300gr 44 mag lever action load

[Scrumbag]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for a load out of my 20" lever action with a 300gr cast bullets doing 1,200 - 1,300 fps

The bullets are cast truncated cone, no gas check and with BHN 15.4, rated 19,100 PSI by the maker.

Powders I have are Unique, 2400, H110, Lil'gun, Viht N105 and N110.

There are what I think are some promising loads in the Lyman manual but they only quote a 300gr bullet in pistol length barrels.

For this I'm not worried about single loading and I have some 44 special cases I could also use if there is data that would work.

Scrummy

[Grizz]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for a load out of my 20" lever action with a 300gr cast bullets doing 1,200 - 1,300 fps

The bullets are cast truncated cone, no gas check and with BHN 15.4, rated 19,100 PSI by the maker.

Powders I have are Unique, 2400, H110, Lil'gun, Viht N105 and N110.

There are what I think are some promising loads in the Lyman manual but they only quote a 300gr bullet in pistol length barrels.

For this I'm not worried about single loading and I have some 44 special cases I could also use if there is data that would work.

Scrummy

Hi. depends on twist rate. some 44 rifles will stabilize 300Gr bullets, some won't . . .

[vancelw]

The data below is for Jacketed, not cast, but they should be good starting points for you to begin working up a load.
All of the published 300 gr cast data I can find is for handguns.
I did a lot of 300 gr load testing with 300 gr Nosler and 300 gr Hornady XTP Mag bullets.
My two rifles have 1:20 twist (a Ruger 77/44 and a double built on a CZ 12 Gauge)
I also have a B92, which I believe has a 1:38 twist, but I have not tried my 300 gr loads through it, yet.

Hodgdon 300 gr Rifle.JPG

Nosler 44-Rem-Mag-300gr.jpg

[GunnyMack]

Years ago I tried 300xtps from my 1:38 Ruger Carbine. Mediocre accuracy but good enough for the hog I shot, DRT. I used 2400 or H110 ?

[Bronco]

I have a Marlin with a 24" barrel. I rebarreled with a 1:16 twist. The rifles original barrel had a .4323 bore and that slow twist. I made some .433 diameter bullets to fit the barrel but they did not fit in my Red Hawk, and they would not stabilize unless I pushed them hard. So I rebarreled it with a .429 bore barrel. I size my bullets now to .431" and call it good. I use 20 grs. of 2400 and get a little over 1700 fps for a 300 grgc. cast bullet
My cat sneeze load is 5.5 grs. of WST for a little over 700 fps. Same bullet , same rifle. Wierd thing is get same velocity out of my 7.5 barrel Red Hawk with the WST and a little over 1300fps with the 2400 load.

Hope that somewhat helps.

[arclight]

The common 1:38" twist might not stabilize a 300 grainer at the velocities you mention. John Taffin, writing in the Nov. 2020 issue of GUNS magazine says he puts 21.5 W296 under the NEI 429.295 for 1547 fps (18.5" Marlin microgroove), and 1" groups at 50 yards, but that is a gascheck bullet. He also likes the SSK 310 gr. FP over either 23.5 W680 (1,600 fps) or 21.5 W296/H110 (same speed), also 1" at 50 yards.
Brian Pearce (Rifle Jan. 2002 p.35) reports 310 NEI Keith SWC/25.0 H110/CCI 350 = 1,820 fps (20" Marlin).
ETA: as I'm sure you know, one must be careful when reducing charges of slow-burners, especially H110/W296, so it might not be wise to extrapolate downwards to achieve your desired velocity.

[Walt]

The Lyman book lists 300 gr cast loads in the T/C and Encore section in the back of the book. Their longest barrel length is 14" with a 1:22" twist and they got 1360 fps with AA9. I suspect your rifle has a considerably longer twist and stabilizing those heavy bullets is going to require hot loads and top velocities.

[Scrumbag]

Thanks folks, 1:20 twist so hopefully should be fine