Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Cast Bullet question ?

What is the throat diameter of the revolver chambers and of the Marlin? Therein lies the diameter you want to size to (or a half thou under), regardless of what the groove diameter is in those guns. It could be that your throats are pretty close to each other in size which would go a long way toward successful interchange. Sizing to throat diameter and ignoring groove diameter may well cure a lot of your leading too, as well as going with a softer alloy instead of a hard one, believe it or not.

which is a good idea. the following link is on rifle/handgun 44magnum from a few years ago. I thought it informative.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?153929-Why-are-44-rifle-bores-oversize

another interesting writeup on marlin rifles through the years and the need to size on throat diameter.
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/fryxell/microgrove-barrels.htm
kine of interesting to me is i just cast about 300 44 bullets from a lyman 429421 mold. I had a mixture of wheelweight and lead free solder. The mold is nominally what .429? It through to .430. And about 250grains compared to stated 245grains.
I powder coated today which adds about 2thousandths to diameter.
So they would be with no more sizing etc end up about .432.
which i think would be about perfect for my marlin rifle.
I don't think that extra 2thousandth from the paint would cause any issues in the handguns as long as they would chamber. I am tempted to see that before sizing back down to .430, or one over nominal diameter of my handguns of .429

As experienced as you boys are at reloading and shooting, I know all of you know about the Lewis Lead Remover system. When I first started shooting a .357 magnum, I leaded up my barrel until I figured out how to shoot it hot without doing that. I got a Lewis lead Remover and that was back in 1970. I still have a couple of the original brass patches. That system is quick and easy. It works like a charm. For any of you who are experiencing leading issues and you haven't yet figured out how to solve it, you might want to consider a Lewis System until you get it figured out. Or not. Mine is 46 years old and still works good, so it's a good investment.

for what it's worth not much, i had to consult my notebook on reloads after my wife found it for me. Regarding a project with another guy.
anyway powdercoated 310grain lee mold cast bullet at chrony'd d 1300plus fps out of a 44magnum contender ten inch barrel. After shooting the barrel was fresh as a daisy.
being cheap, one of those brasso pot scrubber pads cut into a piece and wrapped around a brush took the place of the lewis system for me.
another interesting thing for me has been the schmidt rubin rifles. The cleaning kits they issued were works of art, but they had tubes of grease in there they used for lubrication, but also to clean the barrels with a mesh metal pad. One of the reasons most k31's have that black crud on the stocks. the mesh pad kind of looks like window screen.

I always carry a little 3 inch barrel, 5 shot 44 special when I am hunting. Well, I carry it anytime I leave my property if you want to know the truth. Last year I was at camp by myself like I am most of the time checking on my feeders and I just walked through the woods instead of riding my 4 wheeler. As I came up on a feeder, I heard hogs and managed to ease in on them from down wind to within about 50 yards of them and killed a lillle boar for camp sausage. If it'll play, here is a video of me with that little 44 special and the hog. You gotta love 44's in any version.

Turn on the sound and set your viewer to full screen size.


Click here: http://vid1020.photobucket.com/albums/af329/BlackPrince789/DragonheadNO22012039.mp4

That hog had swamp mud on him and I got it on my hands when I loaded him on and pulled him off the 4 wheeler and that is what I am trying to rub off of my hands there.

Here is that 44 special. You will immediately notice the large Pachmayr grips. They were not made for that revolver and I had to custon fit them to it. I did that because that little sucker will bite the crap out of you using the standard grips if you load it to kill hogs or bad guys like I do. I try to limit what I shoot with it so that I don't shake it apart with those heavy loads. I had three of these, but I shot one loose and had to send it back for repairs. When it came back, my hunting frens saw them and beat me out of the other two, one of which had a non fluted cylinder. What are frens for anyway? This one is new or like new and I am careful to limit the heavy stuff in it. It shoots exceptionally well.



It goes where I go and the guy grinning on the other side got one of those little 44's from me.

Here is a buck I killed with a 6 1/2 inch barreled Smith model 29 shooting Keith's 250 grain bullet (Lyman 429421) over 22 grains of 2400. You can see how much bigger and heavier the Smith is than the little 44 special. They are both 44's and they both kill deer and hogs, but one get's in the way and the other does not. I am not even aware the little 44 special is there.

Bob, Great photos.. Like that little .44.. Good story as always, and this time with pics.. Thanks..

You can get the same effect with a bit of copper "Chore Boy" scrubbing pad wrapped around a wire bore brush. Or better yet, the "Big 45" metal cleaner; pretty much the same thing but made of a soft stainless.

Then again, I've hardly touched any lead remover since discovering powder coating. Just sayin...

i loaded some 44magnum powder coaed 429421 yesterday, and going to do some for 44special tomorrow. powdercoated same bullet.
I have a 696smith that will appreciate it
pulled out an old brian pearce article from handloader in 2006 and i think i am going to do the skeeter load of 8.5gr of unique pushing that bullet.
I have a 28 that was rebarreled to 44 a skeeter conversion in six inch with tt th, and a trigger shoe, plus an action job.
that 429421 powdercoated is going to be pushed by 8.5gr of unique.
i pulled out an old brian pearce article from 2006, surprising how much wallop you can put in a 44special if the gun will withstand it. Not that it is necessary
i have that skeeter conversion in a very similar holster sitting on my desk rightnow, just like in your picture.

Dang Ron!!! You cut a wide path through the south west. About as close as I ever got to Skelton is his books and sadly, I only have two of them. I have not tried powder coating and probably will not. I have two Lyman sizer/lubbers and lord only knows how many sizing dies and enough lube made up to last a lifetime. What I am shooting is not causing any problems and has not caused me any problems over the last half century. A properly cast, fit, and loaded bullet isn't going to give any problems.

But I do enjoy and thank all of you fellas for showing this old dog the new tricks of powder coating. And like coyotehunter, I really enjoy the photo's!! I didn't know a bullet could actually be good looking until I saw the pictures of yours. At this point in life, I don't want to start new projects. Heck, I'm just hoping I live long enough to finish those I have already started. I burried another friend just yesterday.

Coyotehunter

That little 44 is a Rossi model 720. I am sad to say it is not a Smith, which is the reason I am being very careful with it. I've already shot one of those all loose and had to have it repaired and I don't want to do this one that way. It is just right for most of what I use a 44 to do. I would have never imagined a three inch barrel could make such a BIG DIFFERENCE in shootability over a 2 inch, but it really does. And I would never have imagined a three inch barrel would carry very much easier than a four inch, but it really does. It may not be for everybody, but it's just right for me and what I need. Of course, I'm in the deep south and all we have down here are deer, hogs, and a few black bears, and a properly loaded 44 special will let daylight all the way through those critters. There have been very few times when I have wished that I had the big Smith 29 instead to that little 44 special.

Most of my shooting is with .44 spl. loads, Skeeter's Unique load, or a similar load in a mag. case. Lots of good info. here and great pictures.. Thanks for the show..

Here are two 44 caliber bullet molds with bullets cast in them. Left is Lyman 429421 250 grain Keith and on right is a Saeco 200 grain wad cutter hard cast from pure linotype and water quenched.



Here is what those wad cutters look like up close after sizing and lubing.



Here are the wad cutters loaded frontwards and backwards. The backwards thing comes from old law dogs loading 148 grain hollow base wadcutters backwards creating a huge hollow point for use on mean people. At least, I am told they did that, but I have no first hand knowledge of it of course. It made no difference in the accuracy of those 44 wadcutters loaded front or backwards. They shoot really good either way.

I killed over a dozen beavers with that wad cutter running at 1000 FPS, a half dozen hogs, but only one buck because I only shot one buck with it so far. I normally use the heavier 250 grain bullet for that kind of thing and was surprised to see that little wad cutter kill so well. But all of those shots were 50 yards or less and it probably will not kill much further than that. If you like shooting 44 special loads, that wad cutter is dang good for targets and general plinking and if you load it right, it won't shoot your revolver loose, but don't ask me how I know about that.

That little 44 special Rossi is made on a frame the same size as a Smith K frame. It isn't big enough or strong enough to shoot a lot of heavy 44 loads without damaging the guts inside. In fact, the first one of those I ever saw, I thought it was a K frame Smith 357 mag. Big surprise when I saw the hole in the end of the barrel and I had to have one.

i got some cast bullets from a guy back in your part of the woods for .41magnum. the cool part was they were heeled bullets. reverse them and that is one deep hollowpoint. I have fired them that way out of a handgun and a 41mag rifle.
although i did read somewhere that although kind of neat looking, really don't work all that well.
I like full wad cutters for close distance.
i have a mold for 148 and 160gr .357, and i have shot a gillion of them.
I don't have the mold belongs to another guy but have cast a 170gr wadcutter for 41magnum too.

I figured as much. Most old law dogs have. I cast, load and shoot them by the 2 pound Maxwell House coffee can full. And like you, have probably shot a gadzillion of'em. Still do as a matter-of-fact. These are loaded 148 grain wad cutters and ready to shoot. If you pay attention to sight picture and trigger control and shoot enough of those, you can get to be a fairly good shot. In fact, you can shoot your way into the master class with them.

Bob,

that is a really nice, neat handloading space--i like the shelving, brackets, the neat gray color, etc., it all looks really good--quite meticulous.

it appears to be siding on the walls--if so, did you frame a room onto an inside corner of the outside of the house?

great modification on those grips on the .44 special--it appears to me that you like all of your stuff "just so"--something that's great to see in this day and age....

You nailed it HV. That area was once an outside 10 X 12 porch that had a half wall to the outside and screen above that. My wife and I had a set of bunk beds out there and when our nephews visited us (we had no children ourselves) they loved to sleep out there. One morning we woke up to yelling on the porch and a black bear came up on the porch like they sometimes do, and it looked over the half wall through the screen at the boys and they saw the bear looking in at them. That woke'm up real qiuck and they still talk about that to this day. One of those boys is now a chief petty officer and a navy seal who has been in a lot of action that he won't talk about. He said he thinks that bear scared him more than some of the stuff he has seen as a seal. He was only about 10 or 11 at the time that happened.

But boys don't stay boys long and all too soon, they grew up, so I took that porch in as my loading room and left the cedar siding on the walls. My dad retrired from the Marines and then went into building houses, then comerical construction, and then into heavy construction. I was raised building things and started working on those projects with him when I was 16. But by then he was the construction superintendant, so my age was never an issue. I built the three houses my wife and I have lived in and the one we are in now, (photo below) so building that loading room was no biggie.





I built this house 100 yards off the road on a five acre lot on the side of a mountain and it's hard to get to a spot where I can get a photo of it. There is only one road in and one out and I am on the high ground and can see anything approaching for a long way off. I do not have a missle air defense system . . . yet. I do have my own water and power supply and a years worth of non-parishable foods stored. My property line borders the Chattahoochee National Forest and the southern end of the Appalachian Trail is about 3 miles north of here. I am 60 miles north of Atlanta and I pray that is far enough away. It was when I came here, but that was 29 years ago and I'm begining to see more cars on these mountain roads than I once did. I don't like it and I'm too dam old to move and build another house. So I make bullets, reload, maintain a small vegetable garden, keep up my shooting skills and my fire wood supply. Oh, and converse with you boys who I hope are also getting ready for what is coming.

Bob,

it sounds like you are quite a skilled guy--and energetic too, in order to build 3 homes--a real task. i'm not surprised about your construction background--as the skillsets evident in those neatly constructed shelf brackets (which i assumed you had built), point to someone who likely grew up doing that sort of thing.

quite a story about those boys too--it seems like incidents that happen at a younger age like that leave very strong, lasting impressions.

i've enjoyed your posts--the stories, the nice rigs, and the photos. without a doubt, you are a great addition and asset to the campfire.

btw, i remember the old "wadcutter reversal" loading--first learned about it some 30+ years ago--though i've never tried it during all of those years...

Well as Paul Harvey used to say, and now for for the rest of the story. Go down to the knife and blade forum below and look at the thread "What was the first knife you made or tried to make." I posted that thread about a couple of knives I made because I tried my hand at making a few over the years.

Here is one of them:






How I made it is documented in the thread on the knife and blade forum. Old goats need something to keep them busy or we get into trouble. Below is one I made but have not shown to the boys on the knife and blade forum. It is my favorite.





I also did all the leather work design and construction on the knife sheaths.