44mag-.429 vs .430?

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Axis II

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I was just searching online deals for 44mag bullets and notice a .429 and .430. upon searching google i found a few very short threads saying you can use a .430 bullet for 44mag but i just wanted to confirm with you guys that its okay because i seen several boxes said 444marlin. i get inconsistencies with my 44mag handi rifle so i figured i would try the .430 if its safe to see if it will shoot consistent. Ive noticed that if the gun is dirty it will shoot 5 shots almost touching at 75yards but run a brush or patches and they open up.
 
"....429 and .430..." Former is jacketed. Latter is cast/plated. Ditto for the .444 Marlin. Mind you, you can get into Marlin's Micro-Groove rifling issues. Some cast bullets don't work well with it, but the diameters are the same as a .44 Mag.
On-line deals for bullets will be negated by the shipping costs. Shipping costs are not set by the retailer either.
 
Usually jacketed bullets are sized at .429" and cast bullets more like .430" or maybe .431".

Cast swage down more in fitting the bore, ensuring a good seal and reducing leading. Jacketed won't lead up your barrel even if a bit undersized.
 
Last I looked, sportsmans warehouse had nosler sporting handgun jhp 240 grains for 25 bucks per box of 250. I am still playing with them, but they appear to be a high quality bullet and the price is right.
 
Hornady XTP Jacketed bullets only come in .430. I use them in both pistol and rifle. Both are vey accurate using this bullet and if you are still not convinced that .430 jacketed bullets are fine for pistol or rifle just check the Hornady,Lyman and Vihtavuori reloading manuals. That all have recommended loads for 44 Cal. using Hornady .430 XTP bullets.
 
Use the bigger bullets in Marlin barrels. They were cut to be 0.431". I asked the factory why, and they said, "SAAMI specs". I have shot enough 0.454" diameter lead bullets in 0.452" 45 Long Colts to say, I can't tell a difference on paper. Of course my 45LC loads are much lighter than a 44 Magnum.
 
ohihunter2014 said:
these are what i was looking at. Im also interested in them to run through a muzzleloader.

https://www.midwayusa.com/s?targetLocation=/_/N-19785+4294940657?Np=2&Nr=AND%28p_visible%3A1%2Ccustomertypeid%3A1%29&Nrpp=24&Ns=p_metric_sales_velocity%7C1&Ntpc=1&Ntpr=1&userItemsPerPage=48&persistedItemsPerPage=0
Click to expand...

Hornady's offerings for .44 mag are some of the most accurate I have used......and when they are on sale, some of the most economical jacketed bullets suitable for hunting deer sized game.
 
FWIW and mebbe an accuracy consideration; SAAMI specs for .44 Magnum rifle barrels is .431" differing from the hand gun specs of .429". I don't know the reason. I would go with the .430" jacketed bullets hoping for a better fit, and it certainly wouldn't hurt anything...
 
Lets bring this back for a little more info. I found Nosler .429 240gr on sale for a very, very good price. All the bullets in my Hornady manual state .430 bullet size for jacketed. Can i shoot .429 in a rifle or are they pistol only?
 
For jacketed bullets the .001" is insignificant (and yep, depending on the manufacturer .429" and .430" are most common). SAAMI spec. for the groove diameter of handguns is .429". It's only .0005" difference in engagement on the OD of the bullet and for the 44, even at magnum velocities the difference ain't enough to worry about. For cast bullets I have loaded my 44 Magnums with up to .433" bullets for my rifle and mostly .431" for my revolvers (cast revolver bullets are sized the the same diameter as the cylinder throats)...
 
mdi said:
For jacketed bullets the .001" is insignificant (and yep, depending on the manufacturer .429" and .430" are most common). SAAMI spec. for the groove diameter of handguns is .429". It's only .0005" difference in engagement on the OD of the bullet and for the 44, even at magnum velocities the difference ain't enough to worry about. For cast bullets I have loaded my 44 Magnums with up to .433" bullets for my rifle and mostly .431" for my revolvers (cast revolver bullets are sized the the same diameter as the cylinder throats)...
Click to expand...
Thank you. I wasn't sure if the .430 was rifle only cause of them having a larger bore or what but then i got to thinking maybe its a hornady only thing as nosler and speer only make .429 and what if someone purchased factory and ran them through either gun i cant see there being a factory rifle only or pistol only round.
 
It's a Hornady thing. Been shooting .430 XTP's for years in both rifle and pistol and I hardly notice any difference with .429 jacketed bullets of the same weight.
 
I never even look to see if they're .429 or .430. IMHO, it's irrelevant.

Not a big fan of Hornady's pistol bullets like the XTP. Seen too many of them fail.
 
I use .432 in my RUGER SBH (.429 bore)with hardly any boolit leading.
Pushing a 265 Noe kieth at 1235 non gas check
 
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