I'm working up a load for my 10.75X65R Collath. So far at 35 grains of IMR 3031, 200 grain FN the velocity was running around 1200 to 1300 FPS. At 37.5 grains around 1400 FPS. I was using 44-40 Cowboy bullets since that was all I could find already made up. I had some leading but not real bad I don't think. Cleaned up easily. I have found some other bullets that resize OK and have a hardness of 22. They are the LeadHead bullets. How fast can I reasonably expect to push these bullets (without a gas check) and not end up with alot of leading? And do they make a gas check for .424 diameter bullets? Can a gas check be resized or added to a regular cast bullet that is not specifically designed for a gas check? I'd like to get 1850 to 1950 FPS or better if at all possible. Thanks, Mike

You have a great rifle and a fun reloading project ahead of you. However, your needs are not likely to be meet with off the shelf components. A plain base bullet is pretty well limited to a velocity of 1,500 fps before leading becomes a major problem. Trying to fit gas checks to a bullet not designed for them is a non starter. If you want to do that, your best bet is to glue them to the base upside down. The skirt of the gas check will expand to seal the bore. However it is hard to get these centered well on the base without a special jig. I see no reason why 44 cal gas checks cannot be sized to .424. I have sized plenty of them to .427 without a problem.

We live in the day of CNC machine tools and true custom bullet moulds are now within the reach of the average reloader. Your best bet is to have Dan of Mountain Moulds cut you a custom mould just for your rifle. Custom/non-standard sizing dies are available from several sources at a reasonable price.

I checked CotW and found that .424 was book spec for the bullet. You did not say whether you had slugged the bore or were relying on the book spec. If you have not slugged the bore, do so. Cast bullets need to be a bit over actual groove diameter. This works enormously in your favor. If the groove diameter is .424 to .426, the readily available .427s intended for the .44-40 should be about perfect.

My old CotW shows a 200 grain bullet weight which is .44-40 range too, but I have found CotW to be less than reliable on that. You need to confirm this or independently establish the proper bullet weight to have any chance of getting the barrels to shoot to the same POA. Can't help you there, because doubles have always been way out of my price range.

There's a huge range of .44 cal moulds available. Sizing dies are stock items in .427, .429, and .430. Pick the one that is .001-.003" over your groove size. If none of them will do, Lee will make you a custom size for $25.

Gas checks should not be a problem. The folks who have run into problems tell me that annealing fixes it.

Sounds like the start of a fun project. First slug the bullet seat and the length of the bore. If the bullet seat comes out close to .427 to .429 then you will have a wealth of "44" bullets and moulds to try. Some other members mays send you some free samples if asked. If the seat comes out .424 to .426 then do not despair. Lee will make a push thru sizer in custom dia. This may solve your gas check problem also. Lyman used to make a great 427103 ( picture at Castpics) and NEI makes moulds in .424 and .425 . wrg-inc

The bore is .424 diameter. I finished the chamber casts last nite and sent them in with the RCBS die set to RCBS for a new seater die. A fired case/reloaded with one of my 200 grain bullets and one new Bertram case accompanied the dies so they will have all that I can give them to aid in getting a proper die made. I've got my fingers crossed. RCBS has been an excellent company to deal with in the past and I am pretty sure they will come through for me. I'll keep everyone posted as I go along on this project. Mike

Hi Mike, I've been working on a 470 from 12ga double for awhile now and while it's been mostly finished for longer than I'd like I have gotten it to shoot rather well with cast. I had Dan at Mountain molds make me a 500gn gaschecked mold. I used RL-15 and ran the velocities up to 2150 and they shot to the same point as Barnes 500XLCs. I've been useing Javalina Lube from Midway, but intend to try some FWFL. I haven't had any leading problems yet. I have one barrel soldered in place, but while adjusting the other barrel to regulate, I messed up the end of the barrel, and had to cut it back 1/8". So I need to mill the end of the barrel assembly back and then go back to the range to finish regulating.

I played with quickload. Just guessing at around 80gn case capacity of water with a 24" barrel and 200gn cast bullet. It looks like 61gns of RL-15 might give 2160fps at 20ksi. What is the case capacity? How strong is the gun. This is just a quickload estimation not load data. COTW doesn't list any factory ballistics. You may just have to load up until the barrels regulate makeing sure you keep the pressures low enough.



If it was mine, I think I'd be tempted to try some 300gn cast slugs. You might be able to get 2000fps and stay within 30ksi. Is this a Black powder cartrige? Or was the Gun Nitro Proofed?