Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Down loading the .44 Remington Magnum

I have several S&W .44 Mags, and one of them is a 329 PD 4".
I had to use it the other day, in a hurry, and I about dropped it with those full house loads in it. Had a hell of a time getting back on target to put more in him.

I'm thinking about loading some with Unique for this gun.

How much with 240 Laser Cast Semi wad cutter?

What say you?

I loaded 10.0 grains of Unique with cast bullets. It had authority but not as punishing as the full power loads.

I use about 7.5 gr of trail boss with a 255 gr. lswc, for about 750-800 fps. May be a little slower than you're looking for, but it's a good starter load.

My almost always load in 44 magnum is a 250 grain cast bullet (Lyman # 429421) in magnum brass over 8.5 gr. of Universal for 950 to 1000 fps depending on which barrel length I am shooting. That load will do anything that needs doing with a handgun. A similar load with 8.5 to 9.0 gr. of Unique will work about the same for you. I use Universal because it seems to be a little cleaner burning.

For your 329 PD, you may even want to cut that back a bit for a comfortable but still potent load. Just remember, it doesn't take 1200 to 1500 fps to kill most things that need killing with those big bores.

^^^ This ^^^

One of my favorite .44 loads, too. And also pretty accurate in all my .44's six shooters.

Same here.

I load 8 grns unique with Lee TL-430-240 SWC for my SBH. Very easy to shoot and still packs a wallop.

When I download my .44 Magnum I shoot a lighter bullet as well as a reduced powder charge. I most frequently shoot a 200 gr. RNFP bullet over 7.5gr. or 9.0gr. of Unique.

For casual shooting I run 8 or 9 grains of WW-231 with a 240 gr lead SWC. The Hodgdon website shows 5.5 to 11.0 grains.

I used to use unique or bullseye and with the LC bullets. It did just fine.

After they started making Trail Boss, I use it for all my cast loads. It seems to work well with everything.

Good Luck

I gotta try some Trail Boss. However, I don't want to get velocity too low. Any idea what you are getting?

I had good luck with Tite-Group loading light loads for 44 Mag. The other thing I did was use the 44 Special loads as a guide.

Lastround, I use about 7-7.5 gr. Trail boss under the Lyman 429244 bullet out of my Browning 92. I'm getting about 750-775 out of that combo, or, about .44 SPL velocities. Given how fast trail boss burns, you shouldn't lose a lot of velocity in your pistol. In the rifle, they are definite mouse fart loads, and I've had 6 yr olds burn up most of my ammo plinking with it, without complaint of recoil or noise.

Thanks. I am definitely gonna try some.

So what were you shooting at ?.

I shot a new to me Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Special (weighs a scant 21 ounces)a few days ago with a 250 gr. SWCHP @ almost 850 fps. YIKES!!!! I did NOT expect that!

Not so bad now that I've fired it quite a bit.

35WN

first large bore handgun I ever had was a charter arms bulldog in 1969. was never impressed with it but it never failed to go bang. traded it for a 94 Winnie. still feel like a thief. 44 spcl loads are pleasant so I'd go with them for fun in the sun.

I shoot 7.5gr. and 9.0gr. of Unique in my M/29. Most times I am shooting my go to bullet a 200gr. RNFP but I have also used these loads with 240/250gr. SWC. The 7.5gr. is easy on the gun and the shooter and the 9.0gr. has a little more authority without being punishing. When introducing ladies and younsters to shooting big bore handguns I use 5.0gr. Bullseye and the 200gr. RNFP bullet.

My "full house" / "everything" load is 24 grains of 296 under a 250 grain home cast SWC. It shoots very well in all 3 of my .44s including my 329PD ... but It ain't no fun to shoot in that Smith.

Back when I used to download the .44 some, my rabbit load was 17.5 grains of 240 under a 236 grain BB "Monarch" SWC.

Mostly if I go lighter than that I switch to .44 specials loaded with Win 231 or HS6. I haven't been able to find either of those in a year or more so right now if I want less recoil, I use "half a .44" (in other words, .22).

Tom