Will start reloading .44 magnum-cast v. jacketed

[aslap]

The cast lead bullets that are available are a lot cheaper than the jacketed bullets. I don't hunt and just target shoot. I have a 29-2 with the 8 3/8 barrel.

What the heck is the difference here in how they are reloaded? Do the cast lead bullets need to go slower to reduce barrel leading? I haven't found anything yet that gives me a good idea as to the differences between jacketed and cast and how that affects the reloading deal.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

Tony S.

 

[ronnie gore]

reloading

i have been reloading for 40 years, and most of what i shoot is lead bullets, i cast my own and cast them hard and do not load to max and get no leading. i don't hunt either just shoot, no need to waste the money on jacketed bullets, you can load lead up pretty hot with minimal leading if you wanted to hunt or use for self defence as you would not shoot many of that type anyway leading would not be a problem.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Sounds like cast bullets are really all you need! Two factors that primarily affect leading are (1) the hardness of the lead alloy, and (2) how the bullet is sized relative to bore diameter. I think cast bullets need to be bore diameter or even .001 larger. I also cast my own and prefer cast to jacketed, even for hunting.

 

[McShooty]

If you only shoot targets and plink you will be entirely happy with cast bullets. Kept to velocities of around 900 fps or lower they will usually not cause problems with leading. Hard cast bullets can be pushed a lot faster, but that's not necessary for target fun. Keeping modest velocities keeps powder cost down, too. As far as differences in reloading cast vs. jacketed, I usually find I have to pay more attention to expanding the case mouth adequately when loading cast. With lighter loads also, heavy crimps are not necessary and sometimes I get better accuracy with no crimp at all. There is a wide range of bullet weights to play with, so get some good loading data and go nuts!

 

[fredj338]

All my magnums revolvers see is lead bullets. The are perfect choices for everything, including hunting. There is no reason you can not run a good cast bullet to even 1600fps w/ little to no leading & they don't have to be cast all that hard for most 44mag loads. Std clip on ww, about 12BHN, work fine to 1200fps w/ no leading & terrific accuracy IF they are the proper size. That is often a minimum of 0.001" larger than groove dia or cyl throat dia. Some revolvers have larger throats than grooves, so sizing to fit that will yield less leading & better accuracy. The alloy hardness is secondary to proper fit. I can get a really soft lead bullet to go 1000fps w/ little leading if it fits right.
The only other thing to do during reloading is make sure the case mouth is belled enough & you roll crimp properly. You'll also want to clean the bbl well of any copper from jacketed BEFORE shooting lead as it tends to strip the lead bullet as it passes over the rougher copper fouling.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I'd just add one thing to what fred has said: I have had no problem with hard bullets as long as they are bigger than bore diameter either. I have had TONS of problems with them when they were too small and pushed too hard.

Now, I have run the 44Mag, 240-295gr weight bullet up to 1800fps from a 20" Marlin 1894 with no leading. What must also be said is that accuracy dropped WAY off when over the 1600fps mark. These bullets were not gas checked, and had they been, they may have retained their accuracy too.

FWIW

 

[Les K.]

I'm new to .44 mag reloading too and have experimented with hard cast, copper plated, and the Hornady XTP jacketed.

Here's what I liked and didn't like about each of them, YMMV:

Hard cast: Good and cheap for plinking/target shooting, but if you're shooting at an indoor range, it's going to look like you're laying out a smoke screen! The range needs to have great ventilation for these. You gotta keep the velocities lower on these rounds too. I've also noticed that my seating die got pretty mucked up from the lube. I stopped using these even though they save a ton of money. These were the Lazer Cast bullets.

Plated: These can be a good compromise. They are slightly more expensive than hard cast (60-68$ for 500 around here) but they don't smoke. I've found that you can't really push them to the same velocities as the premium jacketed bullets. I noticed some copper stripping off and an occasional odd shaped tear in my targets under full power loads. If you back off the charge a bit, these will work great for you if you're just target shooting and want to save money. If you like the big flash and bang though, these will give you problems. I was using X-Treme plated bullets.

Hornady XTP jacketed: I like the big flash and bang, so these bullets are what I'm currently using. You can load these as hot as the manuals say with no issues at all. The only down side to these bullets is the cost. 25-26$/100. My tactic here is to buy these one or two boxes at a time, as money permits, even though I don't really need them at the moment. I've currently stockpiled 800 of these so far.

I might go back to trying the X-Treme plated but with a slower heavier bullet this time to see if the copper still strips off. I could save a lot of money if I find the right combination! For me, the hard cast is out just due to the smoke and mucking up my seating die. Hope this help you and maybe saves you some time and money experimenting around!

 

[Murphy2000]

6GUNSONLY pretty much nailed what would have been my reply. I too have been shooting the .44 Magnum in handguns for 30 years. I began casting my own 25 years back.

Hardness for the application you mentioned isn't all that important. The .44 Magnum was born using a cast bullet of only 15 BHN (Brinell Hardness). Properly sized bullets is a major factor (if not THE major factor). Cylinder throat diameter plays a big roll here. If your cylinder throats are undersized, you'll have to have them opened to proper size. The standard for checking this is to take a cast bullet sized to .430 Dia. Place the bullet in the cylinder just as it would be as if it were loaded in a case. You should be able to push it thru with a gentle push from a pencil. Anything more? Your cylinder throats are undersized and the fun begins. The bullets wind up being sized to .429 Dia. and you have a .429 bore...let the leading begin. Regardless of bullet hardness (I've used pure linotype which is twice has hard as need be) and gotten leading. The bullet lube is a major factor in the sense that if it doesn't do it's job? Yep, leading will be there.

I suggest (even though it may take a couple different vendors) you try several different cast bullet vendors before investing in a 1000 or more. Try ordering a 100 as a test bed.

Hope this was of some help,

Murphy2000

 

[venomballistics]

short answer ... load both.
if you want a snappy little nastygram load ... a 200G xtp over H110 is hard to beat.
if you want a general all around full magnum load for all reasons and seasons 240G - 300G cast over a full house charge of 2400, AA#9 H110 or similar.
the GOD I DONT WANT TO HURT ANYMORE" load .. 200 - 240G cast over Unique or Universal.
Paper puncher special .. Wadcutter over bullseye.

You Might note that most of the territory can be covered by cast.
In fact, its best covered by cast most of the time.
you may have noticed that most load recommendations for cast are sawed off bunny puff loads across most every caliber. These have their place, but dont let that general trend make you believe you need to compromise on a full house load just because its cast. show it no mercy, or as much mercy as you see fit.
if you must reduce a charge for leading issues, you may find its not by much at all

 

[longranger]

All posters a dead on right,cast bullets will do 97% of what a jacketed bullet will do with aplomb.

I usually find I have to pay more attention to expanding the case mouth adequately when loading cast.

I will second this observation,having loaded thousands of B/P cartridges.I have learned 2 things regarding case belling/expanding for cast bullets.

1. Production die sets are set up for the jacketed bullets and the expanders are to small for cast bullets to expand to desired dimensions without excessive belling,thus premature failure of the case.

2. Buffalo Arms - Main Page sells custom expanders for cast bullets ($20.00) any size you want.These are a very good for expanding with minimal amount of belling.
One caveat, Redding Titanium dies have an expander that is as near perfect for cast bullets with out doing a custom expander.

Plain base bullets will be more accurate than bevel base.Bevel base bullets are for those die sets mentioned in #1. to make loading easier with out excessive belling.

 

[aslap]

Thanks!

That's what I needed to hear. I have 100 240 gr jacketed that I'll use up first and then start the cast experiments.

Thanks for all of the input. I appreciate it.

Tony

 

[fredj338]

My 44mag lead hunting bullet. Jacketed bullets only cost more & wear the gun more. That bullet will not stop in any deer @ any distance you can hit.

 

[m657]

I'm a cast boolit fan. Probably 95%+ of all the various calibers I shoot is cast.

In 30+ years reloading, I can't even recall when the last time I loaded jacketed 44 anything.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I use jacketed bullets in rifles only. I use cast in my rifles from time to time, but I never use jacketed bullets in hand guns.

My 45-70 will NEVER see a jacketed round and my 44 lever, same deal.

Cast bullets sized properly are the bee's knees in a handgun.

People pay a lot for a non lead "monolithic solid" bullet for the penetration by way of its solid construction and durability. You can make them yourself, they're called cast. Non lead are useful where lead is banned, but I can not see a large difference in performance, save for the toughest non American hunting situations in far away lands with dangerous game of the highest order.