Which 240 gr 44 Mag?

[AtlLaw]

I want a 240 gr. (+/-) hard cast bullet to use for general shooting/defense/suicidal deer termination/etc. in my Taurus 2" medium frame Tracker.  Being old fashioned I like a Keith style bullet and velocity will stay around 900-1000 fps.  Unlike my rifle handloading I want to pick just one bullet and stick with it.  All these hard cast bullet suppliers out there seem to offer pretty similar products.  Is there any real difference?  Any strong preferences?

[JBC]

Well I can't really say which brand I would recomend but I can tell you my 4" ported tracker leads like a mother with the oregon trail laser cast 240 swc's as do all my .44's but the taurus is by far the worst. I tried to check the throats but the smallest gauge pin I brought home from the shop was a .428" and it wouldn't fit so they are VERY SMALL!! I think that is why it is worse than the others but please keep us posted if you do find some that works well because i am sitting on a couple thousand of the oregon trail's and they are all but useless to me so I need to be looking for something else

[crabo]

RCBS 250K

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=744337

Make sure your cylinder exit holes will pass a .430 sized bullet easily.  If not, you should open them up or have someone like cylindersmith.com do it for you.

Crabo

[Tom W.]

Or an RCBS 44-245-SWC. This is a cast your own proposition....

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=191199

[AtlLaw]

Thanks guys.  I really was asking about buying already cast bullets but your mould suggestions got me thinking on a couple of levels.   

The only casting I do is round ball for my BP rifles so my Production Pot is available.  I also have a (limited) supply of wheelweights.  A little casting might be fun, as long as I can shoot them as cast and the lube is easy to apply.   

But y'all made me realise that I need to slug my barrel and decide on what to do about the cylinder throats.  Seem they are a little tight as I remember.   

Oh well, guess I'll think on it while I burn up some powder using up what's left of my box of Hornady swagged 240 gr. swc's.  Which, BTW, pattern worse at 25 yds then a load of 00 buck does at 50!   

[Graybeard]

The Lyman 429421 is at least in theory the original Keith design. Some say it's been altered from his design in various ways the most commonly discussed difference being rounded rather than square bottom lube grooves. Personally if that's all that's different I say it matters not but not all agree. RCBS and some uses claim the RCBS 250 KT is more true to the original and perhaps it is but since I've not seen the two compared to a bullet actually dropped from one of Elmer's moulds (made by the way by Lyman/Ideal) I really dunno.

I think either should do as well as the other for you really as will most any of the commercial cast bullets made using either of those moulds. I'd warn against buying any such with a bevel base rather than a flat base as again in my personal experience bevel base bullets are never as accurate as flat base or gas checked bullets and often are not accurate period. Of course if you'll confine your shots to 25 yards max it is really moot as to that distance it's not gonna matter and with that snub nose barrel on yours it again likely won't matter which you shoot as the difference in real world accuracy likely isn't more than an inch at that range regardless of which you use.

[Lloyd Smale]

all good suggestions so far. Only thing ill add is my favorite bullet hands down in the 44 under 300 grain is the 240 swcgc rcbs. I never fails to impress me in any 44 ive tried it in.

[BBF]

I have seen a few commercial cast bullet suppliers given you some choice in the sizing of their products.

[Cottonwood]

These are great bullets sized .430 dia 240-gr SWC