.44 mag roundball starting point

[Semaj]

Hey y'all, I've been loading .440 round balls in my ruger sbh as a fun mouse fart load, but was wondering how fast I could push them. Have any of you tried sending hardcast rb's at higher velocities? I'm sizing them to .430 so i've got a decent bearing surface but understandably couldn't find load data for 130gr bullets. Any advice?

[Outpost75]

American Rifleman tests from early 1980s recommended 5 grains of Bullseye.

[Thumbcocker]

I use .433 rb's rolled in liquid alox. Fun enough but not very accurate. I used red dot starting at 3 grains and working up. Accuracy will fall off before pressure gets too high. Safety note. Round balls can bounce back from hard surfaces if you are close.

Performance and Accuracy improve if the balls are seated extra deep in the case. I used unprimed brass and that also helped. Balls were pure lead.

Per an old Speer manual.

3.4 of 231 554 fps
3.4 of 700x 584 fps.
3.0 of green dot 545 fps.
2.9 bullseye 549 fps.

My experience is that you get loss of accuracy much above these loads. Some people loaded 2 ball in a case back in the day. That never rang my bell and I have no data on it.

Point of impact is usually very low with the lighter projectiles.

Standard disclaimer.

[lar45]

This is not load data, just some ideas run through Quickload...
44mag - 6" barrel, Lyman 440 round ball 130gn, COAL 1.505"
You didn't specify your load length, so I just went with the ball seated halfway.

Unique:
13gn - 1564fps @ 22kpsi 69% load density
15gn - 1743fps @ 30kpsi 80% load density

BlueDot:
15gn - 1542fps @ 21kpsi 84%
23gn - 1780fps @ 30kpsi 97%

[HWooldridge]

I've shot a lot of round balls out of 44 and 45 revolvers and as mentioned above, they are not very accurate - regardless of lube or not. Loading two balls is not any better and grouping at any decent distance is poor. A collar button design will group much better due to the longer bearing surface. POI will also be closer with collar buttons - although usually still several inches lower than "normal" loads. I had to crank my Ruger Blackhawk rear sight to an extreme setting with those ultra light pills - so I eventually just went back to 250 gr and called it done.

Round balls work best when patched in ML guns or loaded bare in percussion revolvers.

[Larry Gibson]

Concur with HWooldridge. I seldom use any RB in any cartridge anymore. Light weight for caliber PB'd bullets are always sooooo much better. Especially with the high cost of primers and powder these days I would not waste them on RBs.

[Texas Gun]

i use 44 RB with a case full of BP in my 44 mag

[MT Gianni]

Two RB in a 45 muzzleloader would be 4" apart at 100 yards. In a handgun try for under 650 fps.

[fredj338]

I dont know why you would want to do that but use max data for the lightest bullet you can find. You have almost zero bearing surface anyway.

[Gobeyond]

[QUOTE=HWooldridge;5570462]I've shot a lot of round balls out of 44 and 45 revolvers and as mentioned above, they are not very accurate - regardless of lube or not. Loading two balls is not any better and grouping at any decent distance is poor. A collar button design will group much better due to the longer bearing surface. POI will also be closer with collar buttons - although usually still several inches lower than "normal" loads. I had to crank my Ruger Blackhawk rear sight to an extreme setting with those ultra light pills - so I eventually just went back to 250 gr and called it done.

I want to shoot a collar button in a bp revolver with 45 colt cylinder. The MP mold would have to be sized down to 452. Will it shoot good? Most collar button bullets are bigger than 45 colt. But you say you have shot them. Can I have the benefit of your experience?

[Texas by God]

I’ve always gotten minute of squirrel accuracy to the tops of our pecan trees. But past that they stray a bit.
I’ve used 4.7 grs(Lee dipper.5cc) of Bullseye in .44 Mag and 44-40, 30-30, 30-40, and 38-55 cartridges with the proper size RB with a tumble lube coat. .433” is the recommended size for the .44s, .310” for the .30s, and .380” for the 38-55.
Try it, it’s fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gobeyond]

I've shot a lot of round balls out of 44 and 45 revolvers and as mentioned above, they are not very accurate - regardless of lube or not. Loading two balls is not any better and grouping at any decent distance is poor. A collar button design will group much better due to the longer bearing surface. POI will also be closer with collar buttons - although usually still several inches lower than "normal" loads. I had to crank my Ruger Blackhawk rear sight to an extreme setting with those ultra light pills - so I eventually just went back to 250 gr and called it done.

Round balls work best when patched in ML guns or loaded bare in percussion revolvers.

Did those collar buttons group ok in 45 colt? Did the sizing go ok to 452? I want to size down an MP mold product. Do they work good sized down so far?

[HWooldridge]

Did those collar buttons group ok in 45 colt? Did the sizing go ok to 452? I want to size down an MP mold product. Do they work good sized down so far?

You can get collar buttons in .452 - .458 is not the only game in town. And yes, they group well in 45 LC but invariably shoot low to POA if the gun is sighted for factory weight projectiles. I expect they might shoot pretty well in a BP percussion revolver.

[Gobeyond]

[QUOTE=Gobeyond;5575527]

I've shot a lot of round balls out of 44 and 45 revolvers and as mentioned above, they are not very accurate - regardless of lube or not. Loading two balls is not any better and grouping at any decent distance is poor. A collar button design will group much better due to the longer bearing surface. POI will also be closer with collar buttons - although usually still several inches lower than "normal" loads. I had to crank my Ruger Blackhawk rear sight to an extreme setting with those ultra light pills - so I eventually just went back to 250 gr and called it done.

I want to shoot a collar button in a bp revolver with 45 colt cylinder. The MP mold would have to be sized down to 452. Will it shoot good? Most collar button bullets are bigger than 45 colt. But you say you have shot them. Can I have the benefit of your experience?

You can get collar buttons in .452 - .458 is not the only game in town. And yes, they group well in 45 LC but invariably shoot low to POA if the gun is sighted for factory weight projectiles. I expect they might shoot pretty well in a BP percussion revolver.

Thanks for the answer @HWooldridge. That’s hopeful. Do you ever buy a mold before you know if it’s going to shoot well? I emailed you about this same post. But while I have you………. There is a spring sale @MPMolds. Great prices in some cases.
Should I invest in a mold before I know it’s gonna be good.

[HWooldridge]

[QUOTE=Gobeyond;5575914]

Thanks for the answer @HWooldridge. That’s hopeful. Do you ever buy a mold before you know if it’s going to shoot well? I emailed you about this same post. But while I have you………. There is a spring sale @MPMolds. Great prices in some cases.
Should I invest in a mold before I know it’s gonna be good.

I bought a box each of 44 and 45 collar buttons from Matt’s Bullets. I suggest doing that before you buy a mold, just my opinion…