Springfield Slim's 44 Mav Big Lube Bullet

[Deadeye Dick]

I see Springfield Slim has reduced the size of his 44 Mav Big Lube bullet from .429 to .428. Will this affect the accuracy of barrel's mic'd to .429? All the barrel's of my 44-40's are .429. I imagine the .428 bullet will obturate to .429 upon firing. Guess this allowed him to reduce the number of bullets he had to stock, ie. .427 and .429.

Deadeye Dick

[Fox Creek Kid]

I believe Slim has other sizes as well. By the way, FWIW you probably would get better accuracy & velocity if you ran a 0.430 bullet in your gun, if it will chamber. 

[Noz]

I tried to use a .430 Mav Dutchman in my 44-40. The gun did not like them.(Uberti 1866 Carbine) I now size to .428 and all is well.

[Mako]

I tried to use a .430 Mav Dutchman in my 44-40. The gun did not like them.(Uberti 1866 Carbine) I now size to .428 and all is well.

I tried to use .429 Mav Dutchmans in my Winchester '73 and many of the rounds wouldn't chamber.  I quit while I was ahead, I was afraid I was going to break something. I was then able to get a hundred of the .427 diameter included with the .429s I ordered.  100 should last me a long time, since it is a family heirloom and not one of my competition guns.

I'm afraid that .428s might still have some tight ones.

I haven't asked, but I'll bet he will still do both diameters as well.

~Mako

[Cuts Crooked]

I don' see a problem here. A dedicated reloader (which one almost has to be if they participate in CAS very much) would simply run em through a sizer and load em.

Yes, I see a possible problem fer the pard who has a .430 bore, but even then a full house load should bump em up enuff to werk at CAS distances.

[44caliberkid]

In a Uberti 66 and two Uberti 73's (all 44-40) I never could get anything bigger than .428 to chamber.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I shoot .429s in my Uberti Henry.

Slim

[Dick Dastardly]

The Mav Dutchman bullet mold is designed to drop bullets at .431 to .432.  Most shooters size them to .429.  They will go as small as .427 with no loss of quality.  Since there is a wide range of chambers from quite old to modern ranging from .427 to .430 it makes sense to have a bullet that can be sized to the shooter's gun.  Lyman says to size bullets One Thousandth over bore size.  So, for a .428 gun that would be .429.

Watch your guns for leading.  If you see evidence of leading, look for undersized bullets.

DD-DLoS

[Springfield Slim]

Just so you all know what the deal is. Yer runnin' me ragged! Who knew these bullets would really catch on. I am now running a 4-6 week lag time on bullets and I feel that is just too long. I have eliminated 4 of the least popular bullets from the line-up, and have reduced my 44 selection from  .427, .429 and .430 to only .428. Most Uberti revolvers won't run the .429's reliably, so I was getting half .427 and half .429 orders with a few .430 thrown in for good measure. My lead is very soft, so I feel the .428 is a good compromise that shouldn't cause any problems at the distances we shoot. I have been using them for the past couple months and have noticed no difference compared to the .429 I was running, except I get far fewer tight cases with the revolvers. If you really need a .427, .429  or .430 I can still make them, but the lag time will be greater as I will only be regularly stocking the .428.  So, planning ahead is the best plan. When I first started the Big Lube(tm) thing 4-5 years ago we only had the Mav, PRS and Snakebite. I now have moulds for 14 different BL bullets, most of which come in more than one diameter, with a couple non-BL designs that I do, and I just feel over-extended.  Now that my son has started Kindergarten I may have a few more working hours available, so this could all change in the future.  Maybe some of you who have been on the fence about casting your own can give Dick Dastardly a call and try it. I am always willing to share my knowledge with new casters, it really isn't rocket science, just need to follow a few simple rules to be safe.   

[Mako]

Slim,
That is very gracious of you.  You are a gentleman as always, thank you for everything you have done for me to date.
Regards,
Mako

[Deadeye Dick]

Slim,
I echo Mako's accolades. I appreciate all you've done for me too. I understand why you reduced your selection. Guess I was splitting hairs over 1,000th of an inch. When I run out of the .429's I'll try your .428's.
Happy trails,
Deadeye Dick

[Tater Pickens]

Slim,
sounds like you may have a problem that lots of us out here would love to have-MORE WORK THAN YOU CAN HANDLE-that's great. I don't blame you for trying to streamline and make the best of the time in the day you have to raise a family as well as take care of this even  much larger family you have out here in the hinterlands that loves to do this cowboy thing.

I have been getting my 45 and 44's from you for several years now and feel you have the best product and service out there. I have found that my 73's in 44-40 favor the 430's so if you will still be able to run a few of those on occassion, in between your major runs of the 428's, I'll give you plenty of lead time on future orders if that works for you.

Thanks for all you do for us all.

Tater Pickens

[Montana Slim]

I' haven't purchased from Springfield Slim...... but back when I was buying RNFP bullets (I cast em all today), I found it most convenient for me & my caster to recieve them unsized & unlubed. This way I could size some to .430 for my .44 Russian & .428 for my Improved Henry...plus I used my preferred lubricant. I also received a slight discount on my bullet orders. Woked well for me and the seller.

Just a thought to share.

Regards,
Slim, Montana 

[Springfield Slim]

I sell all my bullets as cast if preferred, but unless you have lots of time on your hands or have a Star sizer it hardly seems worth it. IMHO   But I do have some who buy their bullets this way, and it is just fine with me.