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Heaviest cast bullet available for .44 mag

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04 October 2010, 07:01
Joe from So. Cal.
Heaviest cast bullet available for .44 mag
Anyone know how heavy they go? It seems that I remember Seyfried talking about shooting 385 grainers out of one of his guns.

I have a Super Blackhawk 7 1/2" and there's a little more room in the cylinder to seat them out farther. These would be strictly for plinking, no hunting, or anything else.
04 October 2010, 21:12
Leo L.
When I tried 300 grainers in my 7 1/2" Blackhawk they shot way high due to increaed recoil. It would have needed a taller front sight to compensate so I wenr back to 250 grainers.
05 October 2010, 21:47
Idaho Sharpshooter
the law of diminishing returns.
OAL is dependent on cylinder length. I would guess, based on owning a Colt Anaconda in 45LC for many years, that 300-320gr is about your limit. I shoot an LBT-WFN 320gr in it at about 1150fps.
You probably already know about them, LBT is Lead Bullet Technology, and they make bullet moulds. The WFN is their Wide Flat Nose design for revolvers.

Rich
06 October 2010, 16:46
Lloyd Smale
heaviest 44 mold i have is the ballistic cast 340 lfngc. I personaly dont see a reason to go heavier then that and even that may be a tad over the edge. In short cylinder guns like the blackhawks it needs to be crimped in the first grove and it takes up alot of case capasity. It works fine though in a redhawk crimped in the second grove. Personaly i think 300 is about ideal in the 44 and 320 is about ideal in a 45 colt.
07 October 2010, 07:08
Joe from So. Cal.
I've been shooting moly-coated 300 grainers at about 1250 fps with no over-pressure signs and like them. I was not sure if there were slugs out there that I was not aware of. Super heavy weight slugs have always intrigued me and my 7.5" Black Hawk seems like a decent, inexpensive gun to play with them with. Thanks for the replies here.
23 October 2010, 03:32
fredj338
I've loaded & shot some 340gr, but I agree, IMO, not much value going over 310gr. The Lee 310grFPGC is a nice bullet. Thrown at 1250fps, not much is going to stop it short of kevlar. Try theses guys for heavy wts.
http://www.castperformance.com...ory=Cast+Performance
https://beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm


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30 October 2010, 10:46
mikehunt
if you cant get a mould over 310, you might try adding more tin or other additives to make it cast heavier.
31 October 2010, 15:50
Lloyd Smale
more additives like tin and antimony make a bullet lighter not heavier.
quote:
Originally posted by mikehunt:
if you cant get a mould over 310, you might try adding more tin or other additives to make it cast heavier.

01 November 2010, 08:45
Joe from So. Cal.
Good links for the heavy wts. Thank you.

300 gr. is decent. I just find it fun throwing heavy slugs from my Ruger Black hawk.
24 November 2010, 21:57
Paul H
The heaviest I shot out of my super blackhawk was 330 gr. It was a 240 gr swc mold that I modified one cavity to produce a wfn shape. As I recall I was able to get 1200 fps out of the 4 5/8" barrel with 310, 320 and 330 gr cast bullets. I think you'll find that if you go past 330 gr, the pressure will start really rising and I prefer a muzzle velocity of 1200 fps for hunting loads.


__________________________________________________
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25 November 2010, 09:59
Joe from So. Cal.
Actually, I just like to smack steel plates and sometimes do a little long range plinking. Again, I do this with my 7 1/2 inch super Black hawk.
02 December 2010, 18:42
DWright
quote:
Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
the law of diminishing returns.
OAL is dependent on cylinder length. I would guess, based on owning a Colt Anaconda in 45LC for many years, that 300-320gr is about your limit. I shoot an LBT-WFN 320gr in it at about 1150fps.
You probably already know about them, LBT is Lead Bullet Technology, and they make bullet moulds. The WFN is their Wide Flat Nose design for revolvers.

Rich


This is good advice. 320 grains is about as heavy as you can go and still get the bullets to stablize. Years ago I made and sold LBT design bullets (Black Lion Bullet Co.) I did a lot of testing with bullet weights. In the .44 320 was it. In the .45 340 gr.


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