44 Mag Throat Diameter

[Luke Duke]

I'm going to have to agree with A couple of guys on this thread. Last year I bought a 629-6 4" barrel. Gun is super tight everywhere. Especially the cylinders. Mine are .428ish. My gun shoots awesome, .430 Hornady or .4295 Seirras. I size my cast to .429 and have had zero leading. I'm not pushing them hard less than 1,000 fps. At first I was concerned but after shooting it; the concerns went away. Sometimes I think we get to caught up in numbers and read to much into it. I talked to customer service and they told me it was in spec and to just shoot it. Tight cylinders for sure but its a shooter.

 

[BillBro]

Hi,

I have 629 MG and recently starting loading cast bullets since I live in Mass and getting components for ammo has become a real challenge.

My first batches resulted in some fairly extreme leading problems, 240gr SWC with 12g of Blue Dot. After half a box the grooves were no longer visible. This was a load worked up by a relative who had good results with it.

I first started looking at my lead alloy since this was a new load for me, and then asked my relative to put some through his Ruger. He had no issues at all with the ammo.

We then took a look at the throat dimensions and I was surprised to find the throat was so tight, similar to what the OP was reporting. After measuring the cast rounds (.430) it seemed awfully tight in comparison with the throat. The Ruger was relatively loose so much so that the .430 cast bullets could be dropped through the cylinder with ease whereas my Smith couldn't even get the bullets started.

To be able to shoot cast, should I be resizing the cast down to .429 or maybe even .427? I really can't afford to shoot purchased ammo, if I can even find it at the moment, so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan

Dan, most folks seem to think the bullet should be sized to fit the throats (exit bores) of your cylinder, or maybe 0.001" bigger - as long as you can seat the loaded cartridges in the chambers without a problem. I think the theory here is that the base of the bullet can receive a lot of damage before it leaves the cylinder if it is not a good fit for the exit bores. I tend to agree with this. Whenever my cast bullet loads are properly sized for the exit bores of the cylinder, I have very little trouble with leading and poor accuracy. Just make sure your loads easily "drop in" to the chambers.

The OP's gun sounds fine to me. I would not make any adjustments to the exit bores.

Ive only been shooting cast for about 2 or 3 years and this basic but sound advice is what Ive lived by and it has served me well. I can go to the range and shoot several hundred rounds and maintain good accuracy the entire time, did it yesterday.