Maybe my google skills are weak. Does anyone make coated 250gr .44 hardcast or 160gr .357 coated Keith style bullets?

And you'll see that Missouri makes them along with Bayou.

Both good bullets, I buy a lot of Missouri's and some Bayou, too.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Well MBC calls them Elmer K bullets but they're not true Keith style.

I tried these a couple years ago & got inconsistent quality on the HT coating & had leading issues on two calibers. He told me they fixed that problem but the .500 bullets I ordered next had the same issue so I quit buying from them. Maybe they have fixed their coating issues now.

Acme Bullets has the same style 240 LSWC-HT bullet. I liked their quality better on the ones I tried.

Any 250gr bullets... I don't know though.

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Missouri Bullets 452-250HT & 430-240HT


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Waiting for the break of day

I've had some problems with other bullet casters, too. Especially 'powder' coatigs. I"ve had good luck with Missouri through, and Bayou too. And yeah, I haven't measured them to see if they are anywhere near actual Keith proportions. Maybe we can find some closer to the real thing. I'm not sure how close the OP needs, OP? Whatcha say?


PS I took a close look at the Missouries and yeah, there are two driving bands and a bevel base. And the groove is rounded instead of square. The large meplat is the closest thing to a Keith that it has.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Anyone finds a coated TRUE Keith 44 bullet let us know.
All I have found have those stupid bevel bases.
Most also do not have a true Keith full width leading band in front of the crimp groove.
Or a square bottomed lube groove
ACME (which is kind of local to me) has an extreme bevel base.
There are true Keith bullets being made but none are coated I know of.
44 Mag, Lyman 429421, 255gr, SWC-K (Authentic Keith) - Montana Bullet Works

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Even many of the Lyman 429421 molds are not true Keith type bullets because the have a round grease groove instead of a square one. My mold manufactured in the 1980's does have the square bottom grease groove. So, at least some of the later production is correct relative to Keith's design.

As far as the pictured Missouri Bullets .44 SWC being a true Keith design, it's not even close. They can say what they want but folks who know what they're looking at......

Bruce

Montana Bullets has a genuine looking Keith, but they aren't coated. And I'm not sure the double ogive is there. If nothing better turns up maybe you can get them to supply them unlubed and coat them yourself.

They MAY be able to supply them coated if you ask.

Beartooth has lubed and gas checked but the proportions look really good.

Penn Bullets WAS getting into coated (I bought some) but I don't see any sign of it on their site.

Chey cast makes one but it does't look like an authentic Keith either.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Take a look at Badman bullets, any questions you have regarding the quality or use call them, good people and I have had their 38's and 45's and they have been excellent.
Karl

Looks like they (Badman) are using the same "Keith" mould as ACME:
Thin leading band and a heavy bevel base.
If you are coating it, the lube groove design is irrelevant.

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

"Kieth" bullets will be difficult to find from commercial casters; 2 reasons, a square bottomed lube groove bullet won't normally drop out of a mod as easily as a rounded or tapered lube groove. Same with the base, a beveled base is easier to cast than a square base. Besides, in real life there isn't that much difference between a "true" Kieth and say a 429421...

Thank you to everyone for responding thus far. Has any tried the Keith bullets by these folks:

https://beartoothbullets.com/images/...B-44-250K2.jpg

You can select some sizing...

I think I may give up on finding coated ones, and just deal with the lube smoke.

Beartooth makes excellent bullets.
I have shot several of their 44 slugs but never that one.
It looks pretty close to the original design with the possible exception of the nose profile.
Their heavy gas checked bullets are popular with the 444 crowd.

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Magnus Bullets sells 250gr Keith bullets. I've loaded up quite a few but haven't shot them yet.

If leading is an issue for me I plan to strip the bullet lube and powder coat the ones I have left.

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Authorized AMSOIL Dealer

What a thing to do to the "perfect" bullet.

Keith was more than a little innovative for his time. If coatings were available, he would have messed with them. He messed with everything else. I doubt a person as perceptive as Elmer Keith would have been blind to the benefits of coated lead. All speculation of course. I was merely hoping someone was making a good bullet better on a commercial scale.

True Keith designs, regardless of caliber will never have round grease grooves, bevel bases or gas checks. Hensley & Gibbs' molds are generally true to Keith's concepts. They are:

H&G #43 in .38 caliber
H&G #258 in .41 caliber
H&G #503 in .44 caliber
H&G #501 in .45 (Colt)caliber

Bruce

I haven't tried this particuler bullet but I have bought their 41Mag & 44Mag flat base SWCs & they make a pretty good product, if you're not going the coated route now.

Rim Rock .45 LC 270 gr. SWC-FB Keith

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Waiting for the break of day

Toss the "Kieth" name, they are just lead semi-wadcutters. The original true Kieth bullet has been changed by everyone that has made molds for it, a slight change in angle here a bit smaller/larger there, some even added gaschecks. All are good...

BTW; Beartooth Bullets is an excellent company with excellent products. I buy bullets that I don't have a mold for, some just to try out, some because I don't use enough to justify buying a mold...

Not hardly. It is true that there are other excellent SWC designs such as a couple of those designed by Ray Thompson but to say one SWC is just as good as another is nonsense.

Bruce

Nine hundred ninety-nine reloaders/shooters/hunters out of 1,000 cannot tell the difference between a "true Kieth" bullet or any of the many copies/variations either in accuracy, effects on game, or shooting qualities. Maybe during a close inspection with measuring tools and blueprints of each bullet some could find differences. Perhaps Keith himself could tell the difference from his original design and a Lyman 429421, but I am sure no one reading this forum could...

Perhaps someone could preform a test, side by side between a "true Kieth" and say a 429421 or any of the clones. A few hundred rounds of each then a "blind test" where the shooter did not know hat is chambered. I don't have that much interest in this subject as my Lyman 429421, my "Thompson design" 44 cal w/gascheck and my RCBS LSWC are very accurate in my 4, .44 Magnum handguns...

If you say so!!

Bruce

Not only that; lots of them don't know how to spell Elmer's last name.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

Then there's that too.

Bruce

It is very easy to tell the difference between the Lyman 429421 and the Keith HG 503 . I have both . The Lyman does not have the front driving band the same thickness as the other two . Lyman molds for yrs had a rounded grease groove . The Keith had a flat bottom grease groove .
The ray thompson designs had a major flaw . His had a smaller diameter front driving band to help with alignment into the forcing cone . We now know that thinking is meaningless .

OK, tell me this. Can anyone list the factual advantages of a true Keith bullet over a "modified Keith", other than the old saw of "if it was good enough for Elmer, it's good enough for me".
I will give you that at it's introduction, it was an advancement over the contemporary bullets at that time.

[QUOTE=cowboy4evr;139685556]It is very easy to tell the difference between the Lyman 429421 and the Keith HG 503 . I have both . The Lyman does not have the front driving band the same thickness as the other two . Lyman molds for yrs had a rounded grease groove . The Keith had a flat bottom grease groove .
The ray thompson designs had a major flaw . His had a smaller diameter front driving band to help with alignment into the forcing cone . We now know that thinking is meaningless .[/QUOTE
Reread my post. I mentioned "either in accuracy, effects on game, or shooting qualities. Maybe during a close inspection with measuring tools and blueprints of each bullet some could find differences.". You only mentioned side by side comparison, which anyone with good eyes can see differences. I was talking performance, and I stand by my opinion. Show me someone that can, truthfully tell the difference by shooting a "true Kieth" and any of the variations of the LSWC...

I'm not a guru follower, and I don't use "celebrity loads", so if I misspell a historical figure's name, so what?

After buying the " true Keith " I felt I saw a difference . I already had the Lyman mold and the RCBS . I sold off both of them to pay the HG 503 , the Keith mold from Northern Valley Machine Co up in Minn .
I have been shooting 44's too many years to get caught up in the hype of someones name attached to a mold as the only reason to buy it . I am saying that I saw my groups tighten up , consistently . Your experience might be different .

SNS Casting has swc's like you ask about. I don't know if they are "true" keith style or not. I have shot their coated bullets in 45acp and really like them. Have shot their non-coated in 38/357 and like them also.

I must be "that" one!

Yup, me too

I am one too. huge difference between modern Lyman 429421 or rcbs 250k and the 240 grain bevel base machine cast swc bullets sold by most commercial casters. just look at pictures of the bullets and it is obvious. most of us serious cast bullet shooters prefer the flat base true Keith type over the bevel base for many reasons. go to cast boolit forum for info ad nauseam. that being said, the bevel base ones can shoot fine but leading is more prevalent with certain loads

dogdoc