[Paul Donahue]

I'm thinking of trying .430 Hornady XTP's in my SBH. The ends of my chambers measure .430 and I'm wondering if this is tight enough to maybe pose a safety problem. So far I have used jacketed .429 Sierra, and Speers with no problem, and swaged Speer and Hornady .430 lead swc. The lead swc leave some lead in the chambers and barrrel at about 850 fps. Any thoughts on using .430 jacketed bullets in my gun? Also looking at 240 gr Magnus hard cast RNFP for 25yd target shooting and plinking. I would prefer swc's but can't find anybody that has them in stock.Would the RNFP be as acurrate as swc's? The Magnus RNFP are listed as cowboy bullets, I don't know anything about CAS, are RNFP required and swc's prohibited? Thanks for any help, I don't want to get into any excess pressure or other safety problems with .430 jacketed bullets. Paul

 

[Johnny Ringo]

A lot of SBH .44's have .431-.432 cylinder throats. Push your .430 bullet thru the entire (clean)cylinder. It should pass with little resistance. If some slight pressure is required to push it thru, thats ok. A slightly snug fit is ideal. This also holds true for cast as well.
Regards

 

[MikeG]

Should be fine. What are you measuring with? Unless you are slugging and using a micrometer, then it's iffy to get precision to 0.001". Calipers flex and the inside measurements with a caliper are probably not spot-on with a round hole.

You may know this already, but not everyone does. I'd shoot them as I've always used 0.432" for cast bullets in Rugers. Might be too tight in a Smith. Enjoy...