.44 special/magnum mold

[BerdanSS]

Going to start casting. This is my first venture. Got a SLEW of 44 specials and mag cases preped, got most of my equipment gathered...and I have a good start on lead. Can someone recommend a nice mold to start with? Just a solid RN or FP bullet will do. Loading for a 24" barreled 92 lever action.


Also, what is the proper way to slug the bore? I suppose that's the best way to determine the best mold size.

[Mike / Tx]

If you just want to get your toes wet to see how thing go initially I would suggest picking up the Lee 2 cavity molds. Thee is a 200gr RFN, and a 240gr RN, which both fit your wants and would make up some nice plinking and general shooting bullets. I would be very surprised if your bore needed much if any over .430" for a good fit. I would just go ahead and order the Lee push through sizer in .430 while your ordering the molds to save on shipping. If you need bigger, you can polish the .430 out a little at a time with a dowel rod and some emory cloth pretty quickly.

As for slugging, a lot of folks use a simple lead egg sinker that is a touch bigger than the bore. Some use a pure lead cast bullet which is either a touch bigger than bore size or they take a same caliber one and mash it a bit with a c-clamp or vice so as to expand it's diameter. Then you make VERY sure your bore is really clean, and oiled up nicely, and drive it down through from the muzzle to breech using a steel rod which has been taped with masking tape to protect your bore. Most use a brass punch or similar to get thing started similar to muzzle loading where you use the starting ram. If you add several wraps of tape every 4-6" along the rod which are just able to slide into your bore this will also help keep the rod from bending when you smack it.

When you do this use a nice heavy hammer, so that when you hit you get movement and not just taps. You also don't need to swing the heavy hammer nearly as hard as the weight will do the work. Look over on u-tube and especially over on Castboiolits in the stickys there is worlds a plenty of info on doing this.

[FrankenMauser]

Just a note on the hammer....
Try not using one, once you have the slug started in the bore. If you have a good bore, you should be able to push the greased/oiled slug through the bore by hand. There may be minor constrictions around dovetails, sights, etc; but the majority of the barrel should let the slug pass with just hand pressure on the rod/dowel.

As for the rod/dowel....
I use drill rod (wrapped in tape to keep it centered).
Wood splinters. Metal bends. I very much prefer a bend, over a dowel that splinters and gets stuck in the bore. (But I use O-1 rod, so it isn't going to bend unless I do something really stupid.)
I had heard stories about stuck dowels before, but figured the users were doing something stupid to cause it. A few years back, I had what I considered to be a very high quality oak dowel splinter and jam in the bore of a Mosin Nagant. I probably didn't use enough lube, but it didn't matter once everything was jammed. I tried many, many things to get the slug and dowel pieces out, but nothing worked. That's when I turned to a 36" piece of N-size (0.302") O-1 drill rod, and a hammer drill(!). I'll never use a wooden dowel again.

And that brings us back to the hammer...
I knew, going in, that the hammerdrill could do it, but I thought my odds were good....
I was wrong. The hammer drill, pounding on the lead slug, actually expanded the barrel by a few thousandths and caused a loose spot, where the drill rod had been tapping the slug until it broke loose. (The dowel pieces acted as wedges, and locked the slug in the bore.) The same thing can happen with a hammer.

Never beat on lead in the bore, if it can be avoided. And use plenty of lube!



As for bullets...
The Lee 200 RF (~200 gr round nose flat point), that Mike mentioned, is a pretty universal bullet. Right now, the Lee 200 RF and the Lee 310 RF are the only bullets I cast for my .44 Mag.
The Lee molds can be a serious pain in the butt, but for the price, it's usually worth the risk. --My 200 RF is the worst mold I own, as far as block alignment, proper mating, and sprue plate alignment. But shipping it back to Lee would cost half of what I paid for the thing.

If you want some suggestions for higher quality molds, we can provide them; but it's probably best to cut your teeth with the cheap Lee molds, and figure out how you want to move forward, before dropping some cash on quality. It's easy to write off a $12-18 Lee mold, but it's much more painful to realize that a $120 mold doesn't meet your needs.

[Airman Basic]

This one works well for me:
http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-.../dp/B0013PVR44

[Hunter0924]

I like the Lyman line of molds myself. They are not expensive, made of iron, and should last several lifetimes.

[mikld]

The first mold I bought was a Lee 240 gr. T/L design for my .44 Magnum. I was able to learn a lot about casting, and produce a bunch of bullets to keep my 629 shooting. Today I shoot a lot of RNFP bullets cast from a Lee/Ranch Dog mold, 249 gr., and 265 gr.

The Lee TL430-240 SWC is a good starter and it is designed for shooting unsized and tumble lubed. A classic .44 cal. bullet is Lyman's 429421 245 gr. SWC...

[BerdanSS]

Thank you all for the replies, all very helpful

There is a shop about an hour from me that sells real Black Powder, parts for about any sidelock you could think of....and has shelves chock FULL of all different kinds/sizes of LEE molds. Based off of the recommendations here, I'm going to make a trip out there soon and pick up a LEE to start out with after I slug my bore.