Missouri .44 Elmer K(430240EK) loads

[dma1]

I was thinking about 7-10 gr. of Unique in magnum brass for plinking loads in a 4" 29 and a 6.5" 629. Anyone got any experience with these bullets? Any recommendations or watch outs? They have a bevelled base. I want to avoid leading if possible. I have some 231, 2400, and Blue Dot available if one of them would be a better choice. I've always loaded jacketed. I have Lyman's 49th, but would like opinions from you guys. Thanks in advance.

 

[Alk8944]

First, a bevel-base 240 gr. SWC is NOT a Keith bullet! The most common .44 Keith is Lyman 429421, or RCBS 44-250 K or KT. These weigh from 245-250 gr. and are flat based.

There is nothing special about any commercial cast bullet. Almost all are too hard and give leading because of this and usually being undersized. 8.5-9.0 gr Unique with ANY available bullet will give you just about the same results as any other.

If you are going to buy commercial bullets get them from a company that lets you specify hardness, sizing diameter and lubricant type. These may cost a bit more, but you will get far better results. Well worth the added cost. Specify .431 or .432 diameter, Brinell in the 15 range, and Saeco lube if available and you will be very close to perfect.

 

[Ron H.]

Sir, FWIW, in my own experiments with cast 250s and Unique, 8.5 grains and 10.0 grains were the sweet spots for accuracy. The 8.5 load is a bit hotter than a plinker, but by no means unpleasant. 10.0 is about a "three-quarter throttle" mag load.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

 

[tappedandtagged]

I have great accuracy from my MO "Keith" style 240 grain bullets with 10 grains of Unique. I did find that I had leading with the softer 12 Brinell ones, but none with the harder 18 Brinell ones.

 

[dma1]

I knew that these were not true Keith bullets when i ordered them, but the description above is what they call them on their web site. They were so reasonably priced, I thought I would try them. I got a thousand for around a hundred bucks. I have been reading where you may see leading if you run these too slowly, so I thought I might post and see if anyone had experience with these particular bullets. They are 18 BHN. Thanks for the responses.

 

[JBnTx]

That's my favorite bullet from Missouri Bullet Co.
I get ALL my hard cast bullets from them and have never been disappointed.

With the number 430240EK bullet, I load both the 8.3grs Unique and 10.0grs Unique.
As mentioned before, both those loads are "sweet spots" where you get the best accuracy
in most 44 magnum revolvers.

I also load that same bullet with 18.0grs of 2400.
That's a pretty decent load, too.

The only leading I ever get is a very small amount just at the
very beginning of the rifling. It cleans out easily with some Hoppes#9 solvent.

 

[smithnframe]

I cast the Keith bullet with a vintage Lyman Ideal mould and newer dbl. cavity RCBS mould and both weigh around 255 gr. For target loads I use 6 gr. of Bullseye, mid-range load 10 gr. Unique and full house loads either 21 gr. 2400 or 25 gr. H 110. I shoot a model 29-2 and a Ruger Super Blackhawk with all loads giving good accuracy.

 

[jlynch34]

I've used 2400 for years wiht 240 gr XTP's and found 18 gr to be a very good load. Anymore powder and I end up with a very dirty gun. ):

 

[tappedandtagged]

I shot my first four leaf clover with those bullets and 18.5 grains of AA #9 at 15 yards a couple days ago. The other two shots from that cylinder were within an inch. This was out of my 629 with a 3" barrel using sandbags. I also blew the seam on my sandbag! If you want a bit more oomph, I like the AA #9, but I will still use 10 grains Unique for my extended shooting sessions.

 

[Viss]

I use the 240gr elmer bullet from MBC with with 19 gr 2400 with no leading so far.

 

[dma1]

I'm not buying any other brands of powder; I have plenty of the aforementioned types. I'm concerned mainly with barrel leading at lower velocities with the bevelled bases. My hot rods are covered with 240 gr. XTPs and H110 in new primed brass. I forget the charge but it's max, and they're stout. I'm thinking I can cover what I'm trying to accomplish here with (in order) Unique, 231, and 2400. Maybe throw in a little Blue Dot from time to time. Thanks for the recipes.

 

[alwslate]

I don't have any of the 240 gr bevel base SWCs that are common
today but a good load in my 4" 29 is 8.2 grs W231 under a 250 gr
Keith style SWC for 980 fps.

 

[ILLWIND]

I cast the RCBS version and load it with 7 gr Unique or Loading Manual suggested loads of 2400. Great traditional powders & bullet!
I have heard stories of erratic pressures when using Blue Dot in .44 mags so I don't use it.

 

[mikld]

The key to shooting clean, non-leading lead bullets is bullet to gun fit. Size (or purchase) bullets the same size as the cylinder throats in your revolver (you'll need to slug the bbl and cylinder of your gun). My 629 has cylinder throats of .431" and barrel groove diameter of .429", so I only shoot .431" cast lead bullets. I have used everything from Bullseye to W296/H110 in my .44 Magnums and so far prefer Blue Dot, 2400 or Unique, depending on which gun I'm loading for. My 629 now only gets high Special or low Magnum loads since I got it back from the factory (too many too hot loads??) and one of it's favorites is a Lyman 429421 cast of wheel weight alloy, sized to 431" lubed with home made Speed Green, over 14.0 gr. of Blue Dot.