Ruger Redhawk leading?

Bore diameter is really 4.23? Send that back, that's completely wrong. That's .05" undersized, wildly out of spec, that cant be right. It should be .429 or .430.

SAAMI specs for .44 Magnum Pistols are:
Bore Diameter = .417"
Groove Diameter = .429"

I got confused on the bore/groove spec but leading is always about poor bullet fit and your barrels deviation from saami spec still seems like the culprit to me. The charge holes seem to be the culprit primarily when undersized in my limited experience, not oversized.

The barrel seems to be a glaring problem if those are in fact the major/minor diameters. I would forget about the chamber throats until the barrel is taken care of.

However, Ruger is bad about manufacturing throats improperly.

Or try some .427 bullets.

How did you measure the chamber throats? The only real way is with pin gauges.

Second there is no molten lead entering anything. It's physically impossible.

If your chamber throats are really .433 then you should be shooting much larger bullet than you are.

But you really need to send this revolver back to Ruger if those barrel measurements are correct.

try .433" diameter bullets. or roll those .432" diameter bullets in alox.

luck,

murf

Try sizing your bullets to the same diameter as the cylinder throats. Every revolver I own (except rimfires) gets cast bullets sized to the same diameter as the cylinder throats. In most of my revolvers (9), this cut down leading considerably and on a few, completely...

I've used telescoping and expanding ball gauges, and they can give just as accurate measurements as pin/plug gauges. I haven't used any on my revolvers but a couple pin gauges, "go" and "no go" aren't real expensive (for my 44s I use ,429", go [same as handgun groove dia] and .433" no go [rifle groove diameter per SAAMI is .431"]).

Since I have experienced relief of high pressure by opening throats, I would offer that these oversize throats would significantly lower pressure and probably affect the bullet's performance. It has been rare for me to have a Ruger that didn't need to go back at least once, and it has usually been for a cylinder issue.

I would send it back. Call them. They will make it right.

I have 3, 44 Magnum revolvers (and yep, one is a Ruger). All have cylinder throats .431". I think a cylinder throat should be at least .002" larger than groove diameter for shooting lead bullets. In all 3, .429" is the groove diameter on my revolvers, so throats of .429" would be too small...

(Ruger, S&W 629, Dan Wesson 44H)

Actually the .433" throats are in "spec". SAAMI 44 Magnum cylinder throats diameter is .4325" +.004". Technically OK, but I would just use larger diameter bullets or if that didn't work, mebbe send it back?

18bhn is flat out too hard of an alloy for what you're doing. I'm pushing a 15bhn alloy 2600fps+/37,000+psi in a 308w.

s&w years ago decided to use .432" cylinders in the 29's/24's/624's. I have no idea why but it made it interesting when loading 44spl's for the 624. The 624 with 220gr hbwc's sized to .432".


A 4" bbl'd s& w 29-3 with .432" cylinders


For anything under 25,000psi I use a 8/9bhn alloy. For hotter/heavier pressured loads I'll step up to 12/13bhn alloys. The bullets are sized to .432". No leading but I have to use a lyman m-die for an expander.

I don't know what type of dies your using to reload with but I'd be taking a hard look at your expander die/expander ball. Factory expanders are designed for neck tension on a .429" bullet. It's common for these factory expanders to not open the cases large enough/deep enough and the end result is the base of the lead/cast bullet gets swaged down in diameter. When this happens the end result is leading.


A m-die goes into the case twice as far as a factory lee expander.


You might consider giving neo bullet molds a call, they make custom expanders (extremely cheap) that use a lee universal de-capping die & screw into them.

With you having issues with .432" bullets with alloys from 12bhn to 18bhn. It sounds like your swaging the bullets bases down when reloading them. A classic tell tale is when you can see the bullets body or base in the case of the reloaded round or what's known as wasp waist.

I've owned a bunch of 44cal firearms over the decades. The cylinders/chambers/bores are all over the place. Sort of reminds me of the modern 9mm bbl.'s with 1 in 10 twists, 1 in 16 twists, chambers with no leade's, bbl.'s from .355" to .358", etc.

Hope you get everything sorted out. Redhawks are fantastic revolvers

your throats are too big. time to run gas-checked bullets in that gun unless you max load with h110. you could get .434" diameter bullets, but will probably run into seating issues and feeding issues because the o.d. of the loaded round will be too big.

my opinion of course,

murf

my 44 special Blackhawk has this same problem. I spent a lot of time trying to eliminate the massive leading problem and failed. it only gets gas checked bullets now (I don't like to run jacketed bullets in that for some reason, but would do well as the gun is very accurate).

luck,

murf

Old thread warning.

I learned to cast using the Lyman 1970s #45 manual. They used Lyman #2 alloy.
From the manual.

Slug your bore before reloading and size cast bullets to exact groove diameter.

Click to expand...

This i have been doing for many years in 38, 357, 44 mag & 45 acp.

I find standard cast bullet diameters work well at .358" .430" & .451" or .452" in many brands & models of firearms.

The alloy has to be hard enough so the bullets do not slump or skid when fired.

After the diameter, bullet lube is most important. Many years ago the type of Alox was discontinued and replaced with a new type of Alox. The new Alox is not as good as the old. The new does not leave a lube star on the muzzle after firing many rounds. Lead build up may form in the first inch of the rifling, but accuracy will still be good. This is not true leading.

Real leading causes a loss of accuracy.
At 50 feet a 38 special could not keep all shots on a 11" x 9" target. The soft swaged 148 gr .358" diameter bullet was being fired in a .354" groove diameter barrel.

I would suggest trying flat base bullets, no gas checks, 18 BHN, .430" Diameter and apply Lee Liquid Alox to the bullets over the existing bullet lube. No need to remove the lube thats already there.

LEE-

Knowledgebase

Liquid Alox application
Posted by on 23 October 2018 03:48 PM
Best results in applying liquid Alox are when the Alox is heated before applying, or thinned with mineral spirits to maximum of 1 part mineral spirits to 10 parts Alox. This makes it flow more easily, and results in a more even coat. One technique is to boil water and pour it into a coffee mug, and then drop the bottle of liquid Alox into the mug for about five minutes.

Place your freshly cast bullets into something about the size of a Cool Whip bowl and drop a few drops of liquid Alox on the bullets. Mix the bullets around until they are all coated. Lay the freshly coated bullets on some wax paper to dry. Liquid Alox will usually dry enough overnight to reload the next day, depending upon the humidity.

If you subscribe to the "more is better" line of thought, your coated bullets may never dry. Don't go for a "golden" color but rather just a light varnish. If you discover that your bullets are sticky the next day, you can get by with using a little less the next time. Keep reducing until the "stickiness" is gone by the next day. Tacky bullets can be dusted with powdered graphite.

If you are sizing your cast bullets, it is necessary to lube them first. Because the sizer will remove some of the surface of a larger diameter bullet, you may need to re-lubricate the bullets after they have been sized.

Many of our bullets are of the "TL" or Tumble Lube design. These bullets have many shallow grooves that are perfect for allowing Liquid Alox to adhere to a great amount of surface. It has been reported that the accuracy of these bullets is high.

Click to expand...

I had the same problem using bought hardcast bullets they were too hard. If I didn’t run them at max with H110 they were horrible to lead and they were even Hi-tek coated but they were also smaller than my srh cylinder throats. I started casting my own powdercoat them and size them fat no problems at any speed I am sizing them .432+

you can special order different sized bullets from MBC if you get a 1000. it would suck though if you ordered .434/.435 or even
.433 and it didn't solve the problem.

If leading starts at the beginning of the barrel it's a fitment issue. At the end it's a lube issue.

What velocity are you trying to be at?
Have you tried hitek coated bullets?

Ruger is pretty solid at customer service.
Call them and ask. I had one of the very first sr1911's and it leaded from a bad cut barrel. It came back hand lapped on Rugers dime.