Keith Bullets From Dry Creek Bullet Company by Mike Cumpston

by JimT, Texas, Monday, July 07, 2025, 15:47 (5 days ago)

(This is an old article from more than 20 years ago. Lynn Halstead visits this site once in awhile and may comment on it, but any information about Lynn and his bullet making is seriously dated and is published here just for the nostalgia and memories.)

The Traditional Critical- Use Revolver Bullet For the Serious Shooter

When I first became aware of Lynn Halstead’s bullet foundry, I was inclined to peg it as a semi-custom bullet casting company. The initial impression, I came to realize, derived from a combination of factors including the reasonable pricing structure-which includes some real bargains and the availability of stock ready for shipping. A look at the options available to the customer caused me to question my initial impression and the notion that the Dry Creek concern is anything less than a full- custom operation evaporated with my first look at the end product.

My order included several examples of variations on the Keith Theme. These included a Ballisti-cast 250 grain sample lubed with a commercial grade dry or semi-dry synthetic lubricant. There were a couple of packages of the Lyman 429421 including examples with the commercial lubricant and the highly popular Apache Blue Lube from Paco Kelly. I also had a batch of the true Keith design RCBS 250kt with both varieties of lubrication.

The first two variations vary somewhat from Elmer Keith’s original designs. The bullet-mold producers were quick to morph the original design, substituting abbreviated and sometimes narrowed front driving bands and semi-circular lube grooves. Although Mr. Keith deplored this state of affairs, the heterodox designs generally perform very well. The RCBS 250 KT is true to the original design. It is a muscular looking bullet, possessing a large, flat meplate, a sharp, full diameter driving band, deep beveled crimp groove and the single large square-bottomed lube groove. The samples thrown from this mold /alloy weigh in at 260 grains. Lynn warned me to be careful with these as they are ten grains over the standard weight.

A note accompanied the order revealing that the alloy consisted of 92/2/6, lead/ tin/ antimony mix. The RCBS and Lyman designs were air cooled while the Ballisti-cast version had been water quenched. Lyman references call this the "Teracorp Magnum" mix and equate it to equal parts of pure lead and linotype. The high antimony element makes the mix amenable to water quenching and more tedious and exotic heat treatments. Mr. Halstead puts the air-cooled variants at 19 brinnel and the quenched examples at 21.5.

If handgun projectiles can be deemed "works of art", the Halstead products certainly meet any reasonable definition (excluding of course, Oscar Wilde’s). All corners and edges are completely sharp. The sprue cut attests to an optimum balance of alloy, temperature and cooling time and the weights as revealed by my powder scale are exactly as indicated in the shipping manifest. ( Lyman 247.5, Ballisti-cast 250, RCBS kt – 260 gr.)

A traditional bullet calls for traditional testing circumstances. The original .44 Magnum load developed by Keith comprised the 250-grain bullet over 22 grains of the then-Hercules 2400 powder and a standard large pistol primer. Loaded in this manner, the powder charge comes right to the base of the bullet seated to the lower edge of the crimp groove and is slightly compressed at full seating. The load produces an approximate 37,000 psi and continues to be sanctioned by recent loading manuals as well as a large tribe of .44 Magnum enthusiasts. I selected this load for the Lyman and Ballisti-cast samples.

I found that the RCBS kt at an actual 260 grains, bottomed out on the powder column at 21.2 gr. 2400 and selected that charge weight for these bullets.

Additional examples of the 250 and 260- grain bullets and both lubricant types were loaded over 23 grains WW 296 with the CCI 350 magnum primer. It is a load that worked well for me in the past and showed some advantages in the current instance. I put five rounds of each over the chronograph with the 2400 loads producing these averages:

Ballisti-cast- 1341; Lyman 1358; RCBS KT 1370.

The 296 Loads did this:

Ballisti-cast- 1343; RCBS KT 1348.

My primary test gun for the exercise was an early New Model Super Blackhawk- a polyglot carbon steel frame with a stainless Shillen Barrel with 11 degree cone and target crown just under eight inches in length, high front sight to accommodate heavy bullets. It also has a trigger stop, ejector rod retaining stud machined into the barrel and a very slick, light action. The whole thing is coated over with an unknown baked-on black polymer. It has Gripmaker Larry Little Wilson Eagle faux Ivory grips. On those occasions when I have been shooting well, it has produced one inch and under groups with 250 and 300 grain XTP loads and target velocity Keith variations. I backed this up with a stainless Super that has a nice Bowen Rear sight and some pretty stags but the bulk of the shooting was done with the custom job.

At the onset, I had no expectations regarding which bullet would perform best under my testing protocols. In fact, It would surprise me if other shooters didn’t come up with entirely different results given the same approximate drill.

Groups with the Lyman and B/Cast bullets and 2400 ran from 1.7- just over two inches for five at 25 yards. Accuracy picked up a bit for the Ballisti-Cast 250’s when I switched to the 296 loads. Dead-bang, brag-worthy, Reverend Jim Taylor quality groups of between 98 caliber and 1.4" began to happen and persisted when I got to the 260-grain number from RCBS. It tolerated the mega-boost from the 2.12/2400 charge quite well knocking out a .98 inch group with the dry lube bullets. It also produced an equally pretty 1.2" spread with 296 and the Apache Blue Lube. Furthermore, the small sample of chronographed rounds indicated a probable consistency advantage to the heavy bullets. It is axiomatic that my shooting does not fully bring out the optimum accuracy in any given load. Another shooter, or even myself equipped with optical sighting, would reduce the groups by a significant amount.

At my first range session I fired 150 or so rounds through each Super Blackhawk and forgot my cleaning gear. Upon arrival at the house, I found a visible accumulation of lead and probable bullet lubricant extending the length of the bore. There was no discernable build-up in the forcing cone of either revolver. Fifteen strokes of the bronze brush removed all visible traces and a pass or two of lead-away cloth finished the job.

Next trip out, I remembered my cleaning equipment and fell into a pattern of firing two five shot groups alternating between the commercial lube and the Apache product. Ten strokes of the brush would remove all signs of lead from the bore regardless of the lube used. I found the visible accumulation of lead/lubricant less pronounced with the Apache blue though both cleaned up with the same ease. My two best groups occurred with the RCBS Keith design. The commercial lubed example went .98" while the Apaches went into 1.2". Much randomness enters in here and the groups may be regarded as essentially the same.

The Keith bullets are prized for their ability to provide deep penetration and full caliber wounds against the toughest of targets. Mr. Keith also records that they perform equally well in light target loads. I loaded a batch of the Lyman 421s over 4.5 grains of Bullseye in .44 Special cases for My Heritage Model 24. Fifteen rounds went into a bit over two inches at 25 yards. Experience and the appearance of the group suggest that the spread would have been halved with an electronic dot sight mounted on the revolver.

In recent years, the growth in various shooting games has given rise to a number of companies which produce affordable machine cast bullets. The bullet designs tend toward rounded edges and beveled bases-factors that both facilitate mass production and contribute to ease of use in progressive loading machines. They avoid, like the plague bullet designs featuring sharply demarcated shoulders, squared lube groves and wide, flat frontal aspects. These bullets work very well loaded at target velocity and into the range of standard factory performance. They are far less desirable boosted into the magnum range- producing indifferent accuracy and a troublesome amount of leading.

The Dry Creek concern provides a valuable service-making top quality critica- use bullets available to the discerning shooter.

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.