As I get ready to load 250-300grain offerings at 12-1300fps I'm curious what sways handgunners to use premium lead/GC's bullets (Cast Performance for example)instead of a premium jacketed version from say Sierra or Hornady. It seems price is pretty comparable. Is accuracy better with the lead? How about fouling and/or barrel break-in. Never loaded anything but jacketed bullets before and wondering the differences.

At 12-1300 fps you shouldn't need gaschecks. Some guns don't want to shoot a plain base bullet though, so you'll have to check and see. I'd try some plain base cast first. If you like them, you might consider casting your own, then you can shoot lots for cheap. If interested, check out the cast section of AR.

The wide, flat point of the 320 grain Cast Performance bullet I use in my Ruger SRH .44 Mag is my overall choice for a hunting bullet, though I do use the 250 grain Partition at times as well. The Cast Performance bullet's meplat is around .38 and thus punches a nice hole all the way through. It's heat treated and does not expand, but then again, with that wide of a meplat, it does not need to.

Also, a cast bullet will develop more velocity with a comparable powder charge than a jacketed bullet of equal weight & similar bearing surface. My 320 grain load develops 1400 fps from the 9.5" barrel. My 250 grain Partition load tops at around the very same velocity.

Both loads will do well inside of 3" at 100 yards and on good days will get down around the 2 inch mark.

THe 320 grainer is plain-based, and I have no leading problems.

Lastly, with this type of bullet, it is critically important to make sure of your backstop. The penetration of this bullet is incredible, and I have never seen one stopped by a deer or even a large hog with a broadside shot.

For me it was because of BIG pigs (300+lbs) and the difference between dead and real dead. My hunting load of a .41 caliber 210g Sierra and 19.5/2400 killed them but the larger pigs seemed to want to discuss just when they were really dead. I now load a CPBT or BearTooth .41 caliber 250g to 1150-1250fps and the piggies no longer wish to discuss the matter (real dead, real quick). So now instead of loading many different bullets and loads I only load three, the original 210g Sierra for son#2 and granddaughter, and 250g and 265g for me. I still have a bazillion .41 caliber bullets from 170-220g in unopened boxes in my gun room just sitting there.

An interesting experiment to try with these hard cast heavy slugs is to go shoot some trees and see just how thick of a tree the bullets will pass completely through. Tree's in the 12" range and easily penetrated. I have gotten complete penetration on live green pine trees up to around 18" with 330gn in a 44mag at 1500fps.

L45

What are you using to get the 1500 fps in a pistol with that bullet?

Most condom bullets open too fast and limit penetration. If a big bone is hit they can come apart. If a quartering shot is taken, the bullet might not reach the boiler room. I used XTP's many times and was never happy though they did kill the deer. I have switched to LBT style boolits and will never go back. They kill faster, damage less meat and do not stop in any animal.
I just don't know what to do with all the condom bullets in my box. I don't even want to plink with them. I hate to clean out the copper before shooting cast.

Lar I would like to know how you are getting that kind of performance because That is where my MAX load for my 445 supermag is at, I can't get any higher or my Dan Wesson cylinder holds on to the brass that you need to pound them out.

Brian

Approaching 1500 fps with a 320-330 grain bullet in a .44 magnum is no great feat -- not if you're loading for a long-cylindered revolver and loading HARD CAST bullets. You can't do that safely with jacketed bullets, however.

H-110 is the powder that does the trick for me, and I've put a couple thousand of the 320 grainers at 1400 fps through mine -- and all is quite well with it. If I remember corectly, JD Jones (www.sskindustries.com) had some load data for his 320 grain SSK bullet, and he claimed 1500 fps from a 7.5" barrel.