Which 44-40 bullet molds?

[jfg_4]

I searched and could not find a post on the subject -

I want to cast some bullets for my replica '92 and my now ordered Cimmaron SAA. I have never cast bullets before and am a newb to reloading as well. I do have a good lead furnace (I pour cannon balls for a 1" bore miniature cannon).

Could someone recommend the appropriate dies? I dont want any thing extra fancy - the rounds would be for plinking. I was thinking something that might match the Winchester Cowboy Loads .44-40 225 Gr. LFN.

Any suggestions?

[jfg_4]

Im looking at these two -

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/MOLD-D-C-429-240-2R.html

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/MOLD-DC-429-200-RF.html

[Lefty Dude]

The 200 gr. RNFP would be a better choice since you are going to be shooting the same round for the 92 mag. tube Lever and a revolver.

We tend to shy away shooting round nose bullets in tube fed Lever rifles. In the tube the round nose is sitting on a primer of the cartridge in front of each other as they are loaded in the tube. Upon recoil, or a jar or drop of the piece could set off quite a chain fire.

Some 92's will feed SWC's. My 92/44 cycles and feeds a 240 gr. SWC quite well.

[earlmck]

We tend to shy away shooting round nose bullets in tube fed Lever rifles. In the tube the round nose is sitting on a primer of the cartridge in front of each other as they are loaded in the tube. Upon recoil, or a jar or drop of the piece could set off quite a chain fire.

Gee, Lefty, we've put up with 5 generations of gun writers warning us of the dangers of pointy bullets in the tubular magazine, and now you want to extend this mindless parroting to roundnose bullets? Are you thinking all those round-nosed factory loads for 30wcf and 35 Rem are hazardous?

Now there are other reasons for preferring a flat point, or maybe that nice rounded flat point in a cast bullet. And that would be that the flat seems to cause a bigger "thump" when we hit a game animal, and I seem to have got better accuracy, on average, with those than I have with round-nosed types, though that is a pretty limited observation and may not hold true overall. But I sure have trouble seeing a safety thing here.

Anyway, jfg, I think you have likely candidates for molds there. If you don't have lube-sizing equipment there is a good chance you can get away with using Lee's tumble-lube on the unsized bullet. If that seems to be too large for loading in your cases you can get the Lee push-through sizer that operates on your loading press to squeeze 'em down to... probably .428 for 44-40 use, though my 44-40 does OK with .429s.

[w30wcf]

jfg_4,
DEFINITELY go with the 200 gr. if you want the cartridges to feed through the magazine. The 240 gr bullet when crimped in the crimp groove will make the cartridge too long to do that. Max recommended cartridge oal for a '92 Winchester is about 1.59" and that 240 gr will exceed that.

Here's another bullet option. The mold is more expensive but well worth it!
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_det ... 220C-D.png

I assume you are shooting smokeless(?). If you are going to shoot b.p. then this would be the bullet.....
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_det ... 215C-D.png

w30wcf

[M. M. Wright]

I have the 200 grain flat point Lee mold and have used that bullet extensively in the 44-40. It works well when properly lubed but doesn't hold enough lube in those two little grooves to work well with black powder. May not be a problem for you. Also, I must use Winchester or Starline brass with the .429 diameter bullet in order to get the reloads to chamber in my revolvers. Remington brass is a little thicker and just turns out too big, even when using the Lee factory crimp die, to chamber in either my Colts or the wife's Cimmarons. The bullet I use now is from an RCBS 200 grain RNFP mold. I don't remember the number but it has a huge lube groove which holds enough SPG to lube a 24" bbl. to the end. You know, leaves a star on the muzzle and maintains accuracy for 40 or 50 rounds before fouling the bore with hard stuff.
I mostly use SPG but you can make good lube from toilet bowl rings, ($1.00 @ Lowe's) and a little olive oil. I melt it in an old electric percolator and pour the molten stuff into my Lyman sizer. It is a LOT cheaper than SPG! Works just as well.

[Cimarron]

I've been using a Lyman double cavity mold for my .44-40 for almost 30 years now. I like the double cavity mold because you throw twice the number of bullets with the same amount of effort. I have never had any problems with them in my Uberti Henry, 1873 and single actions. I also have a Rossi 1892 in which they work very well.

[6pt-sika]

A couple years back I had a couple post 1995 Marlin 1894's in 44-40 . One was the convetional early style Marlin 1894CB with the 24" octagon barrel with checkered stock and forend . The other was a 1894CCL which was pretty much the same thing except the barrel was 20" and the wood was uncheskered .

In the two of these I mostly shot the Lyman 429215 SWC GC bullet . And believe it or not they shot very nicely !

Think I also tried the RCBS 44-240SWC GC as well but of course the heavier bullet would reduce the velocity so I stayed with the 210-220 grainer .