Experience with .44 Magnum, .44 Special in BP Cartridge

Doc Hoy · August 9, 2013, 08:50 AM

Guys,

I have not slugged the bore yet, but I am assuming it will be fairly standard when I do.

Standard sizing die for this revolver is .429.

Is there anyone out there who had to go to a larger sizing die for BPCR to keep the leading under control?

Hawg · August 9, 2013, 07:52 PM

I used .430-432 cast bullets with no problems. Don't try that with a 44-40 tho.

Doc Hoy · August 9, 2013, 07:58 PM

I took the plunge and bought a .429 sizer.

I'll see how it works and then if that don't work, I'll move to a .431.

Hawg · August 9, 2013, 09:04 PM

Cast bullets should be .001-.002 over bore size. I should have mentioned that earlier.

Bezoar · August 10, 2013, 12:45 AM

you want a lead bullet to be over bore size, but you can only make it as big as your chamber will allow.

You wont be getting magnum performance.

radom · August 10, 2013, 01:04 AM

Its BP the sharp shock of the detonation will pound the slug up to bore size. Most any original loads used slugs that where under bore dia and pretty much just at grove diameter.

Malamute · August 19, 2013, 11:47 PM

Uh, don't you mean that the other way around? Bore diameter is the size inside the tops of the lands, the smallest possible part, what the barrel was bored before it was rifled. Groove diameter is the largest part.

Powderman · August 20, 2013, 12:50 AM

Your problem is more than likely NOT the size/diameter of the bullet--but the alloy from which it is made.

Consider this....

You are probably experiencing a LOT of leading in .44 Special, even with smokeless powder--if you are using a hard cast bullet. Ditto with .44 Magnum with BP loads.

.44 Special smokeless pressures hover right around the 9000-10,000 psi level. You'll find the same with BP loads, which burn at a much softer rate than smokeless.

In the Magnum round, you have the same with BP cartridges. Smokeless loads, however, start around 15K psi and can go as high as 40K. This is more than enough to make the hard cast slug obturate to seal the bore. If you are using the hard cast bullets at low pressures, the bullet will not obturate--instead, you will have hot gas cutting around the sides of the cartridge. This will actually help to plate lead into the walls of the grooves and lands.

The solution is simple, especially if you cast your own. Use dead soft lead to cast your bullets for those black powder loads. For loads pushed at higher pressures--but still the lead bulleted loads--I would use nothing harder than wheelweights.

August 9, 2013, 08:50 AM	#1
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 5,290	Experience with .44 Magnum, .44 Special in BP Cartridge Guys, I have not slugged the bore yet, but I am assuming it will be fairly standard when I do. Standard sizing die for this revolver is .429. Is there anyone out there who had to go to a larger sizing die for BPCR to keep the leading under control? __________________ Doc My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson

August 9, 2013, 07:58 PM	#3
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 5,290	Thanks, Hawg I took the plunge and bought a .429 sizer. I'll see how it works and then if that don't work, I'll move to a .431. __________________ Doc My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson

August 19, 2013, 11:47 PM	#7
Malamute Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 2004 Location: Rocky Mts Posts: 857	Uh, don't you mean that the other way around? Bore diameter is the size inside the tops of the lands, the smallest possible part, what the barrel was bored before it was rifled. Groove diameter is the largest part. __________________ "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt-

August 20, 2013, 12:50 AM	#8
Powderman Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2001 Location: Washington State Posts: 2,166	Your problem is more than likely NOT the size/diameter of the bullet--but the alloy from which it is made. Consider this.... You are probably experiencing a LOT of leading in .44 Special, even with smokeless powder--if you are using a hard cast bullet. Ditto with .44 Magnum with BP loads. .44 Special smokeless pressures hover right around the 9000-10,000 psi level. You'll find the same with BP loads, which burn at a much softer rate than smokeless. In the Magnum round, you have the same with BP cartridges. Smokeless loads, however, start around 15K psi and can go as high as 40K. This is more than enough to make the hard cast slug obturate to seal the bore. If you are using the hard cast bullets at low pressures, the bullet will not obturate--instead, you will have hot gas cutting around the sides of the cartridge. This will actually help to plate lead into the walls of the grooves and lands. The solution is simple, especially if you cast your own. Use dead soft lead to cast your bullets for those black powder loads. For loads pushed at higher pressures--but still the lead bulleted loads--I would use nothing harder than wheelweights. __________________ Hiding in plain sight...

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August 9, 2013, 07:52 PM	#2
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 15,448	I used .430-432 cast bullets with no problems. Don't try that with a 44-40 tho.

August 9, 2013, 09:04 PM	#4
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 15,448	Cast bullets should be .001-.002 over bore size. I should have mentioned that earlier.

August 10, 2013, 12:45 AM	#5
Bezoar Junior member Join Date: October 19, 2004 Location: michigan Posts: 578	you want a lead bullet to be over bore size, but you can only make it as big as your chamber will allow. You wont be getting magnum performance.

August 10, 2013, 01:04 AM	#6
radom Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2000 Posts: 1,298	Its BP the sharp shock of the detonation will pound the slug up to bore size. Most any original loads used slugs that where under bore dia and pretty much just at grove diameter.