Lyman 429650 for .444 Marlin?

[Tazman1602]

Hey guys,

Hmmm, used to have a .44 Mag years ago but sold it (MISS-TAKE....) but that's another story.

I just ran across one of the molds I used to use in it for hunting and it's the above mold, 430 diameter 300 grain.

I don't have any cast up so I can't measure them or weigh them but I've read that this mold casts up to a 330 grain bullet instead of the advertised 300 grain.

.430 *may* be a little small for my .444 but I thought I'd ask if any of you have used this mold for a .444 Marlin. Again, I don't know exactly what they drop at and at the time I was casting for the .44 mag pistol I, well, ahh, lets just say I didn't pay as much attention to diameter, weight, and barrel size as I do these days.

Thanks,

Art

[beagle]

Haven't used that one but I have used a #328 H & G which is pretty close. The only problem I had with it was the nose was pretty long and I had to cut back the charge and deep seat. Forget about using the crimp groove due to the .444's short OAL requirement./beagle

[AnthonyB]

That was my first mould, and it dropped at 325 grains for me. I loaded about 400 of them over 21.0 gr. H110 and mag primers. Velocity was almost 1300 fps in my Redhawk. Think I have three hundred left and will break them out when the elephant population gets too big around here...Tony

[Tazman1602]

Thanks guys, that's exactly what I needed to know. NOE and BRP here I come.................

Art

[fatnhappy]

That was my first mould, and it dropped at 325 grains for me. I loaded about 400 of them over 21.0 gr. H110 and mag primers. Velocity was almost 1300 fps in my Redhawk. Think I have three hundred left and will break them out when the elephant population gets too big around here...Tony

That's almost exactly the same results I had. My mould drops them 317 grains and 21.0 grains of H110 gave me 1250 from my 7.5" redhawk. They cast .430 if memory serves. Good mould and they shot very well. I went back to the 429421 for hunting though because the expensive gas check, recoil and extra lead impressed me more than the deer.

[Tazman1602]

...............Man I'm going to have to cast a few of those things this weekend, for the life of me I can't figure out why it's advertised as a 300 grain and everyone I talk to confirms they drop at a bit heavier than that.

Thanks for all the posts guys...........

Art

[Landric]

Any interest in this?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=95762

[MakeMineA10mm]

...............Man I'm going to have to cast a few of those things this weekend, for the life of me I can't figure out why it's advertised as a 300 grain and everyone I talk to confirms they drop at a bit heavier than that.

Thanks for all the posts guys...........

Art

Art,
Someone was asking about a 44-40 RNFP mould w/ GC, and I remembered the old Lyman 429434, which they advertised as 220grs, but everyone's seemed to cast around 240grs. I even went so far as to check and see if Lyman specified Linotype (which sometimes they do, vs. their more usual #2 alloy), but nope, Lyman said it should weigh 220grs out of the heavier alloy...

I don't know how Lyman would occassionally get cross-wise on their weights, but they did on more than one mould, that's for sure!

As far as a good 444 Marlin mould goes, I use the Boomer Mikey group buy version of the Lyman 430640. Mike speced it out at .433", which is exactly what mine cast at. He wanted it to work in the Marlin, and it does! I've noted that if I use the slightly shorter 444 brass from Hornady (they trim them short for their LeverEvolution bullets, whose soft tips make them stick out of the case further), they seat just right to crimp in the crimp groove for that bullet.

Remington, Marlin, and a group of researchers (who did an article in a gun magazine that was published in the 70s) back in the 60s did a lot of testing on the 444 as far as barrel lengths, bullet weights, and powders. They found 20-21" was the ideal barrel length, and 290grs was the ideal weight as far as seating depth vs. velocity attained vs. energy vs. sectional density. They also felt a 20" twist would be ideal... Well, Marlin sort-of listened; they did shorten the barrel to 22". Remington was going to come out with a 280-285gr RNFP, but when Hornady came out with the 265, Remington dropped the project. Knowing this history has always had me stop short of the 300gr bullets in the 444.

[S.B.]

Is the 429650 just a 429421 with gascheck and 300 grains?
Steve

[rintinglen]

The one I had cast just barely over .430--that might be an issue in a Marlin. It worked fine in my old Ruger Redhawk, but when I sold the gun I threw in the mold. Wish I had kept 'em both.

[Shuz]

Is the 429650 just a 429421 with gascheck and 300 grains?
Steve

I have both, and that's what I think...a 429421 that weighs 300g with a gas check. The 429650 is a very accurate boolit in my .44 mag revolters, but I won't use it in my new to me .444 marlin due to the OAL issues mentioned previously. I'm using the RD 265 and a Mihec 433-300 HP in my .444 and so far they feed and shoot well with Rel 7.