Now there is another lesson learned gentlemen, and I sincerely thank you for sharing your experience. I had no idea that (a) they swagged those bullets, and (b) that swagged bullets would be harder on the gun than cast bullets.

I'm still not entirely sure I understand "why" they would be more damaging to the gun, but I'll certainly bow to the voice of experience and take what you say to heart.

So, it seems I need to find good quality cast bullets.

I may have been handed a bit of luck. Just got an e-mail from a friend of mine who casts bullets. He has a commercial casting machine. I had not thought of him as a supplier because he has health issues (heart) and had shut down his operation for the time being. As it turns out though, he tells me he has about 6,000 of the 240 grain SWC cast bullets for the .44 Mag sitting in his shop. They have not been lubed and sized yet, but that is a problem that an be overcome. He says he can fire up the lube/sizer and run them through for me, or I guess I could lube/size them myself.

That brings up another thing I was going to ask. At the risk of highjacking my own thread, what is the general opinion with regards to lubed rounds sitting around? What I mean is, does the lube ever get old, dry, and fall out? Would a person be better advised to acquire the cast bullets and then use your own lube/sizer to do the final step just prior to loading them?

I don't have a lube/sizer yet, but there are a number of them out there in the $200 to $300 range that do a pretty good job. I have to get one anyway, so maybe I should just take these bullets as they are, get my own sizer, and lube/size them as I need them.

Thoughts?