Lite loads in 444

[1Shirt]

Picked up a box of 185 Hor. swaged 429's Cowboy's and thought as long as I was loading a batch of 444, might want to try some for offhand 50 yd. plinking.
Loaded them over 8 gr. of unique, didn't chrono, so don't know what they are doing, but suspect that they are probably in the 1250-1400 fps bracket. My Marlin is one of the early ones, and has a cheap 4x scope. Put 15 rounds at 50 yds out of it this a.m. into just under 2". Recoil is almost non existant. This turns my 444 into a real plinker. Also shot 10 300gr. Lazer Cast .431's over the same 8 gr. of Unique, and with only a little recoil, at 50 yds. they shot to the same point of aim as the 185's. Makes for cheap shooting, and good offhand practice for deer season.
1Shirt

[Newtire]

Sounds like another load to try for the .444. I use 13gr. BlueDot behind the 200 gr. Lee RNFP for same good accuracy for plinking.

[1Shirt]

Newtire, Will try Blue Dot and your load. Am always interested in playing with different loads and someone elses experiance. Might have to get that mold to try.
1Shirt!

[Newtire]

Newtire, Will try Blue Dot and your load. Am always interested in playing with different loads and someone elses experiance. Might have to get that mold to try.
1Shirt!

Just a note 1-shirt. That bullet you are shooting is probably just as good as the one I am shooting. That, by the way is the top charge I can get away with before I lose accuracy with that bullet. I never tried a big 300 grainer for a plinker before! I shot the Lyman 245 gr. semi-wadcutter gas-checked with 20.5 gr. BlueDot and that just barely lets you know you are shooting something with some punch. I also used the Lee 214 gr. SWC with 14 gr. BlueDot and then the Lee 240 gr gas-checked SWC with 17 gr. BlueDot. that BlueDot sure did alright by me but I understand that it is "temperature sensitive". Also I always used magnum primers but you may have good luck with standard ones. I just never tried them is all. That .444 is one versatile gun. Mine is an old one with a real old Japanese made Tasco 4X. Works just fine and with these plinkers, I can shoot it all day and no pain! I also did the trick with a round ball run thru a sizer to .431" and 8.0 gr. of Unique. Smeared the top of the ball with Liquid Alox and then with Midway mica powder to keep it less messy. These were real good at 25 yds. Sounds like an air rifle going off.

[High Desert Hunter]

Will any of these 444s feed the 429421? A buddy of mine has one, and I am trying to talk him into letting me cast some up for him, but he insists they won't feed, and is worried about leading.

Dave

[Newtire]

These Will feed in my Marlin but I have to crimp just on top of the last band. All that is sticking out is the nose. All I ever shot these with was BlueDot and 17 gr. of that. Size mine at .431 and that does it. Use Liquid Alox and "0" leading. Now that I am set up to use Felix-Lube with the Lyman sizer, I'll have to give that stuff a try. It works great in my '06 and 30-30's..Why not shouldn't it work.!

[mattc]

1 shirt
your 180gr hornady cowboy over 8 gr unique should be giving you about 1119 fps asuming you have about an 18" barrol and your pressures should be down around 5731 psi
if you get a chance to run some through a crony I would be courious to see how close this calk is

[High Desert Hunter]

Thanks Newtire, sounds like a good load to boot.

Dave