What is the best/most popular 44 mag. Bullet on the silhouette shooters?

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I went to the 180gr. in my 357 a while back as it was recommended as the best for the silhouette game & loved it.
Am now thinking of doing the same in my 44mag.
So what has worked out as the best 44 mag. cast bullet for the silhouette shooters?

[mtgrs737]

I shot the Lyman 429421 which is a 245gr. Keith type SWC when I shot silhouette back in the 80's.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

I always used one of the Keith style boolits also in my 44's for steel , 245-250 gr

I've used Lyman, Ideal,Ohaus, RCBS molds, I can't say one is better than the other, they are all fairly accurate if sized correctly for the pistol they are shot in, pay attention to your cylinder sizes , they are most times larger than the BBL Diam. so if you just slug the BBL &
size for it, you may not get good accuracy. The cylinder throats may be .002 or more larger.

So if your BBL. slugs .429 & your cylinder's are .432, you need the larger size to get best accuracy, IMHO[smilie=1: , the soft lead sewage's down fine when it gets to the BBL. throat.

Good luck and good shooting :redneck: :cbpour: :Fire:

[mooman76]

Hard to beat the reputation of the 44 in a Keith style bullet!

[44man]

For a cast .44 boolit, the 265 gr RD boolit will far exceed the Keith in accuracy, as will an LBT style WLN.
For jacketed, the 240 or 300 gr XTP's are the most accurate and next is the Hornady 240 Sil.

[Heavy lead]

44man do you run that RD through a luber sizer like a normal boolit?

[44man]

I hand lube them with Felix lube and run them through a Lee size die lapped to .432". They have shot 5/8" at 50 yd's and a little over 1" at 100. I bought the mold for my grandson's Marlin and was amazed at how it shoots from my Ruger.
Another great boolit is the Lee 310 gr.
I sort of grew up with the Keith boolit and loved them. My original 429421 and 358156 did shoot pretty good for me back in the 50's and they still do but they just don't group near as tight. 3" at 50 is about the best I can do with them. I have a pile of molds and have been given many in other calibers and have yet to get any to group like I want.
I shot IHMSA for years, shot international class, have a pile of trophys and won Ohio state with 79 out of 80 using my Ruger. There is no way I would use a Keith boolit if I were still shooting IHMSA.
Can anyone here show me great 200 meter groups shot with a Keith? If so, I might change my mind. I have shown what my 330 gr LBT style will do at 200 yd's but nobody will ever show a Keith group.

[44man]

Here is what the RD boolit will do at 50 yd's. I was plinking at the can at 100 yd's. I had to walk down and set it back up after every shot and tried to hold the same each time with my red dot. I aimed higher with the last shot because I was hitting low and creased the rail under the can. I gave the gun to my friend and he bounced another can all over the place with every shot until it went behind something.
My load is 22 gr of 296 and the Federal 150 primer.
I am not trying to make those that love the Keith feel bad but have to ask if it is just the nice look of the boolit or is it the way it shoots that keeps you using them? PLEEEEASE post pictures! :mrgreen:

[Heavy lead]

I've shot the Keiths, however I have switched (at least for hunting and accuracy with heavy loads) to the 45-310 Lee in the 45 and 454 with great results so far. I'm working on the 44 with the Lee as well, you have convinced me on that. I still use and probably always will the Keith (in RCBS 270SAA form for 45 and 429421 for 44) for plinkers with 10 grain of Unique as they shoot good to 50 yards for me and are cheap to shoot. But my results so far bear out what you have said 44 man. They are starting to shoot as well as my 475 now, that gun has always done well but it is a BFR.

[dale2242]

Boom Boom, I`ve won many silhouette matches shooting the Saeco #432 265 gr GC boolit in a 10" Dan Wesson revolver. FC cases, Fed 155 primers and 22 gr 296.---dale

[44man]

Boom Boom, I`ve won many silhouette matches shooting the Saeco #432 265 gr GC boolit in a 10" Dan Wesson revolver. FC cases, Fed 155 primers and 22 gr 296.---dale
Yep, another good boolit and if the Dan Wesson was one built at the right time, it was the very best. I had to work 10X harder with the Ruger and the crummy sights. I can't count the elevation screws I wore out.

[BD]

I lost the only two Sillywet matches I ever attended with the Saeco #432. But I can't blame the boolit as the guys that won were shooting it also :)
BD

[METerry]

For a cast .44 boolit, the 265 gr RD boolit will far exceed the Keith in accuracy, as will an LBT style WLN.
For jacketed, the 240 or 300 gr XTP's are the most accurate and next is the Hornady 240 Sil.

44Man:
Help me out here. I am very interested in cast boolits mostly for Rugers in .44 and .45. What do the "RD" and "LBT style WLN" refer to?

I've several BHs, SBHs, RHs, and SRHs, figured out smoothing them up, cylinder reaming, and chamber reaming and now I need to learn about the projectile part. I have not committed to casting (yet!) so teach me what I need to know.

Your posts and comments lead me to believe you've been able to acheive remarkable accuracy. Thanks for allowing us access to your experience and knowledge.

[44man]

Ranch Dog has an ad at the bottom of the page. He designed his boolits for Marlins so they are a little larger and makes them easy to size to what you need. I find .432" is great in the Ruger. I don't like tumble lube so I rub Felix lube on them by hand and run them through a .432 Lee size die. That also seats the gas check. Lee makes the molds for him and he is very fussy about what they send him. I find the TLC432-265-RF to be very accurate out of my SBH and my friend loves it in his S&W 29.
LBT boolits are very accurate, Cast Precision makes them as do a lot of other boolit makers, just do a search. WLN means wide long nose, WLNGC means a gas check. They have what is called a truncated cone nose. Any from 265 to 300 or even 320 gr will shoot good.
Lot of good molds that look the same and shoot good. The Lee C430-310-RF is super. The Saeco 432-265 is great.
Then the custom mold makers like Mountain Molds can make what you want.
Many here do not agree with me but I find the Federal 150 standard LP primer with 296 cuts group size by 2/3's. You need fairly hard (18 to 22 BHN) boolits and good neck tension. Moderate crimp, just enough to hold all boolits under recoil.
Whatever boolit you choose, they all work. It is how you work the brass that will make or break you. I use Hornady dies for top accuracy, their dimensions are as good as my .44 BR dies. .44 RCBS dies give me the worst accuracy because they never changed the expander diameter. They did for the .45 after a gun writer pressed them about it. A lot of expanders are made for soft boolits and fast powders like the old days and brass had to be large enough so boolits are not sized when seating.
Slow powder changed things but some try old style loading and fail to get accuracy. Too many dies are still made wrong. I don't like re-working them.
There is no magic boolit, you make magic at the bench! :bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
After 44 man's post, I am considering a new mould If I can scrach up the money.
I am leaning towards that 265 gr. GC.
But the 300gr would not need a GC so might be cheaper to shoot after all . That would be a big plus. It might be better for Elk & bigger game as well.

[Irascible]

I have found nothing more accurate at extreme ranges than the SSK designed 310gr truncated nose bullet from a mould made by NEI. Both 18gr of 2400 and 21gr of 296 are spectacular at 200 meters with the 18/2400 being a bit less punishing.

[Thumbcocker]

44 Man:
Any similar designs that don't need a gas check that will give similar results? What about medium loads?

Thanks

[44man]

I suppose you could get a custom mold without a GC and I know you can buy boolits without them.
You could also remove the check area in the mold by opening it up.
I usually make my own molds and have been making them PB lately and they work great.
It seems Lee should offer a mold both ways, maybe we should all bug them about it.
I bought the Lee mold for my .475 long ago and it is PB, I was a little concerned until I seen how it shoots. I have been getting away from the little things made of pure gold now. At the price they might even be gold plated platinum! :bigsmyl2:

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I would seem to me that those 300 gr. & up bullets would be moving at about 1200'/s even w/ hot loads. So they would not need a GC. Or am I wrong?

[44man]

HI,
I would seem to me that those 300 gr. & up bullets would be moving at about 1200'/s even w/ hot loads. So they would not need a GC. Or am I wrong?
You are correct. My most accurate hunting boolit for my 45-70 BFR is a 378 gr PB WFN and I shoot it over 1632 fps and have worked other PB to 1800 fps without a problem. As long as the boolit is hard enough to take the rifling at the rear of the boolit and the land and groove marks on the base do not exceed the actual land and groove measurements, they work fine. No skidding allowed at the base! :Fire:
Wide marks on the front of boolits is normal and if you shoot soft lead fast or even hard lead too fast so that the whole length of the boolit skids, then you need a gas check. It will grab the rifling better.
Once you get a wide skid mark at the base you open a gas channel up the sides of the boolit and you will get a loss of accuracy and leading, even with a gas checked boolit.
Believe it or not, a soft boolit shot with a load of very fast powder is worse then the heavy, slow powder hunting loads.
I have better luck with plinking loads by using lighter loads of Unique and 231 with lighter boolits. In my .44 I don't go over 7 gr. and in the larger calibers I use HS-6. I don't want the initial chamber pressure to peak too fast or too high.
The slower you start a boolit into the rifling, the better.
The faster the powder and the larger the amount, the harder the boolit should be and you need a gas check SOONER then with slow powder.
Many will tell you to use a softer boolit for obturation if you get leading and this is reverse to my thinking, I do not believe in it. All you do is make the whole length of a boolit skid too far and allow gas leakage. Let a boolit seal the bore fellas, don't think boolit lube is a gas seal or that a gas check will save you.

[69daytona]

my favorite load for 200+yard in the 44mag is 21.2gr 2400 behind a speer 240grFMJ with CCILPMag primers. out of my 8"Dan Wesson it will hit at 200yards all day. use to shoot it off the 200 yard line when I was an instructor at 29 Palms USMC. Best group single handed was 5 inches at 200 yards.
That was before I broke my back twice and shot 1000 plus rounds a weekend and about 1500 during the week.

[44man]

my favorite load for 200+yard in the 44mag is 21.2gr 2400 behind a speer 240grFMJ with CCILPMag primers. out of my 8"Dan Wesson it will hit at 200yards all day. use to shoot it off the 200 yard line when I was an instructor at 29 Palms USMC. Best group single handed was 5 inches at 200 yards.
That was before I broke my back twice and shot 1000 plus rounds a weekend and about 1500 during the week.
Now that gives you bragging rights! :drinks:

[BOOM BOOM]

HI
I got a lee 2 cavity mold loned to me 320gr. G.C. For my 44 mag. REDHAWK.
Have found almost no loading data for cast that heavy to use 2400, WC 820, or RUSSIAN UNIQUE.
HELP PLEASE.
I cast up a 3 pots man does it eat up a pot of lead WW fast! SCARY!
Where could I find enough WW to feed this monster!

WOW THAT 'S SHOOTING 69DAYTONA

[44man]

I can't help with those powders but I use 21.5 gr of 296 and the Fed 150 primer for 1" or less at 50 yd's.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Was hoping you would suggest a bullet around 270grs. that would be a good shooter.
The Seaco 265 gr. may be the one I will end up with.
Have to try the Beagled Lyman Kieth style swc 250gr. & the 320gr (actual weight) lee bullets in my Redhawk 1st.

[JesterGrin_1]

HI,
Was hoping you would suggest a bullet around 270grs. that would be a good shooter.
The Seaco 265 gr. may be the one I will end up with.
Have to try the Beagled Lyman Kieth style swc 250gr. & the 320gr (actual weight) lee bullets in my Redhawk 1st.

It was talked about a few times. Go here for the RD 432-265 Good BOOLIT http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/ And I would hurry as he is going to close and Lee should take over but who knows how long that will take.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
This 320gr. gc. is a lee 90358 2cav. mold. It sure looks like a Ranch Dog design to me. It has a huge medplat , it is almost a wad cutter it is so big, may be 75% bullet dia.
Rain & snow all day here in Provo, so I started loading the accuracy loads.
Will try 8-10grs. R. Unique,
also 18grs 2400 ,
and 18grs of WC 820
maybe more for the big 320gr.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
On looking up the mold # on Lee's sight. I found the 2 cav. mold is the 310gr. gc.
So if anyone has more load data on it I would ask you to please post it here.:Fire:

[JesterGrin_1]

HI,
On looking up the mold # on Lee's sight. I found the 2 cav. mold is the 310gr. gc.
So if anyone has more load data on it I would ask you to please post it here.:Fire:


I have used the Lee 310Gr with 18.5Gr of W-296,Win Case,Standard CCI LP Primer with good results. :castmine:

Good results being 2" groups at 100 Yards. But I have gone from that Lee 310Gr and working on the RD 265Gr due to the boolit drop of the 310Gr.I just wanted something a bit more flatter shooting.

[stubshaft]

SSK designed 310gr NEI mould.