Tested my first swc cast bullets today in 44 Mag.

[cleveland48]

I got a large batch of 240gr swc cast bullets but they are bevel base.  Is their anything wrong with bevel base bullets I've heard they aren't as accurate as plane base of gas check bullets.  So I loaded them in my 44 mag blackhawk with a 61/2 in barrel.  They were loaded with 18gr. of 2400.  Havn't had a chance to chrono these yet , so maybe tomorrow.  But I sit up a box of compressed magazines at 40 yds and put 3 bullets into it.  They all penetrated very deeply, but the tips of them tried to expand like a hollow point but only just a little, so is this a good characteristic of this bullet on deer size game?  I forgot the bullets aren't wide flat nose, but but the meplat of the bullet is wider than  a 240gr. xtp. So this should be good shouldn't it? Also a cast bullet that deformas like this should be fairly leathal to a deer.  But what velocity range should I be trying to go for?  Right now with 18gr. 2400 they are leading a little around the forcing cone but accuracy has still been great. Thanks for all the help you guys.   cleveland 48

[Paladin56]

Cleveland,

What you have will be just right for deer sized game. Bullets will react differently in dry paper than they do in wet paper soaked through. The slight expansion sounds like what I have experienced with air cooled wheel weight metal. I have an RCBS mold cut to cast a 225 gr. bullet, but with WW metal after gas checks and lube come out to about 240 grains. Recovered from dog mounds they have a nice little mushroomed head, but the only one I managed to recover from a deer only swelled up a bit. The rest went through and couldn't be recovered. Don't expect to recover any bullets, and if you do, don't expect them to show much in the way of mushrooming.

As long as velocity is around 1,100 fps or so you should do just fine on deer sized animals, and I wouldn't worry about the bevel base so long as the gun shoots as well as is always has.

Hope this helps,
David

[cleveland48]

Thanks Paladine i'm going to run them over the chrony today and see what I get