Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

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Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by ashley_betts70 » 22 Oct 2013, 8:33 pm

Hi All,
I've recently purchased a Uberti 1866 44-40 and was lucky enough to source some cheap ammo shortly after picking her up. Now I'm faced with paying normal prices so I'm currently on the path to reloading. I've ordered some starline brass but I'm having problems finding projectiles for 44-40 in Australia (online anyway) and was wondering if someone more experienced with 44-40 loads could point me in the right directions of a quality source. I did stumble upon hawkesbury river bullet co in my searches. Does anyone have an experience with these guys?

Regards,

Ashley
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Post by pmomd » 22 Oct 2013, 9:24 pm

Don't know Hawksbury River Bullet co...

Hornady do a 205gr 44-40 though from memory.

Nosler sport handgun revolver bullets too I think?
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Post by brisb » 22 Oct 2013, 9:30 pm

Anything in the 'cowboy' category is always hard to find :(

Speers bullets would be worth checking out though?
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by brisb » 22 Oct 2013, 9:31 pm

Sierra bullets too.

They do half a dozen .44 bullets and you know it's a good brand.

https://www.sierrabullets.com/products/ ... andgun.cfm
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Warrigul » 23 Oct 2013, 8:21 am

ashley_betts70 wrote:Hi All,
I've recently purchased a Uberti 1866 44-40 and was lucky enough to source some cheap ammo shortly after picking her up. Now I'm faced with paying normal prices so I'm currently on the path to reloading. I've ordered some starline brass but I'm having problems finding projectiles for 44-40 in Australia (online anyway) and was wondering if someone more experienced with 44-40 loads could point me in the right directions of a quality source. I did stumble upon hawkesbury river bullet co in my searches. Does anyone have an experience with these guys?

Regards,

Ashley


They only do hard coated lead projectiles(looks like they have been painted, when recovered from the mound most of the coating stays put, even in the land groove),

I use them in my .310, .303, 38 and .357 and they have been consistant. You can push them well past 2000fps without a gascheck and they don't lead up.

They are a fairly hard lead and this doesn't suit everyone, some people reckon they have troubles but I never have. But at around $70 for 500 they are far cheaper and less time consuming that casting your own.

I have never used their .44.
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Post by feedr » 23 Oct 2013, 8:43 am

brisb wrote:Anything in the 'cowboy' category is always hard to find :(


There was a convo on here a while ago about a cowboy shooting event place... If anyone recalls the name of the place maybe they could point you in the right direction...
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Post by SendIt » 24 Oct 2013, 3:05 pm

Bit more of an investment, but ever thought about casting your own bullets?
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Warrigul » 24 Oct 2013, 5:05 pm

SendIt wrote:Bit more of an investment, but ever thought about casting your own bullets?


Sizer luber for A normal press- $50

Mold - $40

Handles- $30

You have to cast 1000 projectiles before you break even assuming you pay nothing for lead, that assumes you melt the lead in a normal pot on a stove.

Time to cast 1000 projectiles successfully, then size them?

Not for me.

But then I am a bit lazy and what I need is commercially available.
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Post by SendIt » 24 Oct 2013, 8:10 pm

Fair enough. Not really my area of expertise so I couldn't say.... Just throwing an idea out there.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Warrigul » 24 Oct 2013, 8:39 pm

SendIt wrote:Fair enough. Not really my area of expertise so I couldn't say.... Just throwing an idea out there.


Sorry, I didn't mean to sound as if I were shooting you down,

Don't get me wrong casting your own is definately a viable option, and I have done it in two instances where a commercial lead projectile wasn't available. It is just not for everyone and in some cases people may be better off buying rather than setting up for a single calibre..
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by ashley_betts70 » 24 Oct 2013, 9:38 pm

Warrigul wrote:They are a fairly hard lead and this doesn't suit everyone, some people reckon they have troubles but I never have. But at around $70 for 500 they are far cheaper and less time consuming that casting your own.


Hi Warrigul,
Can you shed some light on the troubles that might been seen with a harder alloy? I'm thinking about giving them a go but would rather steer clear if I'm likely to see excessive barrel wear or other permanent negative impacts. Consistent accuracy (assuming I can play my part) is also of interest to me. Are you using the black or copper hawkes?

Thanks to everyone for you suggestions and remarks so far.
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Post by SendIt » 25 Oct 2013, 7:13 am

Warrigul wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean to sound as if I were shooting you down,

Don't get me wrong casting your own is definately a viable option, and I have done it in two instances where a commercial lead projectile wasn't available. It is just not for everyone and in some cases people may be better off buying rather than setting up for a single calibre..


It's cool. Didn't take it that way ;)
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Hardcast » 25 Oct 2013, 5:00 pm

Hi Ashley_betts70,

The Hawksbury River stuff is pretty good, I use the .357 projectiles with very good results in the Rossi Lever action, also used the .30 cal 180grn in the 30/30
and 180 grn .311 in my .303. they've been good so far and at the price it's worth a try. Both guys that I know who have 44/40 do cast their own.

Ask around at the local Club, usually there is someone who will give you a hand full to try.
I rang a mate that has used the Hawkesbury projectiles and he says, yeah good. 205grn and 225 grn.
But you may need to slug the bore first to find exactly what size it is.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Warrigul » 25 Oct 2013, 6:17 pm

ashley_betts70 wrote:
Warrigul wrote:They are a fairly hard lead and this doesn't suit everyone, some people reckon they have troubles but I never have. But at around $70 for 500 they are far cheaper and less time consuming that casting your own.


Hi Warrigul,
Can you shed some light on the troubles that might been seen with a harder alloy? I'm thinking about giving them a go but would rather steer clear if I'm likely to see excessive barrel wear or other permanent negative impacts. Consistent accuracy (assuming I can play my part) is also of interest to me. Are you using the black or copper hawkes?

Thanks to everyone for you suggestions and remarks so far.


There would be no barrel wear issues as far as I know, I have heard a few pistol compretitors reckoning that the bullet doesn't expand as well as a soft one but I reckon this is BS personally. The only time I have ever had issues with alloy that was too hard was in a muzzle loader using round ball(inconsistant grouping) and a snider where the minie skirt kept fracturing- both issues disappeared once I used pure lead.

You also have to realise that I am no where as knowledgable in this area as some.

Modern firearms I reckon the harder the better as there is less leading in the barrel.

In my case they have been good projectiles and I will keep using them.

Be they your own cast or commercially sourced (hawkesbury, bullzi, etc etc etc) they are all a good alternative to jacketed in some situations and worth exploring.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Hardcast » 26 Oct 2013, 2:18 pm

Very hard lead projectiles can be a pain for hunting, if you want to consider that.
We tried some from a local company over here and they were very hard, too hard. We had them going through three inches of pine and into hardwood
for very little mushrooming.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Bugman » 05 Nov 2013, 5:43 am

Hawkesbury stuff is pretty good in my books. They have been around for some time now. As others have said, it may well pay to look at casting your own projectiles.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Hatter » 05 Nov 2013, 10:18 am

Hey Bugman,

Love your avatar :D

Go the Far Side.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by andym79 » 27 Nov 2013, 11:50 am

I would give them a thumbs up. I have had a lot of sucess with my 30-30 (I drive them between 1100-1500 fps) and 6.5 mauser (I drive them around 1800 fps).

I will be trying them in my 38-40 soon, fingers crossed I can have sucess there, though from what I understand the 38-40 and 44-40 are not inherently accurate cartridges!
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Sakoh » 27 Nov 2013, 3:03 pm

andym79 wrote:I will be trying them in my 38-40 soon, fingers crossed I can have sucess there, though from what I understand the 38-40 and 44-40 are not inherently accurate cartridges!


Maybe you can be the first guy to do F-class with a 44-40 :lol:
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Bugman » 27 Nov 2013, 4:45 pm

Hatter wrote:Hey Bugman,

Love your avatar :D

Go the Far Side.

Thanks. It befits me...so my wife says.
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Re: Hawkesbury River Bullet Co Projectiles

Post by Boatman » 27 Nov 2013, 7:27 pm

Bugman wrote:Thanks. It befits me...so my wife says.


Is that a compliment, or...um?

:lol:
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