Time to continue load development with my .44-77.

[Tgc]

Jim, my upright freezer broke down this last winter. I was thinking of following semtav's example and using it for a target. I obviously hadn't thought about the logistics of filing the targets for future reference. Tim

[Distant Thunder]

Tim,

Another good point in favor of paper targets!

[Semtav]

Well there is that new fangled thing called electronic files.

[Tgc]

Brian, I throughly enjoy your posts @Shiloh forum and the good natured ribbing from desert deuce. Perforation of derelict appliances. I find it easier to see the buuet holes in a reefer door than the impact on a painted steel plate. Tim.

[Kurt]

Tim,

I almost bought a pack of shoot and see target centers today when I got a new cleaning rod because I cant see a .22 hole through the black bull at 100 yards with the Kowa cranked up to 60X and it's getting so that I might not even see a reefer door not alone the holes through it

[Don McDowell]

Starting to get the hang of this scope thing
The 44-77 isn’t dissapoonting me
Going to do some more tweaking on the 438470 bullet it is showing promise have enough of those to shoot 1 relay at 600

[Kurt]

My problem is I have to many moulds and they all shoot very good with different powder and powder loads. I need to set some of those moulds aside and just use one.
I have one DD the .441/505 DD that is the last one I had BA make and I have not shot it much because I got into the .38 but I will get back to it again.
I would say the four moulds that are the most I have worked with and that is a Metford bullet, two tapered Gibbs, original sharps profile and the Sage.
The Sage bullet is a 510 gr at 1.457" long and it has shot very well at the 1K.
The 441/505 is 505 gr at 1.440" long and what little I have worked with it and it shoots very well and so does the 1.400" Metford.
I was going to do some shooting today but it didn't happen and rain for the next couple days.
I hope I can get to use the 200 yard range but I have been forced to the 180 yd because of repairs. Not much difference with 20 yards less.

[Distant Thunder]

Kurt,

It might be only 180 yards but there's nothing wrong with any of those groups!

I have shot some group almost as good at 200 and 220 yards, but not with the consistency I'd like to see.

The bullet that has been the most consistent for me is BACO 430520 that is cut to .433 diameter. That bullet is 1.460" long. I plan to shorten it to 1.420" before I cast anymore.

My Brooks adjustable original Sharps Profile shot very well with the cupped base, but since switching to the flat base has been disappointing. I plan to go back to the cupped base before casting any more with it.

Your Sage bullet has shot very well in my rifle everytime I've tried it, but I have not shot it beyond 600 yards and I only have a few left. I may try one relay at 1000 yards at Lodi with them just to see.

My new Brooks elliptical which is 1.396" long is showing some promise with two different charges of Swiss 1 1/2 and my next move will be to shoot some 10-shot groups at 220 yards with the two loads and see how they look. I plan to cast more of these today. It didn't take long to burn through the first 50, but I do have something to work with going forward.

If both still look good I will shoot them at the 2 mid-range gong shoots coming up in July, Merrill and Rapids. Probably one load at each match to compare.

The hope is to pick the best load to shoot for the 1000 yard match at Lodi in August. I don't care for the all 1000 yard format and I considered not going but Cliff threw in the 200 yard .22 match and that I really want to shoot, so I may as well shoot the 1000 yard.

The final test before Lodi will be the mid-range paper match at Rapids in early August. The results there will decide what I shoot at Lodi. It might just mean I put the .44-77 aside and shoot my Hepburn, but time will tell. If I have any kind of a "working" load for the .44 I will stay with that.

If I still have not worked out the best load and have a couple that "look good" I'll shoot both and compare.

The earliest I could get to my 400 yard range would likely be mid July and there would not be enough time for any development just some testing. That range is too remote and setup too time consuming to do any real development, but testing at 400 would be good.

[Kurt]

Jim,

I cant shoot a consistent group with the same load every time I shoot. I have good and bad days like everyone else.

The best bullet I have used in the 19 twist .44-90 BN is a swage die I had Corbin make that is a copy of that top 550 gr special.
I have used that bullet twice at Lodi and I used it at the Q and Mt. 1000 over the years I shot there and it has served me well. I used this bullet twice at the Lodi matches and the Fall 2013 the sky came down so bad I had to take the front insert out and use the hood for the front aperture just to make out the target and that knocked me out of the game.
The velocity the old Goex I was using pushed that bullet just below 1300 fps out of the 19 twist .44-90 BN about what I'm pushing the .44-77 using the 2F OE.
This particular bullet profile has shot well in all of my .44's of the 6 different .44 calibers I have.
That bullet has an elliptical radius of one caliber off the ball hemi. I forget what that ball is for sure. But that profile is very close to the KAL tapered Gibbs of the two moulds I have. Rick made me an adjustable and later on I bought a used one from Don here. All three bullets shoot well under 1.445" in the 16, 17 and 19 twist .44's from the .44-75 Ballard to the large calibers like the .44-100 Rem and .44-90bn. I like the length of 1.4"
The two Cal moulds I have first cast a terrible bullet because pf the way Rick vents the blocks. They made terrible parting and vent hairs the way I pressure cast. If you just dumped the lead in they were OK.
I had Rick make me a sprue plate with just a .100" hole to cut down the fast flow and this cured the problems I had using those two moulds.
But now I just use the mould for a core slug to run them through the swage die.
These .44's, all I have shoot very well. I could never understand why the .45 took preference over the .44's

Kurt

[Pilgrim]

I think that I have finished my load development with BACO's Jim 403380E DDPP cast with an alloy of 17 pounds of lead and 1 pound of lead free solder. I shot this load earlier this week at 200 yards without wind flags. It went 0.487 MOA with shots 1, 2, & 5 in one hole. The rifle was my Hepburn with a Ron Smith gain twist SS barrel in 40-65. I do plan to test it at 500 and 600 yards soon. By the way, the group shooting was observed and measured by an impartial witness. Thanks for all of the knowledge you have so generously shared on this forum. Fred