MM 433-375 and 433-400

[6pt-sika]

Recieved the pair of molds from Mountain Molds last week .



The 400 grainer !



The 375 grainer .

Was able to cast about 100 of each weight last week and water quenched them all !




Here's the two bullets with a little closer look !

[lolo25643]

Those are some nice looking bunker busters. I'm trying to make my mind up now which new mold I'll be ordering next.

[6pt-sika]

I also started shooting the 433-375 last week a little .

Tried H322 , RL7 and Varget !

They all did alright for intial trials . But it looks as if H322 in the 41 grain range and Varget in the 52 or 53 grain range are going to be the way to go !

[6pt-sika]

Based on the testing at Bear Tooth Bullets the 400 grainer is to much for a slow twist Micro barrel in the 444 and with that in mind I decided to try the 375 grainer as my max weight in my slow twist Micro Groove Marlin's . And the 400 grainer will eventually be tried in a 444 with the faster twist and ballard rifling .

[6pt-sika]

Been awhile since I've posted anything here !

The MM433-375GC has worked pretty well for me in the slow twist Micro barrels as long as I use water quenched WW's . But I've yet to try them on any animals . Although based on other bullets I've used in the 444 I see no reason these wouldn't do fine also !

As to the MM433-400GC that one sat kinda dormant for awhile after I cast the bullets !
I had sold the Marlin 444P I was going to shoot them in and in the last 3 months picked up a standard 444 that was made in 2001 so it's fast twist and ballard rifled .
Let me just say the MM433-400GC is shooting well enough for hunting situations , while it isn't a tackdriver and never really expected it to be , It will do what I wanted from it !

[mtngun]

The MM433-375GC has worked pretty well for me in the slow twist Micro barrels as long as I use water quenched WW's.

375 in the microgroove, eh ? That's good to know.

It's been many years since I read Marshall's articles on heavies in the slow twist 444, but I didn't recall him going up to 375 gr. successfully ?

In any case, 375 gr. is a big bullet ! 350 gr. would be plenty for anything in N. America.

I can see why the 300 would not be a tackdriver. It's short by rifle standards.

Thanks for the update, 6pt-sika.

[6pt-sika]

The MM433-375GC has worked pretty well for me in the slow twist Micro barrels as long as I use water quenched WW's.

It's been many years since I read Marshall's articles on heavies in the slow twist 444, but I didn't recall him going up to 375 gr. successfully ?

Thats just it , he tried the 405's in the Micro barrel and said they didn't quite stabalize the bullet .

So I thought perhaps the Micro could handle something a shade lighter at 375 grains . To my knowledge Marshall never tried a 375 grain bullet .

Anyway I have 370-375 grain offerings now from Mountain Molds , NEI and LBT . With a Ranch Dog style 432-375GC on order with BRP as we speak .
Done pretty much the same with the 400 grain bullets except NEI doesn't make a mold that size .

[6pt-sika]

This is almost a year late !

But.............................

Last august during the DCP season on a friends fathers peach orchard I was able to take a rather threadbare 125 pound sow black bear at 9 1/2 lasered yards !

I was maybe 16 feet off the ground and she was making the trip around a patch of woods to enter the orchard and I popped her in her noodle !



I used a circa 1974 Marlin 444 shooting the Mountain Molds 433-375GC bullet pushed with 41 grains of H322 and set off with a CCI200 primer . The gun is wearing a 60's era Weaver K2.5 .
I realize this is nothing to get excited about at 125 pounds live weight !
But it is however the first and only bear I have ever had the oppurtunity to shoot or have had a shot at !
We also had 5 DCP permits to use and this is the only bear we saw . The day I killed this one we had a cool front come thru and the temp was down to 96 degree's !

Two more of the bear and the bear taker ! Not sure which looks worse





I have the Mountain Molds 433-400GC bullet that I had you cut a mold for shooting 3 in about 1 1/2" at 100 yards ina circa 2001 Marlin 444 obviousely with Ballard rifling ! This one has a Redfield 3-9 on top as well . Perhaps I'll be able to try the 400 grainer on another DCP bear and hopefully about twice as big !

[mtngun]

Thank you very much for the pics. I bet you were excited to get your first bear, I know I was.

I forget where you live -- looks to be in a warm climate ? Not much hair on that bear !

[6pt-sika]

Thank you very much for the pics. I bet you were excited to get your first bear, I know I was.

I forget where you live -- looks to be in a warm climate ? Not much hair on that bear !

That was in central Virginia at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains !
That day we had a cool front come thru and it was 96 degrees in the shade !
The week before the coolest evening we hunted was maybe 102 or 104 !
In 2009 my friend got a pair of male bears , one the same size as the sow I got and another that was 300+ live weight .