44 slicks

[Don McDowell]

I've got along pretty well with the aluminum blocks, but I believe the irons would have much better longevity. I like the brass blocks from Old West, but they are quite heavy, and I figured the Accurate blocks would be the same .

[Denali]

Guys,

And speaking of Accurate moulds, which mould material (aluminum, brass, or iron) do you guys consider the best for your moulds. I'm interested in ordering one of Accurate's moulds in 500 gr. pp. Thanks.

Regards

Mine is iron and i had him put 2 designs in the one mold. Ill do the same next time also since its like getting the second mold for about $15 extra

[Mike]

Don, Yes, I still have rifles. in just a couple of minutes I'm heading out to one of our local shoots. My .44/77 is my choice again.

Mike, Let me suggest that you try Accurate Molds' #44-400P, that's a tapered slick weighing 400 grains. It's working rather well for me and I'm using it in Jamison brass. Take a look at it at www.accuratemolds.com. Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the info. Your design looks pretty cool! I am going to have accurate do something similar with a blunt round nose. Is you rifle the standard chamber? Do you reload without resizing? What paper are you using and how easily do they chamber in a fouled barrel? My gun has a tight chamber so when i get the jameson brass ill have to fire form it and do some math to figure the base diameter im looking for with the paper i have.

How well does yours shoot with the tapered bullet?

Sorry for all the questions.

Accurate made a couple designs of mine (43-405p and 43-500p). The 500 uses thin paper and the 405 uses thick paper. This is for baco brass sized with 43 spanish lee die. Ultimate goal however is to get a bullet in unresized jameson brass that chambers easily in my tight necked gun and doesnt require fouling control. Hopefully it will shoot consistent 2" groups too.

Thanks for sharing

Mike

Mike, Let me try to take things one at a time. Yes, my rifle from C. Sharps Arms has a standard chamber. And I load my PP bullets without resizing my brass. But then I do resize the loaded rounds. That holds the paper patched bullets firmly so they can be carried in a cartridge belt if desired. No crimping, just resizing. The paper I'm using is an 8 pound (that Don recommended) and I do all my shooting without cleaning the bore between shots or between strings. Today I fired two 10-shot strings of with no trouble, in fact I placed 3rd in our small local match. (We had 8 shooters.) I want to say that my gun shoots very well with the tapered bullets and I do favor the tapered bullets over the straight sided. There are some other shooters who have more experience than I who will disagree with me and I won't argue, but I will keep on shooting the tapered slicks. And in our match today I was the only shooter using PP bullets. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Denali]

Thanks a bunch Mike!!!!

[Kurt]

Mike,

I like the tapered bullet also. They work best for shooting dirty or BT.
I shot these 8 rounds @ 130 yards using the .44-77 with the barrel sights today using the Gibbs tapered bullet with 75 grains of 2FG Olde-E with the Gibbs cast with 1/40 L/T @ 485 gr.
Those 8 rounds went into 1 1/8" vertical and 2-1/8" horizontal From L-R 512gr BA, 475 gr Brooks prolate, 507 gr KAL elliptical, Brooks 485 gr Sharps copy and the KAL tapered Gibbs.
The elliptical and the prolate are cast with 1/16 L/T and the other three are cast using 1/40 L/T.
I dont use the two pointed bullets in the .44-77 with the 1/19 twist. They just wont stay stable past 5-600 yards.

Kurt

[Don McDowell]

That is one beautimous rifle.

[Mike]

That's good shootin', Kurt. You're steadier than I am. And I think my .44/77 has a 1 in 17" twist. (I'd have to ask Schoffstall again to be sure.) Shoot sharp, Mike

[Kurt]

I sand bagged it Mike.

I still have to take the file with me and lower the front a little and I think it will be ready for filling the freezer.

Kurt

[Denali]

Kurt,

Very nice shooting! I need to play more with my Kal gibbs mold. Only shot 380 and 405 gr with it so far. Nice rifle by the way! Wish i had the single trigger on mine. Guess i didnt think it out as much as i should as i hopped on the tail end of the last round barrel run and was in a hurry to get something ordered.

Im going to order a lawrence sight and see how i like it. My semi buckhorn is a little buggered up from my filing blunders.

[Kurt]

This was my first time out using the KAL Gibbs and the rifle handled those very good. I usually shoot the Sharps bullets in it and had some outstanding results with them.
I have the Lawrence rear sight and had to file the notch open quite a bit so I can pick up the front blade.
There is still time to get the rifle you want I wanted this rifle as it is back in 99 but was talked out of it but It was always in the back of my mind. So far it has not disappointed me. It's a fine shooter.

Kurt