SWC in 44 Magnum revolver, with right boolit still viable choice

[Onty]

i have found SWC are more accurate than WFN boolits.just saying.
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I think that main issue with non-SWC boolits is that the most of them have very short front driving band, or no front driving band at all, so they are not centered in the chamber as SWC with full size, long front driving band.

[paul edward]

I had good luck with the RCBS 44-225 SWC-GC in a revolver, but not in my 1894 Marlin. When crimped in the crimp groove, it's OAL is too long to function through the magazine and, when fed singly, accuracy was poor from the microgroove barrel (revolver loads were sized .430). I see that RCBS no longer offers this mold.

Another excellent SWC is the 250 grain Lyman 429336. This was designed for target use in 44 Russian. Is not good for heavy loads as it lacks a crimp groove.

[Larry Gibson]

If I remember correctly (?), the idea behind the slightly smaller diameter front drive band was to help center the bullet as it entered the barrel forcing cone, not the cylinder throats.

[murf205]

Larry, I believe that myself. After talking with the guys at Sierra a few years back, they told me that the most accurate bullet they made for a lot of calibers was a round nose. the fly in the ointment was that if it isn't as pointed as a freshly sharpened pencil, they didn't sell worth a hoot. As big a fan as I am about the self centering theory, I can't argue with the success and accuracy of SWC's, hence my just acquired 224 grAttachment 305630 NOE for my 4" 29-2. I think I have all the bases covered 44 wise, anyway with a-left to right-224 gr, Lyman 429421, Noe 270gr and a Lee 310.

[405grain]

Bullets do not self center as they enter the forcing cone. In firearms, bullets move so quickly, with so much momentum, that if they enter into a barrel off center they will engrave and continue to travel down the bore with their center of mass misaligned with the bore. This applies to both rifles and pistols, with either jacketed or cast bullets. The accuracy of any firearm will improve if the bullets are aligned with the bore prior to firing.

That being said; I've been using the older version of the rcbs 44-245-SWC since the 1980's in both a Superblackhawk and a S&W 629 with excellent results. I take a lot of what magazine gun writers say with a grain of salt because (even though their advise is sometimes good) one of their main agendas is to help sell the products that fund their employer. There will always be the newest and best-est whiz-bang invention that's light years better than that "old" stuff that your using. It isn't so much that I don't buy the hype, it's a lot more that most of the old stuff works just fine.

[Onty]

Larry, I believe that myself. After talking with the guys at Sierra a few years back, they told me that the most accurate bullet they made for a lot of calibers was a round nose. the fly in the ointment was that if it isn't as pointed as a freshly sharpened pencil, they didn't sell worth a hoot...

IMO the issue with round nose bullets is their ballistic coefficient is less than of those pointed ones. Up to 100-150 yards not much different from pointed ones, but on longer distances the difference in velocity drop and point of impact was enough so shooters opted to go with pointed bullets.

In addition to that, I found an article on Paco Kelly's Leverguns.com about bullet testing. In the same rifle, two different bullets were tested. Both were same weight, launched at the same velocity, with very similar profile, except one was boat tail, another non boat tail. At 300 yards the boat tailed bullet printed almost a foot higher than non boat tailed one.

Back to SWC. Years back I was intrigued what will happen if our standard SWC has two grease grooves rather than a single one. I designed, and a good friend made from a single cavity 38 mold, 45-325-SWC, 2 grease grooves:



It was loaded using 4227, getting 1050-1100 fps (no chronograph, just estimate according to load chart), from 7.5" Bisley. After couple dozen rounds, I didn't notice any leading in a barrel. Contrary to that, a friend had Python Ultimate, and he was shooting from it 38 Special, 158-SWC. After dozen or so rounds, leading was clearly visible. FYI, both bullets were cast from the same WW lead.

I had nothing else to do these days, so I modified 44-265-SWC with .320" dia meplat, making same bullet with 2 grease grooves:



I already contacted one bullet mold maker. Hopefully, they will make it for me. Yeah, I know this is "shot in the dark", but I couldn't resist temptation.