Do I need any special seating die? Im using a single stage Lee press.
I've never used a commercial SWC bullet for .44 magnum, but I cast the Lyman 429421 which is a classic Keith style design.
I use a Lee seating die and have no trouble whatsoever.
You'll be fine with that.
While Im here, what exactly is an Elmer Keith style bullet?
Here is a description on Wikipedia and it seems accurate.
"Keith style" is a generic term these days for any bullet remotely shaped like the original, and that's fine I guess. I believe his original had a longer nose than most of the ones you see today, but the spirit of the design is there.
Keith-style bullets
Keith was also responsible for a number of bullet designs still popular today, and collectively called "Keith style" bullets. These bullets were based on the
semiwadcutter (SWC) design, but using a wider than normal front surface, and convex sides. These changes increased the volume of the bullet
outside the case, thus allowing more room
inside the case, needed for large loads of slower burning powders (see
internal ballistics). These bullets remain popular for both target shooting and hunting. When shooting paper targets, they cut a relatively clean hole in the target, yet provide more case volume and a better
ballistic coefficient than a flat front wadcutter. When used for hunting, the heavy bullets provide excellent penetration; they are often used on dangerous game, for which more reliable penetration is required than is possible with expanding
hollow point or
soft point bullets.
Keith-Style SWC
Originally Keith specified a
meplat that was 65% of the bullet caliber, but later increased it to a 70% meplat. The other distinguishing characteristics of a "Keith-style" SWC are a double radius ogive, beveled crimp groove, three equal width driving bands, wide square bottomed grease groove, and a plain base with sharp corners. The wide forward driving band helps keep the bullet aligned as it jumps across the cylinder gap. Because of the three wide equal width driving bands, the total bearing surface is half the length of the bullet. The relatively large bearing surface helps the Keith-style SWC to be an inherently accurate bullet, and minimizes pressure leakage due to projectile blow-by.
[6] The wide square bottom grease groove holds ample lubricant.
[7]
