I love my .444 Marlin but what I have always wanted is a custom hollow point mould that will work with it. Over on http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=50445 I have started a thread to gauge the interest in a properly sized heavy .44 caliber Hollow Point bullet. We have a new mould supplier who is overseas and has done great work for us at a great price so if any of you would like to look at the thread and add your two cents worth go ahead. Currently Lee custom moulds are backed up a year and they don't do hollow point work, there are other custom manufactures but not with the same turn around or price ( or don't ship to Canada) as the new guy on the block. I go in depth of what I want on the other site, if you are not yet a member of the cast boolit world, join, it is free and is a great source of info if you are just starting to cast your own bullets or you are a seasoned veteran, always something to learn. Most of my free time is spent between this excellent site and the other.
.44 Mag/.444 Marlin HP Custom Mould Design
- Thread starter hunter64
- Start date
Design has been finalized and manufacturer is taking orders now so if you want one email him. The bullet will have three crimp grooves to accommodate .444 Marlin/.44 Mag Rifle/.44 Mag Revolver. This will be a two cavity brass mold with Cramer style hollow point pin assembly. With this style you will be able to cast either solid 315 GN FNGC or turn the pin over to make a hollow point 300 GN bullet. Delivery is approximately 2 weeks after all the orders are in so in about 3-4 weeks. This original bullet design has worked excellently in an older .444 Marlin with microgroove or the newer Ballard style rifles as well as .44 Mag rifles with no feed issues.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=51757
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=51757
something like this?
Bullet # : 429640
Grain: 250gr
Top Punch : 649
Single Cavity # : 2650640
Requires Single Cavity Handles
Sizing Die: .429, .430, .431
Hollow point gas check 44 bullet. Great knock down power in 44 Special and Mag.
Bullet # : 429640
Grain: 250gr
Top Punch : 649
Single Cavity # : 2650640
Requires Single Cavity Handles
Sizing Die: .429, .430, .431
Hollow point gas check 44 bullet. Great knock down power in 44 Special and Mag.
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The only problem with most of the moulds is the damned gas checks. A lousy box of 1000 is over $30 with tax now....probably more since it's been more than 15 minutes since I last checked (insert sarcasm here)...and that's if you can find them at all. Add shipping onto that, and it's just stupid. They're not made of flipping silver for God's sake.
I'm not playing the game anymore. Any moulds I buy in the future will be a plain base, non-gas check type until the suppliers come back to their senses. As long as consumers keep paying more, the manufacturers will keep charging more. If we stop, they'll back off. That's the way it works.
I'm not playing the game anymore. Any moulds I buy in the future will be a plain base, non-gas check type until the suppliers come back to their senses. As long as consumers keep paying more, the manufacturers will keep charging more. If we stop, they'll back off. That's the way it works.
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Nope. The 429640 is great for .44 Mag but will not be big enough as mine drops at .430 on a good day and we need .432 for .444 Marlin and .434 for Model 94's/92's. The 640 also doesn't cycle in any lever action if the crimp is in the groove and must be crimped over the top to function. It is a great bullet designed for a .44 Mag/Spl revolver. This bullet will function in all levers and work in all revolvers being crimped in the proper groove and can be sized down for appropriate usage or used as is in the Marlin 94/Win 92. These also work fine with out the gas check installed in low to medium speed in the .44 Mag revolvers, you just have two lube grooves instead of one.
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For all those that purchased this Mold I have successfully made a duplex bullet. Since it is a crammer Hollow Point mold that the pins stay in to make the HP I simply melted a pure lead .44 cal RB and poured the contents into the mold. Then I filled the rest of the cavity from the bottom pour melter filled with lino/WW and a bit of tin to help in the fill out. I rested the mold on top of the molten lead until the sprue on top was melted and I knew that the lead inside was melted and fused together. The top hp of the bullet measured a bhn number using the Lee kit of 6 bhn and the rest of the bullet measures 22 bhn.
Here is a demo of how it is done other than this guy uses a normal non-hp mold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrPKivrETZs
I am going to try and get to the range this weekend to give them a try from my .444 Marlin at 100 yards into telephone books and I will post some pictures of the results. The ultimate goal is to have a bullet that holds up well to high speed and pressure of the .444 and also have the nose mushroom just like a nosler partition. Mind you even if you have the nose blown off you still have about 230 gn or .44 cal bullet doing its business at 2200 fps.
Here is a demo of how it is done other than this guy uses a normal non-hp mold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrPKivrETZs
I am going to try and get to the range this weekend to give them a try from my .444 Marlin at 100 yards into telephone books and I will post some pictures of the results. The ultimate goal is to have a bullet that holds up well to high speed and pressure of the .444 and also have the nose mushroom just like a nosler partition. Mind you even if you have the nose blown off you still have about 230 gn or .44 cal bullet doing its business at 2200 fps.
One little trick here. In the years when I was actively shooting 44 mag revolvers in silhouette shooting, we experimented with a card behind the bullet. US shooting publications said the little trays that hold meat in the butcher counters in stores, were made of a material that worked in ammunition, wouldn't melt or burn.
Save the meat trays, get a punch that cuts out exactly the correct size biscuit. Push this in over teh powder before seating the bullet.
We shot a lot of them under a flat base bullet and they seemed as good at our highest speeds, as regular gas checks.
Save the meat trays, get a punch that cuts out exactly the correct size biscuit. Push this in over teh powder before seating the bullet.
We shot a lot of them under a flat base bullet and they seemed as good at our highest speeds, as regular gas checks.
h4831 were these the blue cardboard ones or the white styrofoam ones???
thanks jb
bcsteve: The .444 Marlin is a great rifle for cast bullets the trick is to size them .432" . I have designed a 200 gn bullet for the .444 that I call the .444 Screamer that moves at about 2250 fps and I get 1-1.5" at 100 meters using H322 and IMR3031. I air cool them ,put the gas checks on them and then oven heat treat the little beauties. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=57249 is the write up about this little beauty.
The 295 gn HP bullet was a joint venture between myself and another bullet designer that used to work for Hornady and it also works great. Now that i have made a dual hardness bullet I am anxious to try it out this weekend if I get the chance. The daughter broke up with her boyfriend and moved back home last night so I will be busy for a few days,lol.
If anyone wants to try either of these bullets I am more than happy to make some up for a fellow .444 shooter.
Pistol bullets will not hold together very well in the .444 and that is why I turned to cast bullets a few years ago and to be honest I will not go back to jacketed bullets again. I know that there are some good jacketed ones that are on the market now but why pay for them when cast works just as good and you have way more control over the whole process.
At 40-50 bucks a box for factory ammo I can reload a lot of cast bullet ammo.
The 295 gn HP bullet was a joint venture between myself and another bullet designer that used to work for Hornady and it also works great. Now that i have made a dual hardness bullet I am anxious to try it out this weekend if I get the chance. The daughter broke up with her boyfriend and moved back home last night so I will be busy for a few days,lol.
If anyone wants to try either of these bullets I am more than happy to make some up for a fellow .444 shooter.
Pistol bullets will not hold together very well in the .444 and that is why I turned to cast bullets a few years ago and to be honest I will not go back to jacketed bullets again. I know that there are some good jacketed ones that are on the market now but why pay for them when cast works just as good and you have way more control over the whole process.
At 40-50 bucks a box for factory ammo I can reload a lot of cast bullet ammo.
