Colt SAA .44 Special

[Byron Cromwell]

I have just acquired a .44 special mould Lyman No. 429251 Roundnose for occasional shooting in Dad's old Second Generation Colt .44 Spl. X 7 1/2. No, it's not for sale. I do not see the roundnose in my Lyman cast bullet manual for 1979 listed in the load data. Does anybody have any tips to load this bullet in the Colt SAA? I can certainly transpose data from bullets of equal weight listed in the manual, but I don't know if that would create problems with leading and accuracy. I am looking for an informal range load, not one for competition or cowboy action shooting.

BTW, I see Graf and Sons catalogue lists the plain ol' lead roundnose .44 special at $40.00 a box of fifty, or eighty cents a round. Ridiculous. I must be gettin old...

Byron

[9.3X62AL]

Your SAA is one of the medium-strong platforms chambered in 44 Special. "Skeeter's Load" of 7.5 grains of Unique under Lyman #429421 gives about 925-935 FPS in my S&W Model 624 x 6.5". 7.0 grains gives about 850 FPS. These loads should cause no strain whatsoever to your SAA.

I'm not familiar with #429251. Is it a 246 grain "classic roundnose"?

[Byron Cromwell]

9.3:
This is the roundnose bullet for .44 Special by Lyman. I favored it because I have a classic non-match grade gun and want to match up ammo with the classic bullet. Kinda like Lyman 454190 in the .45 Long Colt. It may not be the most accurate, but it is the most frequently associated with that chambering. I also thought a roundnose would be easier to load into the single-action chambers than an SWC. I have loaded SWCs in the past for .44 special, but they lacked the visual appeal. I don't have time or money for CAS so I content myself with soup cans at the local gravel pit. If I had a model 24 it would be different.

[9.3X62AL]

I think you might be in for a very pleasant surprise with your SAA. Just because a revolver isn't equipped with adjustable sights--doesn't mean it isn't capable of superb accuracy. Enjoy that critter!

[oldhickory]

You lucky dog! A year or so ago I couldn't find a better use for $20.00 so I bought a LEE 429-240-2R mold from Midway. It turns out to cast the nicest 248gr. (soft lead) R-N boolit you could wish for, (looks very much like your Lyman 429251, a little lighter though). I've been using 4.5gr. of W231 under it for around 700fps in my 4" S&W 629 for pleasnt paper punching, or stopping the occasional rogue tin can charge. Lately I've been looking hard at some Red Dot loads and will try something in the 4.0-4.5gr. range for my plinker load goal of around 700fps. in the .44SPL.

[9.3X62AL]

".......rogue tin can charge". Yes, they can be highly unpredictable--and dangerous in close quarters.

[smkummer]

I did notice that the Lyman 45th edition states you can substitue the 429383 and the 429421. The 429251 should not be much different and maybe is a little to long to use in 44 magnum so the 429383 may have edged out the earlier design. And they are using a Colt single action 2nd generation 5 1/2 gun for its data. You have a very nice gun and you never really need anymore power than what it has with this data. I do shoot alot of the Skeeter recommended load of 7.5 unique with my 3rd gen. 5 1/2 barrel 44 special but it does have some felt recoil one handed. But lately have been shooting a cowboy load of 6 grains unique and a 200 FP bullet. Again, you decide what power you want. Bullets going out at 700 FPS are so sweet to shoot at paper or cans, they also are comfortable one handed. 900 FPS bullets really do have some punch to them that will down deer at pistol ranges. With your Colt you can safely hit 1100 FPS using the 45th edition data but when will you need all that punch?

[txbirdman]

I have a SAA 4 3/4" version in 44 Spcl. I also have the 429383 bullet mould but have not tried it in that gun yet. I had good luck with the 429421 and 8.1 gr. of SR4756.