MBC .44 mag bullets

[JM531]

I’m trying to decide what .44 mag bullets to purchase from Missouri Bullet Company. Could ya’ll shed some light on what you are using from them and why? I want one for general .44 plinking/shooting out of my 629 as well as one I can hunt deer with. At some point I would like to get my hands on a marlin lever gun and shoot some of the same rounds out of that as well. I currently plan on loading with 2400 as that’s what I have but also open to loading with unique once I find some supply.

thanks!

 

[Milt1]

MBC has some interesting results from customers in their "Range Report".

 

[.38 Special]

I just took a look through their .44 selection and honestly don't like any of them. 18 BHN is just too hard for nearly any handgun load. They do offer some in 12 BHN but not in shapes that are generally useful except for plinking and cowboy action shooting. And their "Keith" bullet is an offense to the gods.

I have no experience with powdercoated bullets and don't plan on getting any, just on general principle. #GetOffMyLawn.

 

[JM531]

I just took a look through their .44 selection and honestly don't like any of them. 18 BHN is just too hard for nearly any handgun load. They do offer some in 12 BHN but not in shapes that are generally useful except for plinking and cowboy action shooting. And their "Keith" bullet is an offense to the gods.

I have no experience with powdercoated bullets and don't plan on getting any, just on general principle. #GetOffMyLawn.

Why is BHN 18 too hard for nearly any handgun load?

 

[.38 Special]

Because the bullet needs to expand upon firing to exactly fit the throats and/or bore. If it is too hard, it does not expand adequately and will leave too much lead in the bore and often will not allow the gun to demonstrate best accuracy. (If you want a thorough understanding, Glen Fryxell really goes into detail. http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.htm)

The short version is that you need to really hammer an 18 BHN to get it to work right. Max loads in your .44 Magnum probably will do it. Anything less and the results probably won't be ideal. 12 BHN, on the other hand, is pretty ideal for almost everything - assuming the bullets fit! And MBC apparently does not offer anything but .430, which might work but also might not. Sadly, the only places that I am aware of which will cast bullets of correct hardness and your choice of size are either really expensive or really backordered, or both.

<edit> Having written all that, I may be too picky. Lots of people use alloy that is "too hard" but are satisfied with the results. It may not be perfect, but perfect may not always be necessary. I will say that, of shapes available from MBC, I do not like truncated cones for anything. In my experience they are less accurate and less effective in game than just about any other shape. I do use the RNFP on occasion and figure their "Cowboy #20 - Black Powder" in 12 BHN would be useful for a lot of things, and adequate-but-not-ideal for hunting game up to smallish whitetails. If forced to select from their list for big game hunting, I would choose the ".44 Hammer" and drive it as hard as I possibly could.

 

[mdi]

If you buy any 44 cal. cast bullet, from any commercial caster make sure you get at least .431" bullets for your revolver and .432" minimum for a rifle (SAAMI specs for rifle barrels are .003" larger than pistol barrels). You don't want (or in many cases need) anything harder than 15 BHN; Lyman #2, and for some reason newer lead bullet users have been convinced "harder is better". BHN18+ cast bullets rarely obturate, and a "normal" commercial bullet of 18+ BHN is often too small (I've seen commercial cast bullets, hard bullets, to be the same diameters as jacketed bullets). At best heavy barrel leading and poor accuracy. I have my "Mystery Metal" alloy that runs about 11-12 BHN and I have driven bullets cast from it to 1,300 fps often, n]and used Lyman #2 for rifle loads up to 2,300 fps, but these bullets fit my guns.

I like to suggest to new shooters/reloaders, for either jacketed loads or lead loads, start with a tried and true load or components, and for 44 Magnum lead bullets that would be a 240 gr SWC. Probably the single most used 44 cal bullet today. I have cast and fired thousands of Lyman 429421s in 3 revolvers and one Contender and with a decent load and decent lube they are accurate and trouble free. For my carbine and due to feeding problems I chose a Ranch Dog design 240 gr. RNFP. Very accurate in all my 44s and feeds like butter in my lever gun...

 

[Patocazador]

and for 44 Magnum lead bullets that would be a 240 gr SWC. Probably the single most used 44 cal bullet today.

Good advice.

 

[Typetwelve]

I've only used two of theirs, both coated in Hi-Tek, Cowboy #3 (12 hardness, 240g), and their "44 Elmer K" (18 hardness, 240g). I've had great luck with the CB #3, I have not had any luck with the Elmer K.

The CB#3 shoots well in my Charter Bulldog, Super Redhawk, and Henry big boy carbine. The Elmer K lead...pretty much no matter what I do with them. I've ran them from sub 1000 fps to 1600 fps screamers and nothing fixes the leading issue. All it does is make a difference where they lead and how much.

Personally, I feel 18 hardness is too hard.

 

[WLDNWALT]

I purchased some MBC coated 9mm bullets and have some leading in the barrel. Does it more when loading light and less when loading them at max.

 

[Typetwelve]

I purchased some MBC coated 9mm bullets and have some leading in the barrel. Does it more when loading light and less when loading them at max.

Yeah, I did the same thing...and found the same thing. I bought their hi-tek coated 115g 9mm and had not so great luck with them. They'll shoot well enough to ring steel at close range, but they lead up my barrel pretty well. I'll stick to Berry's copper coated moving forward.

Now...MCB's DEWC for 38 special loads are superb...but I've found the exact same thing cheaper elsewhere.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I've never had any luck with any lead 9mm bullets.
I gave up on shooting cast for that caliber. Sold my mold.

I cast my own now, but before I started I used MBC's .45 Colt bullets and had great luck with them.

I agree that 18 is too hard for most handgun applications.
Elmer developed the .44 magnum using bullets with a BHN of about 11, and we know how he liked to push things.

 

[mdi]

The key to shooting clean, accurate lead bullets is bullet to gun fit. If a bullet is too small, even up to a 22 BHN it will lead the bore. For most lead bullet shooting one really should know their gun, know the critical dimensions to get good bullet to gun fit. Second is bullet lube. I have driven some bullets to 1,200 cleanly with one lube, but the same loads with a different lube leaded the barrel quite a bit. Research and experimenting for finding a good lube is usually necessary. I have a couple good lubes I use.White Label Lubes Carnauba Red for my rifle and magnum handgun loads and my home made Speed Green. Although I use others (45-45-10 and alox and a couple home made) these two largely cover all my cast bullets...

I also cast for my 9mm pistols and most important is bullet to barrel fit (especially for my poly rifled gun). Second is a good lube. Then I fiddled with alloy finding Lyman #2 worked well. My powders run in the Unique/Universal range and I get little leading from my home cast Lee 358-125-RF, sized accordingly; 357" for 2 guns, and .358"+ for two...

 

[Thomasss]

I ordered 2,000, Powdered Coated Powder 9mm, 124 grain round nose on July 8 and got them on August 9. I ordered through MidwestUSA.com and got free shipping. Now I hear it's taking 6 weeks. Bullets, especially hand gun bullets are hard to come by. Load them according lead recipes and they do just fine. Don't worry about the coating, its only .002 thick. No barrel leading, just a little dust.

 

[Typetwelve]

In the end, I switched to Zero bullets for my "hot" magnum shooting, Their SJSP is a great all purpose projectile, and is relatively affordable at $137 shipped for 1000. I no longer have to worry about projectile vs bore size, lube, leading, what kind of powder to use, etc. I load them and they shoot.

After much goofing around, I landed up with those zero projectiles, MCB Cowboy #3 for the light stuff, and XTP for business. Simple simon.

 

[LoonWulf]

I run the costed 240mbcs thru my sbh over a max charge of h110 and have no issues. I also run them thru my GP100 at just under 1k, and they will lead. I still shoot 100 rounds or so between cleanings which doesn't bother me.

I do want to try some of the softer bullets in my gp, just to see if they work better.

 

[sparkyv]

The coated 240gr MBC 44 Magnum TCFP .430 18BHN shoots extremely well in my M629, my favorite range round for plinking, target, silhouette, etc. I'm developing loads for the coated 300gr MBC 44 Hammer WFN .430 18BHN because one day I hope to hunt with it. The Hammer shoots high vs. the TCFP which is not totally unexpected because of longer barrel time. I like my loads on the spicy side. They both are a great value, a high quality product and shoot well, sometimes with a minor amount of leading that I shoot out with final 5 rounds of copper plated or jacketed projectiles. My system works great.

I’m trying to decide what .44 mag bullets to purchase from Missouri Bullet Company. Could ya’ll shed some light on what you are using from them and why? I want one for general .44 plinking/shooting out of my 629 as well as one I can hunt deer with. At some point I would like to get my hands on a marlin lever gun and shoot some of the same rounds out of that as well. I currently plan on loading with 2400 as that’s what I have but also open to loading with unique once I find some supply.

thanks!

 

[JM531]

The coated 240gr MBC 44 Magnum TCFP .430 18BHN shoots extremely well in my M629, my favorite range round for plinking, target, silhouette, etc. I'm developing loads for the coated 300gr MBC 44 Hammer WFN .430 18BHN because one day I hope to hunt with it. The Hammer shoots high vs. the TCFP which is not totally unexpected because of longer barrel time. I like my loads on the spicy side. They both are a great value, a high quality product and shoot well, sometimes with a minor amount of leading that I shoot out with final 5 rounds of copper plated or jacketed projectiles. My system works great.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[roval]

you can order different sized bullets from MBC normally. you just have to special order them and in the comment section of your order mention what you want them sized at but when i ordered mine i called them. not sure if possible with the current situation. i think you have to order 1000rds to special order it. that's the size of the order i placed. have .431 240 gr swc pc from them as my Ruger SRH has .430 throats but they work well also for my 629 that has .431 throats. they are accurate with unique and 296/h110.

 

[cadet3]

I've had excellent accuracy with their 240gr coated round nose flat points. These were shot at 20 yards from sand bags from a 7.5" barrel Ruger Super Redhawk.