Need help with 200grain lrn 44 mag load

[fishbones182]

I was given a box of 500 200 grain lead round nose. The fun part my manual shows nothing on a 200 grain cast bullet for the 44 rem mag. I normally use alliant powders and they have nothing listed on their site either for start, stop and oal on this bullet. On another note ive always loaded jacketed bullets for 44 mag. Where can i find the information or what loads are you guys brewing up for a 200 grain lrn and what is the seating depth on it? Im interested in loading lead because its cheaper but i cant find the information im looking for. Thanks for the help/advice in advance.

 

[mete]

The velocity you can get with lead bullets depends on hardness and lube. If you want plinking loads of 700-800 fps that's not a problem but if you want hot loads get the right bullet.

 

[SHR970]

You can go to Alliants site and use 44 Special max. loads as your starting point. These will be like loading 38 loads in a 357. You can also use 225 gr. data from their site since your bullets are lighter...again a starting point for your load development.

Lymans has data for a 210 gr. bullet..closer to what you have.

So what do you really want to do? Powder puff, hot "44 Specials" or full blown 44 mag loads?

Next question is what powders do you have to work with for a starting point?

What kind of 200 gr. bullets do you have? You said cast..are you sure; it makes a world of difference. What brand are they?

Your question is kind of broad..if you narrow it down a touch we can pull from our collective resources and start you closer to what you really desire.

 

[fishbones182]

I can buy a new powder if i need too but i currently have bullseye, uniquie and a pinch of 2400 left. I normally load jacketed 240 grain fp at 20 grains of 2400. Id like a nice shooting target round out of these that still have a good pop to them. The bullet name on the box is bullseye bullets on the top and sides of the box is marked hard cast bullets match grade.

 

[g.willikers]

Here's load data including Bullseye and 200gr lrn:
http://www.loaddata.com/members/sea...aliberid=25&header=.44 Caliber Reloading Data

 

[fishbones182]

loaddata.com looks like a good site but i don't want to join a pay site at this time. If i start to load exclusively lead then i probably will join something like that. Im still comparing my books and thinking about 9 maybe 10 grains of unique that should net about 1000 fps.

 

[rclark]

... what is the seating depth on it?

If it has a crimp groove just crimp into it. Simple. If it doesn't, seat it up to the ogive like on a .45 Colt RNFP. Don't shoot 200g bullets out of mine, so I can't give you any 'favorite' accurate loads. I would use Unique or Bullseye for this application. Since I load 10g of Unique for a 240g lead SWC for .44Mag, 10g would work fine under the 200g LRN bullet as well as it is a lighter bullet (takes up less case space). Off top of head then, 7-10g of Unique would work. Just giving you an idea of where to start ... Your Lyman/Speer/Hornady manual should have some Unique/Bullseye loads for bullets close to yours.

Note, start collecting 'manuals' for your reloading bench.... Hornady, Lyman, Speer, Lee, etc..... Help you all lot in your 'search'!

 

[fishbones182]

I have the modern reloading manual by lee and the newest Alliant book and it shows nothing at all. Thank you for your suggestions and ill do just that. run it right up to the crimp ring and crimp it there. Maybe next weekend i can have a few made at 8,9,and 10 grain loads in unique and see what the gun likes best. The gun is a taurus raging bull with 7 inch barrel.

 

[zxcvbob]

I shoot 230's sometimes in .45LC, and the best powder I've found for big cartridges with light bullets is Red Dot or Promo (RD and Promo are basically the same thing.) Try about 7.5 or 8.0 grains in your .44, assuming they are hard lead.

 

[fishbones182]

The package says hard cast any how. I would have preferred them to be 240s but for free i wont turn them down just have to figure out how to charge them.

 

[GeauxTide]

9-10 grains of Unique would be perfect. You will find much better accuracy with 240-250 under 8gr after you burn through those 200s.

 

[fishbones182]

I prefer 240s because i shoot 240 jacketed for hunting but if i can load the lead hot enough and get tremendous leading i may stick with lead all the way. I can get a 1000 hard cast for 98.00 and the jacketed is double that. I appriciate all the feed back.

 

[11B-101ABN]

Lead Bullets have a few more variables than jacketed bullets. Nobody has mentioned size yet, and the wrong size lead bullet will give you more barrel leading than the wrong load. First slug your weapon...there are lots of video's on u-tube. Then measure your lead bullets, they should be at least one thousandth larger than your gun's chamber, some guns prefer more. Usually one or two thousandths will suffice. Lead bullets are softer than copper jacketed so they usually have less pressure for the same load than a jacketed bullet. That means less powder needed for the same weight projectile. For example:If you have a load of 10 grains of Unique for a 240 grain jacketed bullet, 8 should be OK for the lead one. Don't reduce your load more than 20 percent, or you risk getting one stuck in the barrel. Somewhere is a posted load for what you have, either in a loading manual, or a manufacturer's chart. Find it. When you experiment, you should have some way to check your loads, a chronograph is a good start, and keep notes. It would help lots if you can find someone at your local range that casts and can give you pointers. This is a minimum guideline and someone is sure to add to it, or suggest something different, but the main rule is safety first. Nobody wants you to get hurt or damage your equipment. Oh, yeah, almost forgot, lead bullets need lube, if your freeby's don't have lube, you need to apply some, (Another Variable).

 

[fishbones182]

The bullets are sized at .430 and they are lubed. I also double checked the sizing my self with my calipers. I finally got a response from alliant powder to start with 9 grains of unique and max should be 12 on the bullet im loading which is a hard cast 200 grain lrnfp. So ill make a few at 9 and work up to about 11 i think 12 will be hot for the lead but i could be wrong. I have been reloading for about 7 years and never considered using a lead bullet of this weight for my 44 mag. I have always used 240 grain lswc or jsp.

 

[crowbeaner]

Around 8.0 of Red Dot should work for midrange velocity. Check the manual first; I used to shoot 245 gr. plainbase swcs in my 29 with it.

 

[Red Eye]

I've gone as low as 6.8 gr of Unique with a 200 gr. LRN. I call it my fart/cowboy action load. No problem at all, equal to a nice mild 44 spec. load. 7.5- 8.5 gr is a nice mid-range; I wouldn't go more than 10 gr because of possible leading issues. My "normal" hunting load is 11.8 gr. Unique under a Hornady 240 XTP. When I want things hotter than that, 24gr of H-110 under the 240 XTP.

 

[fishbones182]

Here is an update on this. I have loaded several rounds at different charges and found that 10 grains of unique felt the best and shot the best. After making some more rounds plus and minus the the 10 grains the pistole and i have settled at 9.4 grains as the best load for both my winchester 94 and taurus raging bull. Very accurate and clean burning with small traces of lead left behind that brushes right out with minimal effort. Im also using a factory crimp die on them and its set just a tad less then the 3/4 mark. After a couple of shots i have a nice lube star on the front of the barrel so the lube is doing its job.