Bullet recomendations for a 24" Uberti 1873 44 Special

[DownRangeDan]

I recently bought a beautiful Uberti/Cimarron 1873 chambered in 44 Special with a 24" barrel. I had some 240 grain Berry's FP bullets loaded with HP38. At 100 yds they shot as well as I was holding the gun off the bench. I had a 5 shot group that was a couple of inches. They chronoed at about 935 ft/sec.
I also loaded some Lead Boolits. They were cast from a Lee 200gn RNFP mold and lube sized to .430. The alloy is a good batch I have used before that casts a pretty hard boolit. They are almost too hard to go through the size die if I let them age for a week or two. I loaded two batches, one with HP38, and one with Trailboss. However, in this gun they shot worse than anything I can remember. At 100 yds they were all over the target. The Trailboss loads were better than the HP38 loads, but it was a scatter pattern that was maybe 16". The HP38 loads were maybe 30" at 100 yds. Given how well the plated bullets shot I was dumbfounded by the performance of the CB's. WTH?

Any recommendations would be welcome. I was hoping to shoot CB's in this gun.

[farmbif]

there are plenty of different bullets for 44 special, if it chambers easily in your gun a Keith style semi wadcutter, like Lyman 429421, is probably the most popular.
my first choice for lever actions is 429667 or my favorite mp 432640.
lube sized to .431.
unique, 4227, bullseye, 2400, accurate #2 or #5, all good powders for the 44 special, 6.5 grains of be-86 is one of my current favorites for either 240 grain bullet.
it could be that a cast bullet that is too hard an alloy can have issues. there are many others that understand all this much better than I do. as far as velocity, hardness and accuracy.
with 44 special low velocity there is no need to use any kind of super hard alloy. most of what I use with great success is just clip on wheel weights or even softer alloy cut with some pure lead.

[Walks]

I like the N.O.E. #TL432-247-RF cast soft, PC'ed and sized .432, it feeds perfectly and it's accurate. Since the action is a bit "long" you might try crimping in the top "lube groove".
The #429667 has a perfect O.A.L. for the '73.
I would suggest 6.0grs of TiteGroup or 6.5grs of Unique.
Stay away from the "Skeeter Loads".
I've found Sharp shouldered bullets to be an iffy proposition.

[freakonaleash]

Maybe your alloy is too hard. I shoot 20-1 in lever guns going that speed.

[Randy Bohannon]

Accurate mould # 43-215c should be a dandy bullet for the 1873 .44 Special cast 16:1 or 20:1 there’s a 230 grain version that might be better for higher performance than the 44-40 WCF ,they share the same barrel and you won’t have any issues with the profile going through the action it’s designed for it.

[Wheelgun]

I’d try a softer alloy also. My leverguns are most accurate with with 50/50 coww/pure.

[Fernando]

Watchin this one - I have one I'm getting ready to start working with.

[ABJ]

I don't have the long gun in 44 special but in the Uberti and Ruger and Charter target loves Bullseye at 5.0 under a bevel base 240 swc.
They run in the mid 800 fps range. Tight group starting at 4.5 and working up was top notch also. All my 44's are sized .432. I did shoot the bullseye load in a Rossi 92 44mag, 24" and got a little over 1000 fps. Alloy is 2 tin and 4 antimony just under 14.5 brinell. About the same as coww plus tin. I have had mostly sub par results with .430, mostly because all my cylinders measure .431/.432. I did not do a chamber cast on the 92 but .432 out shot the .430 with every load.
Side note, is your 73 new? I would buy one right this minute if I could find one.
Tony

[JoeJames]

I had very good results with the Oregon Trail laser cast .431 240 grain bullet sitting on 6.8 grains of Unique in my Henry Big Boy 44 Special/44 Magnum. Just for testing I also tried the factory commercial HSM 44 Special Cowboy load with 240 grain swc's which key-holed at 15 yards. Not sure what the diameter of the HSM bullet was but it had to be less than .430. I also shot some Speer .430 240 grain swc's over 6.8 grains of Unique using the same target and they did pretty well.