cast bullets in 44mag, need load data help

S

Shadow9mm

New member
Not sure where to start. Looking to build up some full powder 44 mags for a 44mag henry lever gun. Casting my own using a lee 240g swc gas checked mold. bullets are around 13bhn as cast. was considering water dropping. bullets will be powder coated so I was not sure if water drop was needed. will be gas checked.

Goal is a full power 44 mag load.

I have been using h110 with my 240g jacketed bullets, but am finding little load data for h110 with lead bullets.

currently have
h110 (trouble finding load data)
power pistol (AA only lists up to 210g bullets in 44mag)
hp-38
cfe-pistol
AA #7
clays (too fast)

I checked several sources so far from Hodgdon for pistol with a 240g swc had the best data.

CFE Pistol start 9.9 at 1117, max 11.9 at 1299
HP-38 start 5.5 at 800, max 11.0 at 1344
#7 start 14.7 at 1180, max 6.3 at 1341

with PC/gas checked, will I be able to use jacketed data, presuming the base is seated similarly?
 
2400 is what Elmer used with his cast bullets, developing the .44 Mag.

its still a fine choice. His load (which is now the classic load) was his 250gr Keith bullet over 22gr of 2400 and a standard primer.

Might not be the ultimate optimal rifle load, but it will for sure work.

I use 2400 for jacketed bullets in .44 Mag. I do load cast, but to lighter levels and use Unique for that. 10gr Unique puts you in the 1100fps+ range from a longer (6" or more) pistol barrel.
 
44 AMP said:
2400 is what Elmer used with his cast bullets, developing the .44 Mag.

its still a fine choice. His load (which is now the classic load) was his 250gr Keith bullet over 22gr of 2400 and a standard primer.

Might not be the ultimate optimal rifle load, but it will for sure work.

I use 2400 for jacketed bullets in .44 Mag. I do load cast, but to lighter levels and use Unique for that. 10gr Unique puts you in the 1100fps+ range from a longer (6" or more) pistol barrel.
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I plan on trying 2400 when I can find some locally. so far no luck, so working with h110, which i have about 4lb of for 357 and 44mag.
 
so I loaded 5rnds with 22.0g of h110. having crimp problems though. I adjusted seating perfect. Mouth below the top of the crimp groove. I then added crimp until my fingernail did not catch. Went to load them and something looked off and it shaved off a little lead. I think its crimping too fast as the bullet is still being seated. any way to fix this other than seat and crimp separate?

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I assume you are crimping and seating with the same die. So back the crimp out, adjust the seating, and then adjust the crimp.
 
totaldla said:
I assume you are crimping and seating with the same die. So back the crimp out, adjust the seating, and then adjust the crimp.
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That's what I did. I backed the die out. adjusted the seating. then backed seating out, and set the crimp. then with the case up into crimp I adjusted seating down until it touched so seat and crimp were both alligned.

The setup bullet looked great. but when I ran the first one it looked like that.
 
I set it correctly. The round used during setup looked fine. However when I went to do the next round. With seating and crimp both already adjusted and locked down, is when it gave me problems.
 
Seat and crimp in separate steps. Adjust your die so that it just takes most of the belling out of the case mouth at the end of the bullet seating stroke. This will let you set the seating depth accurately. You want the top of the case mouth even with the top of the crimp groove. Seat all your bullets, then back out the seating depth stem a full turn and turn your die down about a quarter turn and check the crimp. You'll probably need to tweak it a little to get just the right amount. With the "all in one" seating/crimping die it's a bit of a pain, that's why so many get a dedicated crimp die like the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Works great and you just have to set it once.
 
I bet if you seat that bullet a smidgen deeper it'll be fine. It looks like the crimp is digging into the bullet a bit too much. Adjust the seating stem down 1/8 or 1/4 of a turn.

The dies and bullets are made to be crimped in one step.
 
@Shadow9mm: I can tell by your posts that you're an experienced and knowledgeable handloader. So no one needs to tell you to make sure the cases are all trimmed to the same length.

I know the dies allow for seating and crimping in one step, but that doesn't mean they do it well. You are pressing down with the seater, while resisting that compressive force with the roll crimp...simultaneously. I have to agree with "black mamba". After ruining many .44-40 and .32-20 cases, I changed my procedure to seating and crimping in two steps. And even then, I was still crumpling a very few of the thin .44-40 cases with the roll crimp. I bought a Lee factory crimp die, which applies forces from the side, and all the problems went away. I now seat and crimp in two steps for any cartridge which requires crimping. Admittedly, you're adjusting the dies a lot, but for me, it just makes things better in the long run.

By the way, if you're doing a lot of load development with cast bullets, the "Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook" is a good reference to have on your shelf.
 
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hammie said:
@Shadow9mm: I can tell by your posts that you're an experienced and knowledgeable handloader. So no one needs to tell you to make sure the cases are all trimmed to the same length.

I know the dies allow for seating and crimping in one step, but that doesn't mean they do it well. You are pressing down with the seater, while resisting that compressive force with the roll crimp...simultaneously. I have to agree with "black mamba". After ruining many .44-40 and .32-20 cases, I changed my procedure to seating and crimping in two steps. And even then, I was still crumpling a very few of the thin .44-40 cases with the roll crimp. I bought a Lee factory crimp die, which applies forces from the side, and all the problems went away. I now seat and crimp in two steps for any cartridge which requires crimping. Admittedly, you're adjusting the dies a lot, but for me, it just makes things better in the long run.

By the way, if you're doing a lot of load development with cast bullets, the "Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook" is a good reference to have on your shelf.
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Yes brass all same length, been down that road before, blasted short Hornady brass....

are you referring to the collet crimp? lee has a factory crimp, taper crimp, and collet crimp for 44 mag. I had looked at the collet crimp, as I have them for my rifle dies, but was not sure if it applied a taper or a flat crimp. And I know it can be very case length specific they way it works so I was not sure, using mixed brass sometimes, if they would all crimp evenly. I have about 250pcs of starline I am using, and another 300 or so once fired mixed I bought.
 
The collet is not case length specific. Take a look at the crimps shown in my sig line to see the differences. I went to separate crimp step a very long time ago.
 
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