1-1/2 %.

[Indiana shooter]

"My personal favorite load in the .44 is 13gr of HS-6 under a 265gr boolit."
This is pretty close to my "do it all, everyday load" for my 44 magnums. I load 13.0 grains of HS-6 under a 250 grain bullet, and it just works for 95% of my shooting needs. A good load that doesn't beat my 4" S&W 629 apart, but has plenty of oomph, and is accurate, clean burning, and gets the job done.


It really is about a perfect middle ground load. Hot enough to let you know you're shooting a magnum, soft enough you can comfortably shoot 100+ rounds in a session, and accurate enough (out of my gun) that when I put the scope on, I can hit the silhouette target at 320 yards off of sandbags 5 times out of 6.