I am also having a devil of a time with leading in my .44 specials. It has just about whupped me. I've slugged my barrels, measured chamber throats, gone from .429 to .430 bullets, used swaged "cowboy" bullets, used hard cast bullets (18bhn), used flat-based bullets, used bevel-base bullets, run them through three different Smiths, run them through a Colt SAA - all to no avail.

I am not a 1000+ fps guy. I like loads about equal to factory velocity. Generally, I've loaded in the range of 5.6 to 6.5 gr. of unique or Universal Clays using a classic 240 gr. SWC. I figured the soft swaged .430 bullets would cure my problem - they didn't. In fact, they were just as bad if not worse than the harder cast bullets and the .429 bullets I'd tried earlier.

All the leading occurs at the breech end of my barrels, which according to Scovill, means too hard a bullet for the charge or too small a bullet. After trying the .430 swaged bullets, I don't buy it. There is something I'm not catching.

For me, the only thing left is to try soaking them in Alox. If that doesn't work, I'm going to a jacketed or gas-check bullet. I am very frustrated and disappointed. I wanted to cast my own, but won't even begin to try that until I can get the lead out....

Mike