Henry Rifle Forums

Hi I'm new to the site. I am going to reload for my bb 44 mag will semi wad cutter cast bullets feed ok

Sorry that was supposed to read bb 44 mag

Centerfire lever actions need blunt tipped bullets to prevent a chain fire reaction in the magazine. The round nose profile feeds well in most anything. The best of both worlds is the round nose flat point. For cast bullet loads In the 44 I'd start with Unique powder. Consult your loading manual for a recipe.

P.S-Welcome to the forum!

Thanks I would like to use gc there are not a lot of options for molds

Never have loaded gas check bullets but I can see myself doing so someday.

welcome indeed, delighted to have you join our forum .... our BB Mag has quickly become one of our favorites .... we reload and have tried a range of bullets and powders .... so far, our rifle hasn't been very finicky, it seems to be OK with whatever we feed it .... we tried several brands of lead bullets and they were OK .... as a caution, we learned that to prevent lead accumulating in the barrel, it really is important to monitor your muzzle velocity ... the recommendations you have been given for selecting lead bullets is dead on the money .... we choose to use Nosler 44 Caliber 240 Grain Sporting Handgun Bullets JHP (BLEM) ====> http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosler-p ... 100ct.html because that is the bullet we hunt with .... if hunting wasn't a factor, we would go with their cheaper 200 Grain Sporting Handgun JHP Bullets (BLEM) ===> http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosler-p ... 100ct.html .... we like the fact that we can load jacketed bullets to a markedly higher muzzle velocity with gives us a flatter trajectory at longer ranges .... no matter what you use, your Henry will give you generations of fun to fire performance .... looking forward to your range reports and use comments ..... please take a look at our How Many ? thread (link below) and add your Henry rifles to our community's total

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... &start=430

Never have loaded gas check bullets but I can see myself doing so someday.

Gad checks are sort of a 'thing of the past' with the hard cast & plated bullets now available.

Not if you have a bunch of lead and shoot 100 rounds a week

I see you must be casting bullets then!

Yes mainly for pistols I have a good many molds but no flat round nose with gas checks

I've never gotten up the courage to try casting my own bullets and have developed a respect for those who do .... while we were using lead bullets, we found round nose flat point (no gas check) bullets really worked well in both our 44 and 45-70 .... I don't know if there is any difference in molding bullets that are designed for use with or without gas checks

The big difference is in the bullets themselves. Not all mould designs cast bullets that will accept gas checks. Then there is the additional step in applying the gas check to the bullet base. Gas checks increase the cost per bullet but allow you to get more velocity with little or no lead fouling. For plinking and bouncing tin cans plain lead bullets work well enough. For serious hunting loads at higher velocity the GC bullet would really shine.

Keep the speeds under about 1250fps and you likely won't need gas checks with a good fitting bullet.

My 44 mag feeds SWC just fine.

There is a Thompson 250 GC bullet mold that has a rep for being one of the best most accurate rounds available for 44 mag.

If you are doing much of this I really suggest you ick up the Lyman cast bullet manual. It's huge and covers everything about cast bullets including lots of good load data for many calibers. Mold brands and part numbers ect.

https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Cast-Bulle ... t+handbook

I have shot a few swc cast bullet in my BB44. For the most part I shoot jacketed or plated bullets (RNFP). I had some 250 grain true Keith style cast bullets that would not feed. They were too long 1.71". I could feed them one a time but they would not work using the loading tube. The 240 grain cast bullets that I have from Missouri Bullet Company feed fine. Mine have an OAL of 1.61". Keep your OAL in that range and they should feed fine, too long and you will have problems.

JEBar wrote:I've never gotten up the courage to try casting my own bullets

I'll tell ya what, between friends and the interwebs it's a cornfusing maze of information.
Seems a l'il mo' complicated than they showed us in "The Patriot", eh?
But I'm determined to stick my head innit here shortly. If only as a tourist! d;^) Schneeks..

I many be missing the OPs objectives but if he has a mold for a for a RN or SWC that is NOT for gas checks then maybe he needs to add something to 'harden' his lead mixture and use the bullets without gas checks. I used to cast 50/50 pure lead and tire weights and never had a problem with leading but these were shot only in pistols and under a 1000 FPS but a moderately hard bullet can be shot in the 1300-1400 FPS range with no leading problems. If I were to cast again I would really concentrate on lead mixtures that would cast bullets in the hardness arena of some of the harder, commercially made cast bullets. Gas checks seem like a PITA to deal with when casting.