44SPECIAL

[Olsherm]

One of the best gunsmiths in the country(IMHO) told me he had worked on several of the 44 special flatops and they had not needed much attention to make them shoot good. However,he said that they seemed to require a .431 dia bullet to shoot their best. I was wondering if anyone had had experience with that size bullet in the flatops? All I have seen on bullet castors sites are .429 & .430 in cast lead bullets. Appreciate any info on the subject and also if you know where I can get a few .431 cast bullets to try?

 

[tom black]

I shoot my cast bullets sized .431" in all of my 44 Mags/Special's with the exception of my little S&W 696 and for some reason it just doesn't like cast bullets. They all shoot better than I can hold.
Tom Black

 

[Hammerdown77]

Has anyone slugged the bore and throats of their .44 special Blackhawks? That's really going to dictate which bullet works best.

Hopefully mine works ok with .430, because I just bought 400 of 'em.

 

[mattsbox99]

You can get .431s from Beartooth Bullets. Thats all I shoot in my Marlins and Rugers.

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=beartooth+bullets

 

[Sonnytoo]

You can get .431s from Beartooth Bullets. Thats all I shoot in my Marlins and Rugers.

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=beartooth+bullets

+1. You can specify your o.d. with many of their bullets. I buy these a lot.
Sonnytoo

 

[SlickRS23]

I slugged the barrel on my Lipsey Blackhawk and it is .430" exactly on all 3 grooves.
The cyl. mouths are a low of .4315 to a high of .4320.
I've been using Oregon Trails "LaserCast" 240 SWC, .431" Dia. with 6.0 to 6.2 grains of Unique.
Accurate and easy to shoot with no leading.
Jeff

 

[Dale53]

I have been shooting cast bullets in .44 Specials and .44 Magnums for over forty years. I have had excellent results sizing them at .430".

My new Ruger .44 Lipsey Special shoots under an inch at 25 yards with my cast bullets at .430". I slugged my cylinder throats and they are .431". Since my other .44's have a bit smaller throats I was happy that my Lipsey accept the .430" bullets. Since I am getting excellent accuracy with the bullets I have been using all along in my other .44's and I am getting NO leading, then I am GOOD to GO.

The "rule of thumb" (not absolute but a pretty good rule) is to use the largest bullet you can easily load in the cylinder. That is, within reason, of course.

FWIW
Dale53

 

[Lloyd Smale]

Like Dale ive allways had better luck with 430. When i find a load my guns likes i usually try the bullet at 429,30,31 and 32. Through the years most of my 44 mags have prefered 430. I own 9 44 mags right now and have probably owned 30 or more through the years.

 

[COR]

I have a 2 dedicated 44spls, JQ Spl by Clements and the new FT 44Spl and I tried .429 thru .431... Both guns shot the.430 the best and .431 was a close second, .429 produced the largest groups (3" plus). These were the RCBS 250K, Lyman 429421, Ohaus 245K, and a Ranch Dog 265gr FPGC...cast from air cooled ww's and a touch of tin.

 

[38-55]

I've cast and sized my 44 bullets to .431 since I started into 44s 25 years ago. I was a late starter and found right off that my SBH, Model 29 and T/C Contenders all worked well with .431. Since have added a Taurus Model 441 in 44 Special and it likes .431 also.

 

[WARD]

I am set to size to .430 and .432 and in limited testing with my 5.5" FT 44 special I have found it to prefer the .432 but only by a narrow margin.

I have been shooting 50/50 lead/wheel weights at 950 fps or so and I believe that this alloy is somewhat forgiving and does well in cylinder throats of various sizes.

If I were to cast with a hard alloy and not increase the powder charge I believe I would see the .432 doing much better than the .430.

Ward

 

[tom black]

I started casting bullets back in '72 and have always used straight car wheel weights and have never had a problem driving them at any velocity. Others milage may vary.
Tom Black

 

[Boge]

I shoot Leadhead bullets sized to 0.431 in mine. They are a perfect fit.

 

[Olsherm]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will try a few .431 when I can find some. Or, maybe I best try dropping a couple of sizes down the throats to see which fits best.

 

[Larry from Bend]

You can get .431s from Beartooth Bullets. Thats all I shoot in my Marlins and Rugers.

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=beartooth+bullets

GREAT people to work with -- Marshal will answer all your questions.

 

[DeletedMember275]

I have a Winchester Trapper in .44 Mag that slugs at .432"; I haven't even shot the bloody thing yet, but I'll be trying the largest diameter cast bullets that the gun will chamber when the time comes.

Most of my .44 revolvers have throats in the .432 inch range, with bores of .429-.430".