44 mag load questions.

[6.5marinediesel]

I just purchased a few bullets from a fellow cast. not having much data and no experience on loading them. im hoping some of ya'll can give me some incite.

the cast bullets are from an NOE mold there 300gn HP with a gas check sized to .430, casted from WW.

I plan on loading these for both rifle and pistol use with the intent of maybe hunting deer. I'v used 800x and 2400 only for 44 mag. but these bullets are rather long and i know 800x will be a compressed charge, or looks that way. I have options on powder. I'm just curious to see if anyone else is shooting a bullet this heaving and what powder theyve match to it. id like to see the most velocity i can without seeing the dangerous scale of pressure.

thanks for the advice

[Blammer]

15gr of 2400 will get you where you need. at least that is what I found accurate with that projectile in my 44

may want to check your OAL as it may not be suitable for certain revolver cylinders.

[Blammer]

This is a good one you may want to look into.

[6.5marinediesel]

awwww PRETTY......

Blammer would you recommend seat at the books recommended OAL of 1.610? or lymans cast#429650 OAL of 1.700? in my lyman book the 300gn max 15.7 of 2400???? and alliants site shows a speer USCP 300gn @ 19 gn 2400. thats a big difference.

of course i found several data that shows a jacketed 300gn bullest as high as 20gn of 2400. assuming i can use jacketed load data for cast as well. i dont think id have any problems.

[Blammer]

how long is it when you seat to the crimp groove?

19gr of 2400 is what I find on alliants' page for the 300gr bullet for max load

use the 300 j-word load data for the cast it will be fine.

[PositiveCaster]

For many years I have read the statement that it is always safe to use jacketed data for cast because the pressures will be lower with cast. Unfortunately this is just not true. It is not always safe to do this. A good example is directly related to this thread. Look on the Hodgdon web data for the .44 Magnum with 800-X and the 240 jacketed and cast bullets. You will see that for the same maximum pressure the powder charge is 0.8 grains less for the cast bullet. Clearly, using the jacketed bullet charge for the cast bullet would exceed safe maximum pressures. Perusing different published data will show other examples.

While it will usually be safe to use a jacketed load for cast, it is irresponsible to say it is always safe to do so. Rules of thumb like this one should no longer be part of our hobby.


.

[6.5marinediesel]

@ PositiveCaster Thanks for the advice. i guess iv been given some mixed info along the way. I'v never loaded on the realm of max charges. So i guess in the few cases i used that method it worked ok. i do now have several manuals which each time i load something new i find myself looking at all of them and even online resources.

@ blammer I havent loaded any yet. so im not sure what the seating depth is. the crimp spot in the bullets looks like itll be longer that what the book shows for revolvers.

[Blammer]

I'll have to check, but I think crimped at the crimp groove it will still fit in my RSRH.

When I shot them out of my 444 (gone now) they were a BIT much for deer.

but they sure were accurate!

[DougGuy]

I use the Lee C430-310-RF over 17.0gr LilGun for 1180 ~ 1200fps out of my 7 1/2" SBH very happy with this load. Don't know that it will feed through a levergun seated out long in the bottom crimp groove = 1.690" this is not a max charge but you cannot shoot the long 300gr boolits slower than what velocity they will gather enough spin to stabilize in flight. When they go below supersonic they are basically a 40yd load at best.



More than likely your 800x is a bit too fast for that much boolit, as is Unique

For the most part the heavier the boolit, the slower the powder in 44 mag and also Ruger Only 45 Colt. These two calibers are pretty much neck and neck loaded with heavy for caliber boolits over max charges of slow burning powders. H110/W296 will undoubtedly give the highest velocity until you run to the top of the pressure ceiling, LilGun was developed or discovered to give the same velocities but with slightly less pressure. LilGun, H110, 2400, AA#9 will likely be the best choices for the most velocity.