Need advice with full power 44mag and cast bullets

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fridge450

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Hello everybody I'm looking to load hard cast 240 and 300 grain bullets to use for silhouette shooting and don't have any loads in my manuals other than for 250 Keith's in my speer book. I have 296,h110,and imr4227 to use I've only used cast with traiboss loads before so any loads to work with and advice or tips would be appreciated. I can find all kinds of loads with google but I would trust info from this community first.
Thank you
 
fridge450 said:
Hello everybody I'm looking to load hard cast 240 and 300 grain bullets to use for silhouette shooting and don't have any loads in my manuals other than for 250 Keith's in my speer book. I have 296,h110,and imr4227 to use I've only used cast with traiboss loads before so any loads to work with and advice or tips would be appreciated. I can find all kinds of loads with google but I would trust info from this community first.
Thank you
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My advice would be to forget about 300 grain bullets. 240 grain are ideal bullets for silhouettes.
You have H110, so load 24 or 25 grains of it behind the 240 Keith bullet, either gas check or flat base. If this is for revolver, you will get about 1450 fps and about 1750 in a rifle.
 
300gr bullets can be done and I load them myself but, like H4831 said, the 240gr is what gives the best results in most firearms.
The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook lists loads for 300gr and 310gr GC'ed cast bullets. I use 19.5gr of H110 under my 310gr Lee bullets with GC's (that's a max load based on the book; I did work up from the start just to be sure).

For the Lyman 429650 (300gr):
H110 is 17.7 to 18.5
296 is 18.2 to 19.0
IMR4227 is 16.5 to 19.0 (compressed)

For the Lee C430-310-RF (310gr):
H110 is 17.5 to 19.5
296 is 17.4 to 19.3
IMR4227 is 17.3 to 19.2

At max loads they're all listed around 1050fps and their test gun has a 4" barrel so rifle will be a couple hundred higher.

For 240gr you can use the 250gr data realistically. The Hodgdon data site has data for 240gr cast specifically if you wish but none of the powders you listed are used for cast in their data.
My 240gr cast load is 20.0gr of H110 with a plain base SWC. It's below the starting load for a 240gr jacketed bullet though so I'm not sure if you'd call it "full power". Many advise not to reduce loads of H110 which is true but they can be reduced to a point. I seat the bullets deep so with a 20.0gr charge there is no air space and it works great.
 
When one looks at all the different figures from all the different loading charts, it gives me good reason to go by my own, actual figures, as generated by my own loads in my guns.
Also, one can interchange cast bullets with jacketed bullets, in the 44 magnum.
I used to compete in silhouette shooting with big pistol and have owned and used extensively, five different 44 magnum revolvers, as well as having two different Marlin rifles in 44 magnum.
So here are some things I've learned. I have shot many different bullets in the 44s. Sponsors of silhouette shooting were forever giving us samples of different bullets to try. They were all 240 grain jacketed, usually full metal jacket, as well as all my own cast bullets of either Keith pattern, the 429421 or the gas check cousin of it. My "240 grain" cast bullets never weighed as low as 240, and went as high as well over 250, depending on the alloy they were poured from.
I used the same maximum load for every bullet I shot in any 44 magnum, revolver or Marlin rifle, 22 grains of Hercules 2400, or 25 grains of either H110 or W296.
There is a lot more effecting velocity of a revolver bullet than just barrel length. The biggest loss is the pressure escaping from the gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone, and this varies greatly between individual guns. This is why velocity in a rifle will be 250 to 300 fps faster than a revolver.
Here are some samples from various revolvers, usually a Ruger Super Blackhawk with 7 1/2" barrel.
24.5 grains of H110, 252 grain flat base bullet.--1323.
22. grains of H110 " " " " " 1188
20 " " " " " " " 1126

22 grains of 2400, 252 flat base bullet------- 1415
20 " " " 1312
17.5 " " " 1120

24.5 grains of W296--gas check bullet weighing 265 grains---- 1385 fps.
 
If you have IMR 4227 on hand, use 22-24 grains with 240 grain bullets.

W296/H110 would be my first choice, as I have found that 4227 tends to leave behind unburned powder kernels that tend to get under the extractor star and tie the gun up. That said, powder is not easy to find these days and one cannot afford to be picky.
 
Perhaps I missed it, but it is not clear from your post if you are casting the bullets yourself or if you are buying commercially cast lead bullets. If you are casting you can control both the size of the bullet, the quality of lube, and the hardness of the lead.

The conventional wisdom is to slug your throat/bore and size the cast bullet to at least .001-.002 over bore diameter. Do a search for mike venturino articles or go to the cast boolits website for more information.

With respect to lead hardness that can be controlled by alloy choice, heat treating, and or water quenching. The ability of the bullet to obturate (seal the bore) would be influenced by the sizing and hardness. In many cases you do not need super hard bullets as that can contribute to leading. Search for articles by glen fryxell for more information.

Properly sized bullets to your gun, along with an appropriate alloy and a quality bullet lube will go a long way towards minimizing leading and increasing your satisfaction with full power cast reloads.
 
I expect that .430 would be the minimum starting point and you may get better performance out of .431 or .432 taking into account throat diameters. I suspect that most commercial providers only sell .430 so you would have to cast your own for larger diameters.

Go to rugerforum . Net and read posts on what other users are doing and the measured tolerances others have experienced

Keep in mind that I am not advocating going larger than .430 until you slug your gun, fully research the subject and then start your load development from the beginning. if you were punching paper at short ranges I wouldn't mention it but as you are silhouette shooting maximum competetive performance may be a long term goal

Buy the .430 bullets and have fun on your journey
 
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