Long-range .44 bullets?

[Abert Rim]

Guys, I have an SBH with the 10 1/2-inch tube that I want to use for long-range plinking as well as silhouette. I have heard good reports on the acuracy of the heavies, such as the Lee 310, but have a friend in Eastern Oregon who shoots a Lyman 215 on steel, so I know it is possible to find a lighter-recoiling bullet that still has the accuracy and punch for the rams. I'd love to hear if anyone else has a suggestion for lighter bullets that remain accurate out to 200 yards. I mentioned on another thread that I ordered the Lee 200 RNFP, but my guess is it won't be terribly accurate. Hope I am wrong.
Thanks for any thoughts.

[ebner glocken]

NEI has a 250 gr. Kieth that works very well for me. It will knock rams @ 200 pretty consistantly and believe it or not with fair regularity I can hit the end of a field roller @ 500. But that one takes several ranging shots watching the dust fly until ya finally lob them it to hear a faint "ping" but muches of fun!

[44man]

I think you will find the SBH does not like lighter then 240 gr's for great accuracy.
Why are you worried about recoil? Almost no difference between 220 and 320 gr's. Nothing to write home about!

[475/480]

Guys, I have an SBH with the 10 1/2-inch tube that I want to use for long-range plinking as well as silhouette. I have heard good reports on the acuracy of the heavies, such as the Lee 310, but have a friend in Eastern Oregon who shoots a Lyman 215 on steel, so I know it is possible to find a lighter-recoiling bullet that still has the accuracy and punch for the rams. I'd love to hear if anyone else has a suggestion for lighter bullets that remain accurate out to 200 yards. I mentioned on another thread that I ordered the Lee 200 RNFP, but my guess is it won't be terribly accurate. Hope I am wrong.
Thanks for any thoughts.

Hi Abert Rim,pm me your addy I will send you some LBT 280gr LFNGC to try, if you want to try some.

Sean

[bobthenailer]

try the rcbs 240 gr gc sillewet bullet it will be about 258 gr made with w/w and gas ck installed i have found this to be the most accurate 44 bullet mould that ive tried from 200 gr to 300 gr and i have tried 6 44 moulds the 200 is ok for normal ranges from 25 to 50 yards but not nearly as accurate as the rcbs 240 grgc. bob

[Bucks Owin]

Until I recently got a 310 gr Lee mould, my favorite was the RCBS 250K for shooting at my "150 yd stump". (About 16" square)

I was out yesterday working up an SR-4759 load which it turned out was more conservative than I thought. 15.0 grs behind the 310 gr Lee boolit only gave 850 fps. But it shot into 1.5" at 25 yds and I could whack my stump at will with a little more front sight showing. This bullet is showing some real potential!

FWIW,

Dennis

BTW, at 850 fps this boolit has very mild recoil but "thumped the stump" like the sound of an axe!

[lovedogs]

I've had very good luck using a Saeco #431 bullet. It's supposed to drop a
250 gr. RNFPGC but using Lyman #2 alloy mine are running 240-241 gr. I'm using that bullet in both my Ruger SBH and a 14 in. Contender. I haven't shot the Ruger for real long range but have done some with the T/C. With only a 2X scope it will group just over an inch at 100 yds. I've not papered it at long range but have shot it at some silhouettes. Our range has a life-size coyote silhouette at 176 yds. that I shot last week. It hit him 20 times with 20 shots and all shots were in the shoulder area in about a 4 to 5 inch area. I'd say that's pretty good for a long-range .44 load. By the way, that bullet was designed for the .444 Marlin so it'd probably feed well in lever guns, too. I'm very pleased with it!

[buck1]

Saeco mackes a 265 gr rnfp thats been very good to me!
Lighter bullets can shoot well, but as a rule longer is better.
Just load them down a bit. you may be suprized that the recoil can be less sharp. .....Buck

[Jon K]

Abert Rim,

I too vote for 240 grain and larger. I shot IHMSA and NRA Revolver Class for many years and, in the 44 mag the best accuracy came from the 240+. Anything less is marginal on knockdown and the accuracy wasn't as good for me. I tried 180-300, and liked the 240-250 the best.

What is critical is the cylinder bore to barrel bore alignment. No matter how good the bullet is, if the cyl-bore alignment is not good, accuracy falls apart beyond 150.
Check this before investing in a lot of molds.

Jon

[Abert Rim]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.
The SBH should be here in the next day or two. I've typically had better luck with heavier bullets, but was intrigued after hearing about my friend's experience with the Lyman 215, as I am old enough to have arthritis issues, not to mention wrasslin' with GD bifocals from the back position.
Sean: Thanks!

[Bucks Owin]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.
The SBH should be here in the next day or two. I've typically had better luck with heavier bullets, but was intrigued after hearing about my friend's experience with the Lyman 215, as I am old enough to have arthritis issues, not to mention wrasslin' with GD bifocals from the back position.
Sean: Thanks!

If you cast your own, I would definately try that 310 gr Lee. I haven't heard anyone badmouth it's accuracy, and Lee moulds are fairly cheap. At the 850 fps level I mentioned above, your arthritis won't notice a thing! Even at 1100 fps recoil is pretty mild.....

FWIW

Dennis

BTW, I too use a 10" Ruger Blackhawk for testing...