Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44's

for those that don't get the subscription, june handloader has good article by pearce on the 44special. lots of powder combinations.
what appeals to me are pushing the 250grain 429421 keith style to around 1000fps while still staying within the 15000psi pressure limitation.
which pretty much fits my comfort level with 45colt, 41magnum, and so on.

I have no problem with folks who want to push 240 gr bullets to higher velocities (NOT speaking to the 240 gr Kieth bullets in a .44 Special at 1000 fps here!), but for my needs a heavy-for-caliber hard cast at 1000 fps is the "sweet spot" for a lot of big bore revolvers, including .44 mag, 45 Colt, and .480 Ruger.

Mike

I'm with Mike about the "Sweet Spot". I'd even allow that my definition of Sweet Spot runs from about 900fps to 1200fps (Special, Mag, .45 Colt, or bigger). For a bullet on the heavy side, depending on the gun, much less 900 seems kind of anemic (not that I'd want to be in front of 250 grains at 800fps!) and much more than 1200 stops being "fun". 1000fps in an N Frame or Blackhawk with a hard cast bullet from 240 to 280 grains is pretty hard not to like.
Some guys want loads that nearly won't make it through the far side of a beer can, some aren't happy unless it involves a bulging case full of 296. To each his own.

these are my thoughts too. I thought pearce had a good article with suggested powder loads that also kept the pressures down.
on all those calibers that combination of weight and velocity just seemed to work for me.
The little secret i think is that there isn't a whole lot of difference between all of those calibers at those working loads.
as to 44's i have had 44magnums for years as well as specials, I don't think i ever have all together fired more than two or three boxes of magnums. Mostly all downloaded as described or to that level.
as to the keith in 44special, i am a little slower running most stuff at about 900fps. At ten yards i don't think it matters.

Yep, unique and hs6 for the 45colt 850-1000 fps is about right. Now the low wall 45colt will push harder....<grin>

My preference for .44's and .45 Colt is hard cast of 300 gr - although I often shoot 335 gr hard cast in my suppressed .44 Contender. In the .480, 375 - 415 gr hard cast at 1000 - 1200 seems pretty deadly. The penetration of those big, slow moving bullets is VERY impressive!

Mike

I know i am beating a dead horse, but few years ago i cast some 310gr 44's, fired in a contender at about 1100fps. Seven water jugs and kept going. I keep saying i got to do that again with about 15jugs and see where it actually stops. Wasn't all that fast, but that big piece of lead just kept moving.
My guru brian pearce, in one of his articles talked about shooting an elk with a 44special, bullet went in one side and out the other.

Jim Wilson sorta turned me on to H-Universal a long time ago. I've run it in a .45 Colt (270SAA), .44 Special (429421), and a .45 ACP (H&G 68 and Lee 230 TC) and been perfectly happy.

I've been loading 9.0 grains of Unique under a 429421 and under 240 XTP's for my Wife's Uncle's Redhawk and he's been very happy with it, even managing to whack a few does with the XTP's (he won't trust the cast, for some weird reason).

I picked up on of the Bisley flattop 5.5 inch 44 Specials a couple of years ago and it is fast becoming my favorite all around handgun. The 44 Special coupled with a 429421 at 1000 fps would cover a very large percentage of field handgunning needs.

Ron,

Picked up that copy of Handloader yesterday, and that was a good article.

Mike