44 mag lead bullets and h110?

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adcoch1

adcoch1

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So I decided to try out some plinking loads for the 44 mag sbh, a 200 gr lasercast on top of 22.5 gr of H110. Got some advice that this load works good, so I loaded up 14 and went to check for leading. Well, the results were a bit disappointing, I ended up with a bit of unburnt powder, sooty cases, light leading in the last inch of my 5" barrel, and a few primers that seemed to be a little raised out of the pocket. One even dragged a bit as i rotated the cylinder. So, it appears i have a low pressure scenario, but am I already pushing the bullet too fast? This is my first attempt at loading non jacketed projectiles in handgun ammo. Any advice would be appreciated.

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I have been loading .44 mag with RNFP from MO bullet with AA # 9 and haven't had leading problems. The bullets are B18 hardness. I tried B12 and it leaded up pretty quick.
 
H-110 is probably the dirtiest powder I have ever used but it's a winner in the .44 Auto-Mag, producing the best groups for me with 200-240 gr. jacketed bullets.
 
Btw i really want to stick with H110 if i can, i don't have any other pistol powder at the moment.

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The primer issue is really what has me concerned, if the gun gets dirty i can clean it, and if there is a little bit of lead i can probably live with that too, but I've never experienced the primer setback issue before. Then again i am pretty new to handgun loading in general, i just got my press set up. Been 15 or so years since i did any serious loading, and for handgun that was on a friend's setup.

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H110/W296 is the go-to powder for full magnum loads in 44mag. I shoot a 7.5" SBH and get a bit of leading in 235gr 18BHN swc's at full power loads. Not much, though. I tried MBC coated bullets (240gr) at full power and got no leading at all with 18 BHN bullets and none with 12 BHN bullets. I'm sold on the coated bullets. I would expect a little leading from non coated lead if the bullet match to bore size and cylinder throat is not just right.
 
Yeah I just went through the hornady 9th and for a similar shaped 200 gr jacketed bullet the minimum H110 charge is 25.8 gr. Looks like i am way under.

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H110 and 200gr lead just isn't a real good combination, you're either gonna want to change powder or go to a heavier bullet. I don't even like H110 with 240s
 
Like they said... too light of charge. But you will probably end up with more leading problems if you go full throttle with those lightweight cast bullets. Either get heavier, or jacketed bullets, or a different powder. H110 is not really a "plinking" powder.

I use nearly that much H110 with 300gr cast and it works beautifully. But it gives the hand quite a whack too.
 
I guess i need to go grab a pound or two of Unique for the 200 grainers then. I got a smoking good deal on a box of 500 and these are the first i've tried. Lasercast also is pretty close to where i live, so if i get a good load sorted out i will use a lot of there stuff. Mostly shooting hornady and sierras for jacketed. Haven't tried pc boolits yet...

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A good idea would be to read a copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook. A few things that are needed before shooting lead bullets; You need to know the diameter of the cylinder throats. You need to know the groove diameter of the barrel. You need to need to know the "real" diameter of the bullet. Or you may just blindly keep trying different bullets, different sized, different BHN, or different lubes...;)

For starters, size, or purchase, bullets the same diameter as the cylinder throats. Most cylinder throats are a few thousandths of an inch larger than the groove diameter and bullets sized to the cylinder throats will be larger than the groove diameter and giving a good bullet/barrel seal. Larger diameter bullets will be swaged down by the cylinder throats as they pass through, and smaller bullets will allow gas cutting from a poor barrel/bullet seal.

"Normally" leading near the end of the barrel is due to lube "running dry" before bullets leave the barrel.

For discussions for nearly anything dealing with alloying, casting, lubing, sizing, loading, and shooting cast bullets; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php
 
mdi said:
A good idea would be to read a copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook. A few things that are needed before shooting lead bullets; You need to know the diameter of the cylinder throats. You need to know the groove diameter of the barrel. You need to need to know the "real" diameter of the bullet. Or you may just blindly keep trying different bullets, different sized, different BHN, or different lubes...;)

For starters, size, or purchase, bullets the same diameter as the cylinder throats. Most cylinder throats are a few thousandths of an inch larger than the groove diameter and bullets sized to the cylinder throats will be larger than the groove diameter and giving a good bullet/barrel seal. Larger diameter bullets will be swaged down by the cylinder throats as they pass through, and smaller bullets will allow gas cutting from a poor barrel/bullet seal.

"Normally" leading near the end of the barrel is due to lube "running dry" before bullets leave the barrel.

For discussions for nearly anything dealing with alloying, casting, lubing, sizing, loading, and shooting cast bullets; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php
Click to expand...
That is very good advice, i guess a new manual is in the future for me... and i didn't think about figuring out throat diameter either. Thanks for the advice, looks like i need to slow down and learn a little bit more. More to it than replacing a jacketed bullet a lead boolit.

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You do NOT need to know all the above info to shoot lead bullets. I've been shooting cast lead bullets for 20 years and I've never slugged a barrel in my life and never get any leading whatsoever. My barrels stay shiny clean. Shooting lead is not rocket science, just common sense.
 
adcoch1,

what primer are you using? how much bullet tension? how heavy is your crimp?

murf
 
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Lose the H110, it needs good stiff loads and doesn't do well at low charges. Better would be 2400 which I replaced H110 with.

2400 will handle reduced loads better. I shoot a lot of .44 Special loads using 15.0 gr and a 250 gr LSWC. This gives me just over 1000 fps.
 
The advice on throat diameter and slug sizing is all good, but I would add one thing:

If you powder coat or HiTek coat your cast bullets, you can entirely divorce the alloy hardness from the internal ballistics of the bullet. I've run soft lead slugs in hot 158gr .357 magnum, and never seen leading with either of the above lubes. Traditional lubrication can't do that.
 
the only suggestion i can make is to switch to cci 350 primers. you didn't mention the bullet tension, but it needs to be .004" or more to work well with h110.

sometimes the gun your shooting just doesn't work with a certain load. this load just might not work in your revolver.

luck,

murf
 
Thanks Murf, i have some cci 350s, I'll try those next. Gonna check some sizing dimensions. And get my load a little hotter and see what i end up with. I have 3 44 mags to try these out in, so i'm not worried. I can always get some unique and work up loads with it too. That's the fun of reloading!

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If the OP is going to use H110/W296,he needs to us ...

- A heavier (240gr-ish) bullet (preferably gas-checked)
- At least the Min load in the manuals
- A mag primer.

Like the other responders' counsel above, however, a light bullet/plinking load means
a faster powder on the order of Unique/Universal/Bullseye/TiteGroup/WST etc, etc
 
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