Marlin .44 lookin for its first mold

[jeffrice6]

I'm looking at the rcbs 250-k.....I know they run a bit long, but my rifle will cycle 1.70. Was wondering if anyone out there could give me the OAL of the 250-K at crimp grove in a 44mag case. Also, what do they drop at? Hoping .431 or so.

She cycles Laser cast 240 swc's well, so i figure the 250K's will work.

As this will be my first mold, (just starting to get into casting) I'm curious if others would suggest this mold.....or another similar configuration, store bought mold.
Thanks

[6pt-sika]

I've never fooled with that mold in t 44 MAG or the 444 .

I personally have a preference for molds that make bullets that accept gas checks .

I would suggest the Lyman 255 grain SWC GC mold !

Also if you can find one the Ranch Dog 432-265GC or Ranch Dog 432-300GC .


I have and older out of production Lyman mold the 429640 which casts about a 275 grain bullet . That would be a nice one if you could fins one . They still make a HP version of this called the 429640 "Devastater" , I also have this mold and it shot very well in the 1894CB 44 MAG that I had !

[jeffrice6]

Thanks, appreciate the help. Although I'm looking for a flat based bollit.

[softpoint]

If i already had a 250k mold I'd certainly give it a try, but if I were shopping for a new mold, Ithink there are better choices. I'd also get a gascheck mold, as you can run mild loads without the check. I'd look at the Lee c430 310rf,RCBS silhouette,Maybe the Lyman429244 if I really wanted a swc.:coffeecom

[longbow]

My experience with a Keith style is Lyman's 429421 and I would not recommend it ot any semi wadcutter.

My Marlin, at least, does not like the length so I had to crimp over the front driving band and even then the shoulder at the front driving band hangs up on the chamber mouth. I never did get decent accuracy from it either. I say "had" and "did" because I have not loaded any of those for my Marlin in a long time. In all fairness they cast undersize which may be a good part of the accuracy problem but I wasn't going to lap a mould for a boolit that doesn't feed well anyway.

Round nose flat point give me no problems. They feed fine and shoot well.

I have not tried them but understand that the Ranch Dog designs work very well.

As a comment, mine is 1:38 microgroove and I have been unable to get decent accuracy past 50 yards using boolits or bullets heavier than 265 gr. Again, I understand the 300 gr. Ranch Dog design does well as do WFN designs but have not tried those.

Maybe worth trying to test a few of each design you are thinking of before getting a mould.

Longbow

[jeffrice6]

My experience with a Keith style is Lyman's 429421 and I would not recommend it ot any semi wadcutter.

That was the other mold I was considering :(
As I said, the only SWC I have run through my Marlin was the laser cast 240SWC's and those cycled just fine......Am I being naive in my assumption that others will cycle too?

Can these boolits be up sized to say .432????

Sorry....New guy with lots of questions

[jeffrice6]

If i already had a 250k mold I'd certainly give it a try, but if I were shopping for a new mold, Ithink there are better choices.

Any flat based come to mind?

[6pt-sika]

Can these boolits be up sized to say .432????


The question isn't whether you can size to .432" but rather if the mod drops bullets that large to begin with !

I used to size all bullets for my Marlin 444's and 44 MAG's at .430" , now I have a .431" die and it works alright for me however I only use wheelweights and if I need more hardness I water quench straight from the mold .

There are some folks that will take your die and ream it out a bit to ,432" or a bit more if needed . Also Ranch Dog was getting Lee sizing dies made at .432" .

[6pt-sika]

As to the heavier bullets shooting in the slower twist 44 MAG's .

I "had" a Marlin 336-44 that was made in 1967 . This rifle was slow twist and Micro Grooved .

This rifle also shot the Ranch Dog 432-265 and 432-300 bullets very well out to 100 yards .

I was pushing them pretty well with H-110 !

The 265 grainer with 21-23 grains and the 300 grainer with 19-21 grains . These happen to be the same loads Ranch Dog was using in his 336-44 .

[longbow]

Lots of people seem to do well with the heavier boolits in the slow twist but I was unsuccessful with any I tried.

I was getting good accuracy at 50 yards with a 300 gr. paper patch boolit over 21 grs. H110 but groups opened up some at 75 yards and lots of keyholes at 100. I tried RNFP 300 gr. with much the same results so got some 300 gr. Hornady "J" bullets and they were sideways at 50 yards.

Boolits up to about 265 gr. shoot well to 200 yards from my gun. I'm certainly not going to claim tight groups at 200 yards but no keyholes and reasonable accuracy.

Ranch Dog reports good stability with his 300 gr. boolits to a couple hundred yards or better and I know others have done well with WFN loaded hot as well. I suspect it has a lot to do with the boolit design.

I should get some 300 gr. Ranch Dog boolits or Beartooth WFN to try but I got lazy and stick with 240 to 265 gr. They work well for me.

Longbow

[EDK]

First thing you need to do is go to lasc.us and look at Glenn Fryxell's article on 1894 MARLINS. Lots of load data and discussion of feeding traits.

I've had good luck with LYMAN 429244 and 429667; just started with 429215. The RANCH DOG TLC 432 265 works well in all my 44 MARLINS.

There's a group buy pending on 429640...it may be available in plain base...moulds made by MIHEC; run by 1 asterisk.

Conventional wisdom is a MARLIN needs a gas check, lots of bearing surface, hard alloy, higher velocities and larger diameters. Cowboy Action level loads will work with plain base, but accuracy and power may be lacking. I use the same loads as for my VAQUEROS, but SERIOUS rifle ammo is a whole different discipline. I've had a 44 MARLIN since 1972 in one form or another...currently 24 inch Cowboy rifles with Ballard rifling.

:Fire::cbpour::redneck:

[6pt-sika]

I had the Marlin 336-44 that I sold set up to shoot the Ranch Dog 432-265 and the Ranch Dog 432-300 last season .

Since selling that rifle and my 24" 1894CB and my 1894P I am left with a S&W 629 6" and a 1957 vintage Ruger Blackhawk 44 MAG to shoot these bullets (as far as a 44MAG is concerned) . I just might set up the Ruger to shoot the pair of RD bullets this season :wink:

[JesterGrin_1]

As said here many times. If you can go with the Ranch Dog 265Gr or the 300Gr both of which you size to .432. Another one I have had good luck with is the Lee 310Gr. But I did cheat a bit lol. I contacted LEE directly and asked for an oversize mold. And the person I talked with was nice enough to offer to go through his molds on hand and find one that would cast large. Yes it cost a bit more that way but I got what I was asking for.

And by the way there is a group buy going on right now Here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=51757 You may wish to jump on. :)

[6pt-sika]

Another one I have had good luck with is the Lee 310Gr. But I did cheat a bit lol. I contacted LEE directly and asked for an oversize mold.

I bought a Lee 430-310GC 6 cavity from Midway and it's worked just fine so far !

[jimkim]

Lee has the rejected(important word) RD TLC 432-265-RF's. They are listed as TLC 430-265 RF's. Be advised you will probably need to Beagle or lap them out to reach .432". They are on the surplus items page. I think they may have another RD mould there as well, but I'm not sure if the TLC 458-350-RF is one of his. I keep hoping they have a few TLC 311-165-RF's laying around somewhere. Sorry about hijacking your thread.

[JesterGrin_1]

Well you can STILL get the RD432-265 direct from Ranch Dog but you had better hurry. :)http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/

[Firebricker]

OAL with 429421 crimped in groove 44mag case is1.696 from my mould. If the boolit you want
is to long 44 SPL cases could be an option. FB

[jimkim]

Well you can STILL get the RD432-265 direct from Ranch Dog but you had better hurry. :)http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/

Thanks, I thought he was out.

[jeffrice6]

Can anyone out there could give me the OAL of the 250-K at crimp grove in a 44mag case.
Thanks

[cbrick]

Jeff, don't have that 250 gr. mould but I do have the RCBS 245 gr. SWC PB, a very similiar bullet to the RCBS 250K (Keith style).

My 245 gr. has a nose length of .335" to the front driving band, not the crimp groove. It drops bullets at 252 gr. with WW + tin @ .4298" diameter. Bullet length is .750" with .410" bearing surface which is 55% of bullet length.

The main difference between these two bullets besides the 5 gr. bullet weight is the K version does have three equal width driving bands true to Elmer. The 245 gr. bullet has equal base and middle bands but a thinner front driving band, probably the 5 gr. difference but this would shorten the over all loaded length by the difference in band width. Both bullets have one flat lube groove with an angled edge.

Sorry, my notes don't include the length from crimp groove to nose but I hope this helps some.

Rick

[JesterGrin_1]

Jeffrice6 I have never found any SWC Boolit to function correctly through my 1894 Marlin SS in .44 Mag but you might be a lucky one of few that do.

But I have found the Lee 310Gr to function very well. And the AOL is 1.620 :)

[dgslyr]

I use RCBS 245 SWC seated to 1.710 in my 1894.I use a round nose seating screw instead of a SWC or flat nose.It puts a small radius on the edge of the flat nose.They fed before I started using the round nose seater but now they feed a lot smoother.I use 9 grs. of Unique they group well enough to hit the halfsize rams at 100 yards.