Way OT

[georgeld]

Much depends on how flat the bullets are and if there's any chamfer around the edges. Try a couple and see how they slip in or peel some jacket off.

[MQ1]

Finally got my .44 Big Boy Steel last Friday...still have to wait 10 days, but the fit and finish is as good as you described...and smooth

I'll let you know how the loads work out...


MQ1

[Daryl]

Marlins and Winchesters in .44 mag. have 38" rates of twist.
ANYTHING faster is a good idea.

265gr. Hornady's are usually the heaviest bullets a .44 Mag. will shoot.
.444 Marlins can handle 300gr. in their 38" twists due to the higher, 2,100fps to 2,200fps handloaded speeds.

I've always neck expand and bell the case mouths for loading straight sided handgun or straight cased rifle ammo.

I usually turn or grind down the expander button a couple thou. for a tighter bullet fit for improved accuracy and improved powder burn.

[BulletBob3701]

I bell my case mouths slightly.
Bob

[MQ1]

Larry,

I've loaded pistols a long time, and with the .44 magnum I just bell enough to easily seat the bullet...whether it is a jacket boolit or a cast boolit.

I also found there is nothing better than the Redding Profile Crimp die.

I'm hoping that some of my basic good loads for my Super Blackhawk shoot well in the Big Boy...I cast and load a 255 Keith boolit that shoots fantastic...and I also have a good pistol load that is a 290 WFN that will be interesting to see how it performs in the rifle.

I've always had good luck with larger than optimal boolits...and I'll post my results and loads for you.

MQ1

[georgeld]

HIjack a bit:

Didn't know the wt limit of a .44mag til reading Daryl's input.
I got a Blackhawk .45 Colt and have been shooting 330gr cast slugs.
That's about all I can handle, gun twists my wrist and that's with a light load of 20gr H110.

In a pistol match one of the guys had a .44 with a scope on it. (I'd won the match, every target amazingly, 26 shooters). When we were done he asked me to check his gun out he had 5 shells left and had his 24 shots all over the 4'x4' board and was blaming the gun.
I shot the last five and the group was just barely 4" at 50yds. first I'd ever even handled a handgun with a scope on it. "sorry Mike, it's not your gun or loads that's the problem".

Said he was loading 25gr H110, 250gr bullets. Don't know what the books say max is now, but, that was quite a bit over max when I got home and looked it up. The Colt shows at least that much of the same powder. Then there's guys that get the big guns. OUCH!

I think maybe with gas checks on you might not need to bell the case, but, I'm not sure as I haven't been using them and the bullets I cast are flat base with a tight square edge that must be belled. Give a few a try and see if they crush the mouth of your case any, if so, bell 'em! Lee sells a slick belling die for about ten bucks that will bell most any case made with the two inserts.

[MQ1]

Larry,

I finally got to take my Big Boy Steel out and run some of my loads through it. My most disappointing discovery was that the 250gr Keith bullet I was using in my Superblackhawk shot great...inch at fifty yards pretty easy...but was too long to load from the tube magazine. The load was a bit more than 18gr 2400....now I'm looking for a shorter mold

240 gr. Speer JHP with a stiff load of H110 shot a bit lower, but still came in under an inch at 50 yards with the irons.

The last load was a 290 WFGC Bear Tooth. The load is stout at 22gr H110. It shot very well...actually printing almost exactly as the 250 Keith load...but the recoil off the bench is pretty significant, actually rivaling the Marlin Guide Gun I used to have in 45-70.

The Big Boy Steel did not disappoint. Thanks for your feedback!

MQ1