My bullet of choice is the Lyman #429244 which casts at 265g from WW. I fuel it with 22g of H110/W296 which is not a maximum load, but controlable and accurate for me in any of my .44's.

In California we have smaller bears - brown. I have had several enounters with them including a sow with 3 cubs, but thankfully I've never had to pull the trigger even though I've been lined up with my finger on the trigger.

One of these days I'll have to try yours and Venom's bullets. I've always favored a heavier bullet in the .44 as it brings out the full potential of the caliber IMO.

I will say that I've fired my load through a freshly felled Honey Pine @ 3" wide, perhaps more, and recovered my bullets from the ground behind it. They will penetrate.

I haven't yet done any penetration testing with these loads, though I have looked for the spent rounds in the dirt embankment beyond the targets. So far (not having a shovel on hand) I haven't recovered any of them, so I guess they are burying themselves a little deeper than the other rounds. Once I've settled on a good accurate/manageable and reasonably powerful load I do hope to do some crude penetration tests - maybe taking along some soaking wet phone books and a few hardwood boards next time I'm well outside of "Los Anchorage".

My own close encounters with coastal brown bears and black bears have been respectful, well-mannered meetings, where each went his own way without doing anything alarming. There have been more than a few encounters that I didn't find out about until the fresh tracks were noted minutes or hours later. These critters can move very quietly when they wish.

The last two encounters were along salmon streams. Fortunately, the bears and I were aware of each other in advance. Of those, the +500 lbs brown bear merely stood up to get a better look and then dropped down and crossed to the other side of the stream to continue looking for salmon. We cautiously passed within 20 yds of each other going our separate ways. I only un-holstered the gun for a brief moment when I lost sight of the bear. Having seen a coastal brownie standing at such close range gives me a lot of respect for their sheer size and mass. This is some of the inspiration for choosing a heftier load for my 629 Mountain Gun.

But where weight and equipment is not an issue, I haul the 45-70 gov along as well. My "no-nonsense" loads for that gun include 350g Swift A-Frames over a respectable charge of H4198. The bullets are definitely pricey compared to anything else that I use, but I'm confident with the load.

quote:

We cautiously passed within 20 yds of each other going our separate ways

Jeez....
1x2

Heh Heh! That doesn't make quite the sense intended What I was trying to say was that the bear and I were approaching each other in a wide ravine that the stream passed through. The bear was moving upstream. I was headed downstream, back toward the road and my truck. We were 20 yds apart as we passed on opposite sides of the stream. Sheesh! Written communication is more dangerous than the fangy critters sometimes

18 grains is a bit light for that bullet using H-110/296, you have a working range of 19.0 to 23.0
The enhanced Smiths shoot the top .44 Mag loads very well.

Most LBT style bullets are sized to .431 but most of the late Smiths chamber throats run tight, I ream mine to the same size as the legenday early Smiths....431

Ultima-Ratio,
That is one of the reasons I wanted to run these latest loads through a chronograph. When I first obtained the load data from Cast Performance I did note that the printed load data for the 300g WFNGC started the W296 at 19.5g. I know that there are subtle differences between W296 and H110, but it seemed strange that the load data given for the H110 was given with min-to-max as 17.0g through 19.0g. As I've mentioned before in this thread, the loads thus far have been quite manageable to fire with no signs of over-pressure.

I'll be taking a batch of the 300 grainers at 18.6g and another at 18.8g to the range for testing this weekend. ...But if the rain and clouds outside this evening hang around for the weekend, then it looks like I'll miss my chance to chronograph these again. Once again, I'm hoping for a load somewhere between 1100fps and 1200fps. I such a load would work well in my Mountain Gun.

Still couldn't lay hands on a chronograph this week, but I'm beginning to wish I had. I'm beginning to suspect that the suggested Min-to-Max loads for the Cast Performance 300g WFNGC with H110 might be too low. As mentioned before, the printed load information that accompanied the bullets showed starting loads using W296 beginning at 19.5g. I obtained my H110 guidance by emailing Cast Performance. The email exchange suggested a range between 17.0g (min) and 19.0g (max). I'm beginning to wonder if this was a typo.

I've been noticing a lot of soot streaking on the previous batches as I've worked this load upwards. My last batch used 18.8g of H110 and still showed signs of soot streaking. All of my "hand-loading 101" reading information says this may indicate low pressure loads. There have been absolutely no over-pressure signs. My next batch is at 19.0g. We'll see how it goes.

I wouldn't stick with just one source of 300-gr. 44 Magnum load data. There's a ton of good data out there.

Also, I'd worry more about the crimp than the AOL. Crimp solidly into the crimp groove and you should be fine as long as you can close the cylinder and bullets don't jump the crimp.


Okie John

Beware that if you try to use these rounds (even if the COL is correct) in a Marlin 1894 44 Mag lever action they might not feed from the magazine into the chamber; they might simply come 2/3 way out of the mag then jam the action. Mine feeds all well except these. Try only one first and if it works, great.

okie john,
I've got several reloading handbooks, but none that deal with 300g hard cast bullets. Many include data for 300g jacketed bullets, but even the Hodgdon reloading info seems to bypass 300g hard cast fodder. I do *not* yet have the Lyman reloading books or the Lee reloading guides. Which sources will carry this sort of data?

As for the "crimp vs. OAL", I certainly agree now. I've been concentrating on that the most as this load gets warmer.


Mr. Tree,
Thanks for the warning. I don't have an 1894, but my 1895S does use a similar bullet at 405g. That load has been very accurate. I have not encountered feeding issues with it.

Hmm, no PM feature here? Swing by Guntraders sometime and I'll explain.

In the late S&W Enhanced guns 23.0 H-110 with LBT 300-330s duplicates Buffalo Bore.

Also as mentioned, the new S&Ws run tight in the throats and should be opened to bullet diameter

Ultima-Ratio,
I was noticing that Beartooth Bullets offers a very similar 300g bullet. The interesting difference being that they offer you the option of choosing a .429 diameter bullet (or larger as suits your needs). With my wallet running a bit thinner these days, choosing a smaller diameter bullet seems like a better option than laying out the cash to re-size the throats on the cylinder. Are there any web sites that explain in detail the advantages of opening the cylinder throats out?

I hope I'll get a chance to swing by Gun Traders and visit sometime in the future. I live and work on the opposite side of town, so it may be a while. Thanks for the invite

The advantages to opening the cylinder mouths only comes into play if they are smaller than the diameter of your barrel. If your barrel is .4295, and the cylinder mouths are .429, you may or may not have issues, if your barrel is .429, and the cylinder mouths are .430, I have found it provides excellent accuracy, minimal leading, and slightly better velocities. YMMV

Dave

For those of you who cast and are interested in a heavy plain based 44 bullet, here it is.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=30340

I would get one, but I don't shoot my 44 that much.

Dave

Sorry about the delay in answering. The red salmon have been running thick on the Kenai and Russian rivers lately, so I've been away from home for a couple of days

High Desert Hunter,
I did take the time to slug the bore and found it to be right at .429. Assuming that I did the measuring properly, the cylinders seem to be right at .429 as well. I admit this is the first time I've ever performed this task, so my readings may be off. I only had enough egg sinkers to measure the barrel and one cylinder. I might do this again when I have more egg sinkers on hand.

I looked at the cast bullet design you referenced in the URL above and it brings up another question I've run into with the Sierra JSPs. The seating for some of the longer nose bullets varies upwards of 1.720. This places the end of the bullet very very close to the end of the cylinder on my Mountain Gun. It seems there might be some risk of binding the cylinder if the bullet moves too much or jumps crimp. Is this so with certain bullet styles and the 629 family? I have gravitated toward bullets that could be seated around 1.600 for this reason.

Thanks again to all who are lending their experience and knowledge to helping me master the 300g hard cast loads.