Bullet Cores for .44 Swaging

[nicholst55]

A couple of questions for those of you swaging your own .44 bullets out of .40 S&W brass: what are you using for cores? I want to swage bullets in the 300+ grain range, and haven't found a .40 mold that produces a heavy enough bullet to use that for a core. I'm wondering if a .41 bullet would fit into the .40 S&W 'jacket.'

I realize that I could simply buy lead wire in the proper diameter and cut cores from that. I'm just looking for a way to use up the pure lead WW ingots I have. Any suggestions will be welcomed!

[blaser.306]

you could always drill a "cheap" alum mould and trial cast it to come up with the core weight you want ! Just a sugestion , take it for what it is worth .

[Daywalker]

I am using a Lee TL .401 mould. I can get up to 260 grains with trimming a bit of brass. Do not trim and they will be heavier. I then, since it is a nice size hp, using 2.00 tin of pellets from walmart, place the bullet on a scale and add a pellet or 2 both .22 or .177 until I get a heavier bullet and reswage each step adding the pellet. I usually do not have to go over one or 2 pellets. I do this also with my 45's using the .401 145 grain mold to cast my cores.

[buck1]

You could always get a custom mold from moutain molds. Also BT is working on a 300 gr .44 rig.

[BT Sniper]

Just drill out the bottom of the 175 grain cheap 40 cal Lee mold and you will be good to go. Use a slightly smaller drill bit then the .400. Go a little bit at a time and agian a smaller drill bit by a size or two just for a bit of margin of error. Once you start droping cores to big in diameter it is very hard to get the AL back in the mold :)

Remember these are just a core that is going to get smashed into place. Dose'nt matter what it looks like only how much it weighs.

BT

[nicholst55]

Yeah, I reckon I'll buy a Lee .40 175 mold or two and see about 'adjusting' the weight of the resulting boolits/cores. At worst, I'm out $20. I'll try to get the resulting cores up to around 225 grains or so, and that should get me real close to what I want.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Daywalker]

Now don't forget, if you don't want to try drilling the 20.00 molds and risk messing up, pellets for air rifle weighs a few grains a piece. I did a test tonight, a 175 grain core bullet and 2 .22 and 1 .177 pellet, yielded a bullet weighing 305 grains. Just wanted to let you know about that test to see what it would take to bring the weight up a bit.

[BT Sniper]

You'll find it is very easy to drill out the mold. I still use my first one I altered. Never felt like I was out $20. Here is a thought for you. I tryied it a while back but couldn't make it work. Half in. al tubing from home depo has an id of .390ish. If some how a mold could be made from this tubing....... I didn't get it figured out yet. I did bore my 40 cal mold to big though and wound up using 2 halfs of this al tubing to reline the bore of the mold. Still works today but way to much work.

Anyway start with a shallow cut and gradually get deeper till you find the weight you want.

BT

[nicholst55]

I'm still considering trying a .41 Mag mold; Lee offers a 195 and a 210 grain mold in that flavor. I might end up having to size them down to .401 to get them into the .40 S&W case, which would be a PITA. If they would fit into the .40 S&W case, it would make this all so much easier!

I'll give the air rifle pellet idea a bit of consideration, too. I've got a good selection of .177 pellets at home; some of the less accurate ones would be good for this. I'd have to find some .22 pellets though.

I've got time to ponder on this idea; I'm not due to leave Korea for some time yet. Unfortunately.

[firefly1957]

Why use pellets to bring up weight I use shot it is much cheaper. ( well I bought 200 pound a long time ago I am not sure of current cost.) And I have have swaged three .185 lead wires in 45 half jacket with good luck they do come apart in water but stay together in dry phone book or wood .

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Here is a thought for you. I tryied it a while back but couldn't make it work. Half in. al tubing from home depo has an id of .390ish. If some how a mold could be made from this tubing....... I didn't get it figured out yet. BT

that is an interesting thought. If a guy could taper the tubing, just a little bit. then fasten on a block of oak, and then....
Ummmm the more I think about it, this is alot of work when a LEE mold is $20,
But it's just too painful to think of this novice trying to modify a new, perfect boolit mold.

I've happy with the 255 gr. weight of the 40/44.
what I am thinking about is a core for the 30 cal (I bought a 32 cal. 6C Lee, I plan to drill inbetween the existing cavities and drill new spue holes)
Also I'd like a lighter 9/40, I bought a Lee .356 2c 102 gr. to use as is or modify just a tiny bit, so boolits drop at about 115 gr.
Jon

[Daywalker]

Why use pellets to bring up weight I use shot it is much cheaper. ( well I bought 200 pound a long time ago I am not sure of current cost.) And I have have swaged three .185 lead wires in 45 half jacket with good luck they do come apart in water but stay together in dry phone book or wood .

No one around here sells shot. Shipping is a bit more than I want to pay. Especially when walmart is 3 min and it only costs me 2.00 for a tin of 550 pellets. I am not saying that shot isn't a better idea, it probably is, just for me, not pratical to ordering it and having it shipped.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Daywalker,
another source for shot is old shotgun shells.
I have three boxes of unknown reloads 12 ga. that are corroded,
given to me by a neighbor for disposal.
when I have time, I plan on disassembling them.
I mentioned this to another friend, he says he has a bunch,
and he says he'll drop them off for me next time he comes through my town,
he was also wondering how he could dispose of them.
just a thought.
coming to you from wet basementland Minnesota :0
Jon

[BT Sniper]

Altering the $29 LEE AL molds is A LOT easier unless you have some time on your hands and want the satisfaction of DIY. For me I spent a long time trying to make my own and also make other designs work. Little sucess and a lot of time. Didn't have much $ at the time and I didn't spend any $ in my experitments. Now I have a litle $ and less time so it is going to be altering cheep existing molds for me.

Good shooting,

BT

[BT Sniper]

[QUOTE=
Ummmm the more I think about it, this is alot of work when a LEE mold is $20,
But it's just too painful to think of this novice trying to modify a new, perfect boolit mold.[/QUOTE]

Keep with those thoughts. After the time I spent trying to make somthing else work it was not that painfull to alter the lee mold. I looked back on some of my posts and I had used a 3/8" drill bit to make my custom steel mold for heavier 44 cores. the .375" size worked just fine. Even drilling athe existing 40 cal molds down a bit with the 3/8 bit should produce the results you are looking for.

Have faith I know you guys can do it.

BT

[Daywalker]

I know there are yall that will spend 20.00 on a mold to just drill it out and all you have now is a core mold. for me, I like the satisfaction of knowing that if I ever get a caliber of which a mold I have, then I can continue to use that mold to cast for. I like both aspect of swaging and casting. To some, even in todays economy, you all might be able to afford to take a perfectly made mold and just take a drill to it only to limit it's use for one thing now. For me, I can afford the 2.00 for the pellets being that it does not take that many to up the grains I am looking for now.

Now, instead of spending all my time altering and thinking, hmmm if in an off chance I mess up, Ill just spend another 20 bucks and try again and have 40.00 tied up. Swage, add pellets swage load and shoot.

Just one of them things, what works for me, probably won't work for you. What you are doing is not wrong, what I am doing is not wrong. In the end, the results are the same and if it makes you happy, then it is a job well done. I am having some great results and if it werent for finding these threads, I would have never got started.

Thanks everyone

[BT Sniper]

Yeh there is many ways. So just drillout one side of a 2 cavity mold then your covered for all bases. :) besides you don't "mess up" a core mold, you just make a heavier core or next size bigger core :)

BT