.44 Mag Cast Bullet Load Information???

[GunNut]

New to .44mag reloading.

I've got some Meister Bullets 240gr RNFP, and have H110 powder.

These bullets have a brinnell hardness of 14-16.

Can these be treated as regular hard cast?

I was thinking Win. brass, CCI 350 primer and 21grs of H110????

What do you think? Will leading be a problem?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Johnny Guest]

What kind of firearm will you use to shoot these loads?

The 21 gr H-110 is well below max for a 240 jacketed, so should not be overstressing anything. Taking a guess, you should be getting around 1300 fps. Depending on the exact composition of the allow, you might well be getting some leading.

I understand you said you have H110 on hand, but you might want to shoot the lead bullets with charges of Unique, Bullseye or 231 at somewhere around 850 to 900. I have little experience with H110 in .44 Mag, and none with 240 gr. lead bullets.
I'm sure there are members who have better information who will kick in here.

Best,
Johnny

 

[GunNut]

Johnny,

Thanks for the reply.

I am shooting a S&W 629-5 Mountain Gun.

Steve

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I've generally had better luck with Blue Dot or other faster powder in a 4-inch barrel than the H110 or w296. In my experience, a lot of unburnt powder gets blown out the muzzle. It makes for spectacular displays after dark, however.

 

[richard_verslues]

To Gun Nut

Dear sir,

My advise is not to use H110 on lead bullets because H110 is a very slow pistol powder and to low of aload will cause you to stick a bullet in your barrel, and you my have a serious leading problem. If you use a 240gr lead bullet use 8grs of unique or 7.1grs of Red Dot which are good loads

 

[Powderman]

I second not using H110 on cast bullets. H110 requires a compressed (or near compressed load) for proper ignition and functioning. Thus, the proper load density for this powder will generate velocities that will cause lead to be deposited in the bore.

That being said, I cast my own .44's from wheelweight, quenched and sized to .430. The bullets are Keith-type SWC's, and from the mold they drop at 246 grains. I lube with Javelina ALOX, which is a good soft lube; it does tend to smoke up the place upon firing, but that's OK.

My load of choice for years has been 8.5 grains of Unique, any case, using Federal, CCI or Winchester primers. Accuracy from my gun has been spectacular; I have a 29-3 with the 8 3/8" barrel. Make sure that you use a good roll crimp to prevent bullet pull from recoil.

Now, there IS a way to use the slow powders like 2400 and H110/WW296 with cast bullets, and that is to use gas-checked bullets.

 

[eastwood44mag]

Call Hodgdon 913-362-9455

 

[fecmech]

I think H110, 296, AA9 etc. are just the ticket for cast bullets in the .44 Mag. Back when I was shooting Metallic Silhouetts with the .44 I went thru many 8 lb. kegs of WW 296 which for all intents and purposes is H110. I got excellent accuracy and uniformity using the Lyman "Keith" 250 gr. swc cast out of wheel weight metal which has a Brinnel of about 12-14. IMO gas checks are not necessary in any of the magnums with cast bullets. Leading should not be a problem if the bullets fit the throats on your revolver. That is they should not drop thru the throats but require some effort to push them thru. If they can't be pushed thru that is not a problem, better tight than loose. Good luck Nick

 

[GunNut]

So, where were you guys 3 years ago, when I asked this question?

Wish I still had the gun.

Steve

 

[fecmech]

Steve--I never looked at the start date of the thread, just that it had a current answer. That said, if you had the gun, powder and bullets why the heck did you not try it yourself?? When I started casting in the early 70's all I heard was you could not drive lead bullets over 1000fps without severe leading! It was in all the shooting mags of the time and it was pure BS. It all stemmed from commercial lead ammunition from WW and Rem in .357's. which were either plated or swedged with a wax coating. I cast plain based bullets in the .357 and .44 mag driving them at 1300fps with no leading and excellent accuracy. The slower powders are actually better from a leading standpoint than the faster numbers. Guys using the faster powders such as Unique needed the gas checks because those loads tended to lead more than 2400 or 296. There is a ton of misinformation out there in regards to cast bullets, some good info can be found at http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php. Next time dip your toe in the water and try for yourself. Nick

 

[GunNut]

Nick,

Who's saying that I didn't try?

I was just asking the question, at the time, to get any idea of what I had to look forward to.

I'm going to try and sell my Ruger Super Redhawk soon and pick up another 629 Mountain gun or a 5" 629. I love those 629's and don't really need the stomped .44mags the SRH will handle.

Thanks for the info and encouragement,
Steve

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

Is 2400 too slow to effectively use in a 4 inch .44? I just got done loading up my first batch of cast loads, a 250 Keith over 18.5 grains of 2400. My understanding is that this should be just a little up from a starting load.

I've used Rainier copper-coated bullets for everything up to now, and this is my first whirl at cast. These should be in the 20-22Bhn range.

 

[AH-1]

I have the same smith mountain gun.I cast my own 240 gr swc's.
as above unique,bullseye and 700X works great with lead in mine.
the smith seems to shoot best with cast bullets sized .429.most smiths run a tight bore.the mountain gun is a handful with that 4 inch tube with heavy loads
pete

 

[Powderman]

Oh, for heaven's sake...

That's what I get for not looking at the thread date!!!!

 

[M40A1]

240 grain cast SWC and 9 or 10 grains of Unique (I prefer 9 grains) makes an excellent all around .44 mag cast bullet load.

 

[Haycreek]

mag cast bullet loads

7.5 of SR 4756 is accurate, and does not lead my S&W 4" 629. using the new Speer coated 240 gr SWC. This load is aroung 900 {+} fps.

 

[Barr]

I have used 240 gr SWC from Oregon Trail over both H110 and 2400 and they both did fine. When I used the same loads over 240gr SWC Hornady Bullets I did get considerable leading. I loaded the Oregon Trail bullets right up to max charges and did not see terrible leading at all. I was cleaning strips out of the barrel with the Hornady bullets. I was shooting a 5.5" Ruger Redhawk.