unleaded 444 loads?

[Gallahad]

I've never loaded hard cast rifle loads before, and am concerned about leading. I have used both cast performance and lasercast bullets in magnum handgun loads before, and never had a load that did NOT lead the barrel. It has always been a terrible chore to clean and I HATE using harmful chemicals on my bores. With jacketed bullets I clean with rem oil and never have a problem with copper fouling. ANYWAY I'm looking at some cast bullets for my 444 marlin, and am interested in any info regarding the reduction of leading besides gas checking and harder alloys. I don't know if powder type has anything to do with it, besides velocity? I like the looks of the 310 grain by oregon trail and the 320 grain double crimp groove from cast performance, but am open to suggestions.

[Reed1911]

Leading is a bit of a subjective thing. How much and where are you seeing the lead deposit? If it is very thick all the way down, or just at the breech end that would indicate gas blow-by and your bullets are too small for the bore (you should also see pretty poor accuracy). If it is a very thin deposit all the way down the bore than you are fine and your rem oil and brush should clean it out just fine. If you see leading all the way at the muzzle then you need to move to a harder alloy.

In the .444 I use GC bullets from Leadhead, they are very hard but shoot very well with little to no lead deposit at all. Unless you are sticking to very low velocity I would suggest either moving to a GC bullet or slowing down the velocity.

[mdi]

For shooting lead boolits successfully, you need to know (for sure) what your bore size is. Slug the bbl. of your gun and use boolits .002" or so larger. For shooting in a revolver, you need to know the chamber throat dia. and shoot boolits the same size or no more than .001" smaller. Proper boolit fit is extremely important to avoid leading. I can shoot wheel weight alloy boolits in my Blackhawk .44 Mag. with hot loads of WC820 with no leading when sized to .431 (chamber throats measure .431" and bore .429"). Works for me...

[pourboy]

Is it a Microgroove barrel? Cast can be used successfully in a Microgroove, but almost always require custom sizing. You will need to know your bore dimensions anyway in order to  get properly sized bullets. Most leading problems are caused by bullets that don't fit the bore.

[mpiety]

The Beartooth Bullets site www.beartoothbullets.com has some good articles about shooting cast bullets in 444.
I am using a 2015BR recipe with 300 grainers that doesn't lead in my outfitter, but does slightly in my microgroove.