Cast bullets for .44 mag lever? Anyone?

[mlehtovaara]

Just wodering what to expect as far as leading is concerned with lead bullets outta a .44 mag lever.

I have some 180 grain flat points I load in my redhawk and was wondering if it would be a good idea for the rifle?

I do get some leading in the redhawk but find that I have to keep velocity relatively low or it leads a bit more than i'd like.

Now I read some guys shooting cast bullets with 18 -19 grains of 2400 and this is about as hot as I load my jacketed bullets for my redhawk. If I was to push lead with 18 -19 grains of 2400 would I not see some pretty bad leading?

 

[willr1]

Depends on your alloy as well as a number of factors

I run the same loads in both my Super Blackhawk and my Marlin levergun. I use 10 grains Unique with a 240 gr SWC. I drop my bullets from the mould into a 5 gallon pail of water. I have experienced no significant leading, but my load is milder than what you're talking about.

 

[Garand]

For Cowboy Action shooting out of my Marlin M1894S I use 7.2 grains of Unique pushing a 240 RNFP lead bullet and I get minimal leading and it gives me enough juice to knock down a steel reactive target.

 

[unstableryan]

There's a lot to it. A proper sized, gas checked bullet of the right hardness can go well over 2000 fps. Not quite proper sized, non gas checked, soft cast might have a problem with 1000. The type and amount of lube in the rings matters a lot too.

What bullets are you using now?

I was shooting GC hard cast from Ben in my .357 taking things easy at ~1100 fps and he told me she shoots the same bullet out of one of his 35 cal rifles at 2000 when I asked him how high they were good for. I also get some 45-70 bullets soft cast for reduced loads that would probably smear down the barrel at 1400 and I'd never get it all out, but at 1100 they are perfect.

Last year was a learning curve for me as I put about 600-700 cast loads though my 45-70. A couple times in the beginning I didn't match the load to the bullet and it was a giant pain but the more you learn the easier it gets.. I'm not quite to the point of making my own yet though.. but it's coming as I figure I shot about 40 or 50 pounds of lead through that gun.

It's fun and it's cheap but it's discouraging when you do it wrong in the beginning. My first loads ever were bullet barn 350's, very hard cast plain base with one lube groove with pistol temp/quality lube. I shot about 40 of them at 1500-1600 before I realized I could not hit anything anymore and it took an afternoon to clean out.

It gets easier.

 

[tjhaile]

Cast bullets can be just as fast as jacketed bullets in the .44 Magnum with minimal leading provided they are not undersize and use an appropriate alloy and lube.

Any lead fouling can be easily removed with a piece of copper scouring pad wrapped around a bore brush.

 

[mlehtovaara]

Right now I am using some 240 grain jacketed bullets for my redhawk but they are too long to feed in the Marlin lever. I have some 180 grain flat point bevel based bullets I was using with 6 grains of Bullseye and they are relatively light and don't lead too bad. These were just for plinking and the jacketed rounds for the full power loads. I was just thinking about pushing them faster in the lever to get some hotter loads, and since I cant use the 240 gr jacketed I didnt want to have to go buy more bullets at this point. I have a few hundred to use up then I think i will be looking for something different.

 

[ben hunchak]

cast .44

In the .44 leverguns there is no reason you can't run a "properly sized and lubed, gas check bullet" at full velocity, in fact cast bullets can be fired at higher velocities because of lower pressure. You should look at some of the heavy cast "thumpers", LBT designs of from 250grs. to 325gr., the most effective bullets of all in the .44 mag......Just don't think that some 180 bevel base cast bullets are representative of what a .44 can do with proper cast bullets.....Ben

 

[mlehtovaara]

problem is that apparently the Marlin 1894 I have wil not feed anything over a 240 grain bullet and even the Jacketed 240 grain bullets I have have too great of a COAL to feed in the lever action. I don't really care too much for 100 m accuracy at this point. I am just looking for some plinking rounds to have fun with.