I like Lyman/Ideal molds for example....even though RCBS has mighty fine selections....and many of the custom mold makers have some excellent good ones also....Verl Smith, SSK, Hoch, NEI...and many others....I even have favorite lead and lube mixes.......so personal choice has a lot to do with shooting.

There are now so many bullet designs, it could get a simple fella’ like me confused. But I feel any mold should have some important basics. For game bullets, I know that a large flatnosed is essential. For accuracy, a thick front driving band, a good deep grease/lube groove, and a heavy for the caliber bullet...all make for excellent cast designs. Either punching holes in paper or game...they do the job every time we do ours.

before writing about it. The habit stuck, and I still do it today...I have a real problem with a gunzine writer that fires fifty rounds of anything and pronounces it wonderful or less than wonderful.....all fifty rounds does for me is warm up my wrist....

Someone asked me once what was my favorite overall cast handgun load....and nothing...absolutely nothing came to mind. But the question bothered me, and rattled around inside for a few days. I realized finally that it would be the round I carried most consistently over the years. BINGO! 18.5 grains of Herc2400 under a 260 grain Keith slug out of a 45 long Colt in a single action. I carried that from 1968 through 1984. That load saw tremendous use with me. And I still use it often today. I also carried the 260 gr. Keith bullet in a specially throated 45 ACP Colt autoloader over a good dose of Blue Dot. As I have stated before, I am wed to all things 45 caliber. 45 ACP/45 long Colt/454/45-70.......but that doesn’t stop me from greatly enjoying a whole host of other calibers and loads......

Over seventy years ago Elmer Keith designed his famous handgun bullet. And it is still going strong today. Lyman still makes molds in it’s design...but RCBS has brought out what they call exact copies of Elmer’s design....personally I think they came very close. Their 44-250-SWC is an excellent bullet, along with their 45-255-SWC. But it is still hard to beat the originals....so if you ever see these numbers on Lyman/Ideal molds at a gun show...grab them....358429 is Elmer’s first 38/357 design a 173 grain beauty...a little long for 38 cylinders but fine in most 357 guns....his 358431 was the hollow base of the same bullet at 160 grains.......

And the 358439 is the hollow pointed version. The late great original is of course the 44 caliber slug by Elmer...the 429421 at 250 grains, with the first hollow base numbered 429422 at 235 grains...the 45 caliber counter parts were 452423 at 240 grains and the 454424 at 255 grains. I have all three of the basic calibers and in the old designs in four cavity molds. And I still have a fond place in my heart for these bullets loaded over 2400 powder. The great loads of 13.5 grains of 2400 under the 38....22 grains of 2400 under the 44 and 18.5 grains under the 45...still do excellent duty on all things big and small. I spent years during the late 1960s and early 1970s (to 1976) in the wilderness with these three. I used them in handguns and leveraction rifles....on vermin to varmints to deer to bear to hogs...they always performed.

It was so common place, when I was young, that I thought for a long time, that the Keith 44s and 45s were designed to ALWAYS exit deer sized game. And I punched them from every angle and direction. On a long body shot in feral hogs they would stay in the body....but deer just couldn’t hold them. Even the 45 Keith at a modest 1000 fps would exited deer.

For the 41 magnum lover Lyman’s 410459 stays with the Keith design and weighs in at 220 grains...though I like Lyman’s old design of 410426 which was a 250 grain round nose..blunt RN. It’s penetrating ability out of a leveraction Marlin is extraordinary. For those searching for a very heavy 41 bullet...look for the Lyman 412263...it’s an old 405 rifle bullet design in 300 grain weight but it shoots just great even out of the slow twist Marlins. Speaking of old but still excellent designs...the Ideal/Lyman Gould 45 bullet 456191/300 grains is a flat tipped round nosed killer in 45 Ruger/Colt/454 handguns....Jim Taylor used it for years in his 45 Colt clone....harvesting everything Arizona had to offer.

We really don’t have a great deal of selection of molds, when it comes to 32 caliber handguns...but the ones we have are very fine indeed. Lyman still produces it’s original 3118 at 115 grains. Keith thought enough of this bullet that he didn’t design a 32 after his Keith design. He used this one. I’m not sure if Lyman changed the number of this little killer...if so it’s probably 311008 to make it sound modern or some such...but it is fine. Lyman does make a design that is close to the Keith shape, it’s numbered at 313631...it’s a gas check bullet at 100 grains. Out of my 32-20 leverguns at 2200 fps it is tops. Both these bullets are good in the 32 H&R magnum.

I still have a fit over the 32 H&R mag...here we have something called a magnum handgun round that’s commercially loaded to less pressure than a moderate loaded 9mm. When you load the 32 Mag to real mag pressure it’s a mighty mite of a round, better in my mind then the 38 special in small guns. With 6.8 grains of 800X and the 3118, I get 1301 fps from a six inch S&W 32 mag. And 9/2400 under the same bullet is close with 1289 fps. That’s 376 ft. lbs. and 369 ft, lbs. respectively. For a small bullet, that kind of muzzle energy carries a good deal of deep penetrating destructive power

Along comes Lee...and answers the 32 problem with a Keith design that is more than close and it’s gas checked...mine dropped at 120 grains...I removed one of the gas check portions from one cavity, and now have close to 125/30 grain bullet for heavy sixgun loads from my 32-20s and 30 carbine Rugers. Over 14 grains of 2400 in the Rugers, 1500 fps is possible...and coyotes run and hide when the news gets out I’m in the field with this load. The best heavy weight for 32 caliber handguns is really a rifle bullet but it lends itself to handguns...I’ll tell you a secret...Lyman’s 311440 is made for the 30-30. It is a flatfaced almost totally cylindrical bullet....so it is short for it’s 150 grains, not much over the Lee 120 grainer and just a little over the Lyman 3118 115 grainer. Using 2400 and 296...I have found loads that not only stabilize in my Ruger/S&W/and Colt clone 32s...but loads that give excellent accuracy. And this bullet punches hard...very hard.

Like the 357 from a rifle length barrel, the 32-20 from a levergun, is a whole different cartridge then from a handgun. But from either it is special no matter how you approach it. Now that Starline is making brass for the round, the old problem of case separation with a few reloads is over. That is if you watch your reloading practices and don't shove the tiny shoulder back when re- sizing. The shoulder in your die must be set to size where it is in your chambers, not where on the case it is commercially....after the first firing of a case in a 32-20, if the shoulder is far forward set your dies for that. Marlin Leveractions...are terrible for overly long chambers. Brass should be fire formed in those chambers...a few grains of fast powder, 231 or Bullseye or some such under a cast bullet...I use culls...then the gun fired straight up so the shoulder reforms...not the case moving forward at the head which promotes separation quickly.

Probably the most worthless cast bullet for the 32-20 and the 30 carbine in game hunting is the RCBS 30-115-SP...it's really a tapered round nose and fine for target shooting, but it slips right thru small game. I've hit desert rats, about double the size of a house mouse. They have tumbled, got up and ran like crazy....hit with the flat faced 3118 Lyman, they tumble and don't get up.

One of the rifle loads I like best in any leveraction is in the 38-55 with a 250 to 260 grain flat nosed bullet over 22 grains of 2400 for 1800 fps. It is also a fine load in the Winchester Big Bore 375. Every older Winchester 375 BB I have come across will easily chamber the longer 38-55 brass. That will give you about four more grains of powder room...with medium burners like Reloader #7 velocities well into 2200 fps with jacketed 230 to 240 grain bullets and 2300 plus fps with the 250 grain RCBS 37-250 FN. I like this bullet best of the lot for 375 and 378 (38-55) bores.

I took my undersized .375 mold and cast a bullet, drilled a hole down into the lead a bit off center, and put a screw into the hole...while the bullet is still in the closed mold...(naturally the spur is off to one side). Cut the head off the screw, chuck the screw shank in a drill, put valve cutting compound on the bullet and slowly spin it with the drill in the mold...it will go from .375 to .378 or larger in caliber quickly. Any mold can be opened a few thousandths without problems this way..the right cutting compound even polishes the mold as it opens it. I shot an elk in the butt just under the tail as he was running from me...with this load and bullet. That’s 22/2400/37-250 (260 grs in my lead mix) RCBS....1800 fps.

At seventy yards the bullet ripped all the way forward and exited his right shoulder...with a four inch exit hole and a shoulder pulped...and everything in-between wrecked, he was dead before I got to him...it was a very impressive performance on a big game animal with such a medium load....260 grains at 1800 fps. And 2400 burns very clean in rifles with heavy bullets cast or jacketed.

Winchester's twist in the 375 BB is 1 in 12 and in the 38-55 usually 1 in 18...they will give excellent accuracy with a lot heavier bullets. Lyman's 300 grain cast bullet for the 375 bores over 28 grains of IMR 4198 will go 1700 fps. That's the same as some commercial 300 grain 45-70 loads. And these shoot flatter and penetrate better over longer range then the 45-70. Elwood Epps back in the 60s and 70s used to punch the lights out on moose every winter, with a similar loading.... Canada is big on the 38-55. It is well known, as a game getter. And now that Marlin is chambering a run of 336 leveractions for the round, if you have always wanted to try it..here’s the opportunity....The Marlin is a 24 inch octagon barreled beauty. By the way a good handgun load out of the rifle with the 250/260 grain cast .375/8 bullet is 9 grains of Unique or Blue Dot for around 1200 fps....and outstanding accuracy.

The other caliber I like in rifles and handguns is the 357 magnum. At one point in the wilderness things got tight...so it was keep the shooting supplies to a minimum...and make what you have work in many formats. My 357 molds worked in the handguns 38 and 357...they worked in my 35 Whelen rifle...and the 357 magnum 1892 Winchester converted levergun....I had a good deal of IMR 4895, H2400, and Unique and Bullseye on hand....from mice to very big bears...they covered it all.

You have to see what a 173 grain Keith (Lyman now rates this bullet as 168 grains) cast bullet at 2000 fps will do, to realize that's not some kind of wimp load. The original 30-30 load in 1895 was a 165 grain bullet at 1900 fps. And that took thousands of game animals in it's time. Using Apache’Blu lube I have pushed the 173 grain Keith without a gascheck well over 2200 fps from 35 Whelen and 35 Rem/Marlins...I cast them hard and temper by dropping right into water from the mold. And put plugs of Styrofoam between the bullet and the powder.

A number of folks say a hard cast 357 bullet if it's too stiff even at these mach two velocities, won't expand...but just pencil thru...sounds all very logical. But that's the problem with logic without testing. The exit wound on deer without hitting a major bone but through the chest, will exceed four inches. Hit a rabbit with a Keith cast bullet doing over 2000 fps...and you don't even have mixed grill, you might have problems finding anything but fluff on the wind.....with 16 to 17 grains of 2400, or 19 grains of 296 this bullet out of a leveraction 357 mag rifle will give 2000 fps. It's a top load but the modern 1892s can handle it.

The 35 Whelen is my favorite big non magnum rifle caliber. I had extensive exposure to the 9.3*52mm in Africa. That is a .366 caliber, and I had a mold that cast two different weight bullets...200 grains and 280 grains...both flat nose designs. I used the powder from military 30-06 cartridges (it looked like 4895 in those days) and the 280 grain bullet to take every thing that was thin skinned. And I killed one Hippo with it that was certainly not thin skinned with this 280 grain cast bullet...he had been feeding on a large planted area of a village so much...the villagers were worried they wouldn't have food for the winter.

One poor fool tried to chase the Hippo one night (they graze at night) with nothing but a torch and a loud voice...all it did was show the beast where the noise was coming from...one less mouth to feed. I shot him several days later. Not the native but the hippo. That gave the village several thousand pounds of biltong, they didn’t mind eating pork ...not like some of the Muslim natives, because of religious principles.

That 280 grain cast bullet, made out of mono-lead, at 2000 fps or so...had no trouble penetrating the heart from his back, with the first shot. He turned to run at being hit...and the second was down thru the back of his head. Lights out. I was shooting from above him. His long teeth were over 16 inches...and sharp.

The 35 Whelen is obstensively the same as the 9.3mm. The Lyman 3589/290 grain blunt round nose bullet is tops. It is a gas check design now...and it is one accurate bullet. With Reloader #7, I can push this bullet to 2500 plus feet per second and over 4000 lbs of punch. That's African big game ballistics.

In that crunch time living in the wilderness I ran out of 4895 but was still able to keep the 290 grainer above 2000 fps with 2400 powder in both the Whelen bolt action rifle and the 35 Rem/Marlin levergun. This bullet with a very small amount of Bullseye under it...cast dead soft... from the long barreled 35 Whelen, is one of those very silent loads that have the power of a 38 special. Little sound past 30 feet, and deadly at short range....because of it’s length it penetrates deeply even with these soft loads....

My four inch Mountain seven shot S&W revolver likes 170 to 180 grain bullets at 1200 fps. I cast the noses soft and the shank hard. Even at 1200 there is some expansion. This modest velocity gives almost 600 ft.lbs. of muzzle energy from this gun. It's a heavy load and I don't recommend it to anyone...but my Mountain gun digests them well. I don't shoot that many,,,just enough to work up the load and be sure where it's hitting out to any range I would shoot it at...I guess I have put 400 to 500 thru the gun over the last year...12.5 grains of 2400 will do it. 14.5 grains of 296 or H110 will also do it. The very heavy 357 mag loads I shoot in my 357 model 92 leverguns will function well in my Ruger 357 mag single actions....because the Ruger SAs in 357 are in the top three or four guns in strength made today. You would have to work hard at blowing one of them....but it can be done so take care and always work up carefully when handloading....

I like the 444 Marlin cartridge. I like it in the Marlin leverguns...but the new Winchester in this chambering is on the Big Bore leveraction designed ‘94....and that means extra strength which means higher velocity with careful reloading. My old loading notes for the Marlin shows I was loading 63.5 grains of H335 under the 250 grain Lyman/Keith (with a Styrofoam plug under the bullet and Apache’Blu lube) for 2485 fps and almost 3500 lbs of muzzle energy....elephant anyone?

With the Winchester BB444 I can push the 250 grain Keith at 2660 plus fps....and the magic 4000 lbs of muzzle energy. I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot anything out to 150 plus yards if offered a decent shot....with this load....MegasourusTaranical-Rex anyone????? That’s 52 grains of 4198, only in my Win94/444BB.

The same bullet in the 44 magnum handgun case over the legendary load of 22 grains of 2400 from a six inch N-Frame S&W gave approx. 1400 fps. And fire that from a Marlin levergun and you get near 1800 fps....not bad.....I have always found that 21 grains of 2400 gave better accuracy...not sure why...and 23 grains was more than a bit more powerful then 22 grains...interesting what powder will do in different guns and a few grains either way....

Lyman makes a mold for a Keith 44 bullet that drops from mine at 320 grains and gas checked (429650AV)...it’s probably more powerful then needed but 63.5 grains of H335 under it gives 2475 fps from the short barreled Winchester and near 4400 ft.lbs of punch. Only shot one elk with this load and it was one a friend had wounded with a 30-06...it was running in a circle and was going to make the heavy trees while my buddy was trying to reload his single shot rifle....I hit the beast broadside at 147 paces thru the high ribs with this heavy loaded Keith bullet......it ran then about 10 yards and stopped, suddenly his 30-06 blew the middle of it’s neck out and ended it.

The Keith cast bullet went completely thru taking out ribs going in and out and ruined the tops of the lungs completely....it would not have gone any farther I think....but his 30-06 finished him...besides it was his elk....I just wanted to slow it down from getting away...and boy did the 444 do that.

For years the 255 grain Lyman Keith cast bullet in 45 caliber over 9 to 10 grains of Unique was top load in the SA Colts...45 long Colt chambering. It was also used in the Colt clones with a good deal of satisfaction. But my very best favorite load was the afore mentioned 18.5 grains of 2400. I have had this load give varying velocities...the gap at the forcing cone is vital...I have a Ruger and a Colt clone both chambered in the 45 long Colt....both with very tight gaps....and the velocities from those two are 1108 fps from the clone and just over 1125fps from the Ruger. Both have short barrels! Yet I have a clone EMF that has a sloppy gap and a 7.5 inch barrel and it just about breaks 1020 fps.....the tightness of the bore, the gap, the primers, the brass itself used...Starline for example is thicker it will give higher velocity. My mold is an original Ideal/Lyman with the old square lube groove Keith bullet at 260 grains and may give more surface area to the bore....also I have noted a difference in the burning rates of the older Hercules 2400 and the newer Alliant 2400...Alliant bought the company about ten plus years ago....and over the last few years I have noticed the velocity of A2400 powder is higher than the old Hercules.

9 grains of Unique will give just under 900 fps and 10.5 grains will brake 1000 with ease with the Keith bullet. I think perspective here is necessary...for almost 90 years the 45 ACP round from the five inch barreled autoloader has been considered the quintessential man stopper. And that is big men that are in an angered and violent state....not some soft bodied deer that might reach 150 lbs soaked....certainly the 45 long Colt rounds reloaded to 1000 fps or so with a 255/260 grain Keith bullet will harvest deer sized animals cleanly. It’s the range that makes the difference...felons are usually shot at close range...deer are not. But out to about 100 yards I see this Colt load taking deer cleanly if we do our part.

In the strong Ruger SA 45 Colt handguns....26 grs of H4227 gives well over 1300 fps from the long Colt case with the Keith cast bullet....I also like the NEI 270 grain Keith mold....over the same load you still get over 1300 fps....and the sharp square shape cuts deep into game. The smallest width of the wound channel is going to be a ½ inch, while the forward part of the channel is going to be up around two to three inches of radial damage...with deep penetration. A lung shot would go into or even thru both lungs, and be extensively deadly. I would have no problem taking an elk with this load...out to 100 yards. More velocity would simple mean the range is extended....at 1500 fps 150 yards certainly for me would be within reason. The Ruger Redhawk can be loaded with either of these Keith bullets to that velocity....both H110 and WW296 can do it and within decent pressure levels. The 270 grain bullet at 1500 fps is pushing 1350 ft.lbs of muzzle punch.

The 454 in Freedom Arms wonderful Single Action is my meat and potatoes gun....for anything I want to bring down in the Americas...and 95% of what’s in Africa and elsewhere. I have a fixed sight short barrel (4.75 inches) that has two loads....this Keith bullet over 25 grains of 2400 for near 1600 fps....and the 340 grain SSK cast bullet at 1600 plus fps using 27 grains of 2400. Even a head shot on an African elephant would take him down with the 340 grain SSK bullet cast hard...generating almost 2000 lbs of punch. I have shot elephant before though not with a handgun, I’m still not an armchair theorist when it comes to our largest land animal.....that load will do the job in cool hands. Lynn Thompson along with other have harvested a number of elephant with the 454....though they used different loads......if I were to go out to hunt the big brutes...I would use a different bullet...but that doesn’t alter my opinion that the 340 grain SSK cast correctly from a FA 454 will do the job and cleanly.

The thing I like most about my FA fixed sighted short barrel 454 is that it is no bigger or heavier than my Ruger stainless SA 357 short barrel handgun. I carry it all day in a hip holster and I’m not bothered by bulk or weight.....yet the power is on the level of a heavy loaded 45-70 rifle.

I shot one good sized hog that topped 300 lbs field cleaned...in the butt...I seem to get a lot of those presented to me when hog hunting.....that 340 grain Keith went into the left ham, crossed over and exited out behind the right front shoulder. Piggy was DOA to the ground within 10 feet. These game animals are in my mind much tougher than elk....they are the little tanks of the American game scene. They are fun to hunt...and can be good eating.

The only leveraction I think that is on the market now capable of taking the 454 loaded to full specs, would be the modern 1886 action. And they already come in the 45-70 and can be loaded with that cartridge way past what a 454 cartridge will do from a rifle. I think a slightly redesigned modern 1892 with thicker bolt cuts, deeper mortises in the frame and heavier bolts might be able to sustain constant heavy loads in 454....maybe.....with the right heat treating also. Tis a shame that we can’t get a neat and trim 454 leveraction...it would be the rifle for all seasons...and all game....As much as I love the 45-70 Winchester and Browning 1886s, they are big, bulky rifles....

Since we are on the 45-70 in Winchester and Browning....these two rifles can take 50,000 plus psi with ease. And they are the true African Leverguns. If I were ever to go back to hunt there again the 45-70 would go with me...so would a 444 Winchester also loaded to 50,000 psi....I would compare the two on the heaviest game possible. Marlin rifles are not listed here...not because they are not good...they are excellent....but they need to be loaded near 40,000 psi.

With the Winchester 45-70 I would be pushing that 340 grain SSK bullet at over 2000 fps for my heavy plains game and anything else. And on elephant, rhino ( I know you can’t hunt them anymore) and hippo, I would use Lyman’s 457406...it is a 458 caliber 475 grain cast bullet...54 grains of A2230 would push it over 2000 fps and over 2 tons of thump......and that load could kill a Bradley Armored Vehicle.

This is the first half of my favorite cast loads....look for the second half soon....if you have any calibers you want load suggestions for let me know...but if you blow yourself up it’s your problem....