Cast Bullet Question

[MtJerry]

Went to the range last week with my Ruger SBH 44 mag and shot inch and half groups at 25 yards. Gun had a dirty barrel before I started.

Went home that night and cleaned it really good. Went back to the range a fwe days later and shot the 4 inch groups with the same load!

Clearly my gun shoots better with a dirty barrel - HOWEVER - I had to get about 100 rounds thru it before the groups got back to where they were in the first picture.

My question - these were .429 dia. cast bullets. Would I do better with .430 dia. bullets ??

I have some pictures of the targets at another site I frequent if you'd like to look.  

http://www.familyfriendsfirearms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31765

Thanks for the advice!!!

Jerry

[jhalcott]

have you slugged your barrel to see how big it is? Are your cylinder throats smaller than the forcing cone? Larger? I'd at least try .430dia bullets just to see how they work. Are you getting leading in the bore with the .429 bullets?

[dave375hh]

All my cast bullets in my SB Hunter are .431 to.4315. Smaller dia. bullets don't shoot worth a D***. Your gun takes 100 rnds to plate the bore with lead untill the bullets start to fit. Not only will larger dia bullets help the accuracy they may reduce leading caused by blow by of the powder gasses. Larger dia bullets don't have as far to slug up to fill the bore, and reduce flame cutting of the driving band.

[LAH]

I've always used .430 & .431 in my 44's. Maybe something larger would be better. Measure your throats with a bullet of know size and go from there.

[Lloyd Smale]

most handguns ive fooled with with cast bullets dont really settle in till there seasoned with at least 50 rounds. Something as minor as switching bullet lube can make a big difference.

[Handgunr]

Lynn & Lloyd,

Howdy stranger's.........

I just got my SBHH and I ran some of my .429 sized rounds through it. Not real promising at 100yds, but the gun is scoped with a 2X, so we'll see.
As I mentioned before at Handloads, I usually slug everything (chamber & bore) first, but I had loaded ammo & was earger to shoot the gun, so out I went.
After a nice long shoot & a thorough cleaning, I decided to take the time and check the chambers using a few unsized & sized bullets. I found that the chambers ranged from .4305-.431 The bullets that were sized in a .429 die, were actually measuring closer to .430.
Do I buy a .430 sizing die, hoping for .431, or go straight to the .431 hoping for the same ?

Yeah, I know....buy both.....I will :-D

The bullets would slide in comfortably and you could wobble them very slightly, so I knew I needed them fatter. Not much, but a little more.

Funny thing is that these .429 bullets shoot decent out of my scoped Redhawk, and the chambers are about the same as the Super.

Take care,
Bob

[LAH]

Personally I go for .431. Better to big than too small. IMHO

[Mikey]

MtJerry - you probably need to slug yor bore to find out which diameter bullet might shoot best.  Along the way you may also wish to lap your bore and I would suggest dropping down to Veral Smith's forum for additional insights and findings from folks who have done that.  It isn't a big deal to firelap a bore and from a revolver you can have a lot of fun doing it.  

I believe that once you get your bore properly slugged and firelapped you should be able to shoot just about any bullet with more than acceptable accuracy.  Just a thought and hth.  Mikey.

[MtJerry]

Slugged the cylinder and the bore last night.

Cylinder is .431 and the bore is .430 ... that means I should be using .431 dia. bullets ... right?

[LAH]

Either will work fine. Remember you can get .431 in a .431 hole without  considerable force.