Loadings for 310 grain 44 magnum cast RF

[Blade&Bullet94]

so yeah, as the title implies, im getting started on loading for the 44 magnum. my sister will be recieving an interarms virginian dragoon 44 mag single action with i believe a 7 inch barrel. i got a mold from the local gun shop, for 310 grain round-nose flat-points.i havent been able to find much information on loadings for such a heavy bullet, and id like at least one full house magnum loading and one thats much tamer for her target shooting and plinking. thanks guys.

 

[41 Mag]

The Lee Modern Reloading Second edition has some data, Accurate Powders has some data, and you might try Handloads.org.

If that is the Lee mold, your final weight will depend upon the alloy you use, and the temp at which you cast. The hotter the alloy and mold the heavier the bullets will be to a certain extent. You might want to also pick up a thermometer to monitor you alloy temp, and try and keep in in the 675 - 700 degree range.

If it is a GC design, I found that if I go much higher than that, the GC's are a pain to install. One thing that makes them a bit easier is to anneal them. Personally, I found it easier to simply keep the alloy temp under control.

Also after you pour up a batch, unless your water quenching them let them sit for around two weeks before sizing and lubing. This will give the alloy plenty of time to stabilize. This isn't to say that you cannot pour, size, lube, load, and shoot in say the weekend you pour them up, simply that sometimes if allowed to sit they will actually get bigger after being sized right after casting. This may or may not effect how well they will fit in your cylinder or the pressures you will have.

I have found that when using straight wheel weight alloy, two weeks works perfect. I pour up a hundred or so, once cool toss them into a baggie, then after two to three weeks I lube and load. Mine will shoot great as cast at the above temps with no checks using lighter loads, as well as when they get run through the sizer for the GC. I use a mix of LLA referred to as 45/45/10 or Recluse Lube, which is 45% Alox, 45% Johnson's Paste Wax, and 10% Mineral Spirits. Directions can be found here,
Tumble Lubing--Made Easy & Mess-Free

I use it almost exclusively and have pushed it up to 1700fps in my 454 with a good fitting bullet with no leading. Just remember to slug your bore and size .001 - .002 over. Also be sure to check the mouths of your chambers on your cylinder. If they are smaller than your bore dia. you will need to have them honed in order to shoot cast without having to fight leading.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

wow, thank ya much for the info! i do water quench them, and my alloy is from range scrap primarily. yes it is a lee mold, a double cavity 310 grain round nose flat point. iv never cast a bullet this big, and found that i had to lower the temp a bit from my norm because they were taking far too long to cool. i dont have any cases yet so i havent gotten to try loading, and we wont have the gun for a week yet, so iv got time to soak up some info.

 

[savanahsdad]

I use loaddata.com it is $29 a year but has everything you can dream up from heavy 44 loads to some wildcat loads , I even found loads for my .32rem witch died out back in the 1940's good luck and hang on tight with that 310gr load

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

dp you know if loaddata.com has ifo on the 6.5x257 roberts wildcat? if so i would deffinately subscribe to that my father has a rifle in that cartridge and it would help ALOT.

 

[savanahsdad]

dp you know if loaddata.com has ifo on the 6.5x257 roberts wildcat? if so i would deffinately subscribe to that my father has a rifle in that cartridge and it would help ALOT.

yep , there are 96 loads listed for 6.5x257 from 87gr too 140gr bullets , you can serch there site to see what they have , it just wont give you the data if you aren't a member.

 

[CraigC]

Shouldn't have a problem finding data for the 310gr Lee. They don't have that particular bullet but Hodgdon has some of the best heavy bullet .44Mag data available.

LoadData.com is a great resource! I don't know why it's not more popular, I almost never see it mentioned.

 

[Swampman]

I load 19.7 grains of H110 with Federal magnum primers under the Lee 310 grain bullet with gas check in my S&W 29-2. This load is considerably under max and may be getting close to a minimum safe load with H110, although I've had no problems. In the past I loaded 21 grains, but I honestly think that's a bit hot anymore for a 29. The 19.7 grain load seems to kill hogs just as well as the stouter load ever did.
At this performance level I'd probably be better off with 2400, but I've still got more than half a caddy of H110 and the only other thing I have that eats it is a seldom fired .30 carbine.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

ooooh thank you savanah! that rifle has real sentimental value to my father, and im sure that being able to hunt with it would make him very happy. anyway, than you all for your help with this, i will definately be signing up to LoadData.com. From what iv been hearing locally, 310 grains is abit heavy for just a plinking/target load, so ill probley save that for a hunting/silhouette load with h110 like swampman suggested, and find a lighter casting mold for a cowboy plinking load using trailboss.

 

[savanahsdad]

ooooh thank you savanah! that rifle has real sentimental value to my father, and im sure that being able to hunt with it would make him very happy. anyway, than you all for your help with this, i will definately be signing up to LoadData.com. From what iv been hearing locally, 310 grains is abit heavy for just a plinking/target load, so ill probley save that for a hunting/silhouette load with h110 like swampman suggested, and find a lighter casting mold for a cowboy plinking load using trailboss.

I'll tell Savannah you said thanks lol.... she is my red-husky , , anyway , good luck with your new info , and your welcome

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

well now im stuck. i cast my bullets and i know they have to be resized, but how big should they be? the mold says they come out at .430 so do i need a .430 lee sizing die or a .429?

*EDIT* Well tonight i learned that little observations can really save ya. i was used to having to resize my cast bullets for my 357 to 358 so i figured i was gonna need a sizing die for the 44. i was about to order a .430 die from lee for like $25 when on a thought i got the 44 mag cylinder out and 1 of each of my unsized cast bullets out to check the fit to the throat. to my suprise both the 210 and the 310 grain slugs drops right through the throat with no resistance. so, i loaded on of the 310 slugs into a spent brass as a dummy. i could see that miniscule buldge made from the bullet being a hair too large, the very buldge that caused my 357 to refuse to chamber my first handloads. i was again suprised when the dummy fell right perfectly into place. seems this dragoon has some generous chambers, and with these unsized hard cast bullets, it looks to be a real tack driver, hopefully. god, these 310 slugs are gonna be like flying sledgehammers with some H110 behind them....

 

[CraigC]

i could see that miniscule buldge made from the bullet being a hair too large

That's good. You need plenty of tension for heavy loads to burn properly and you want your bullets at least .430".