Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44 Magnum loading

Jimmy,
Load up some .44 specials more runner to shoot and they still really screw up snowballs.

W. Bill

Those Missouri bullets look good too. Affordable as well.

That coating looks interesting.


I have a SP101 Ruger 357 2.5 inch that I use for shooting cow pies. Normally I use the 158 grain JSP American Eagle load. Its rated at 1240.

I ran out of them and stole some 38 special from the wife. Lead bullets.

Shot a box of them and thought I had ruined the gun, there was so much lead in the bore.

It was curling up in places, like old linoleum.

Thankfully it came out okay, but had me worried!

Jim, Leadhead bullets offer the Keith bullet with a flat base.. Bought quite a few years ago.. I am not a solid lead bullet shooter.. I bought lots of Rem. Bulk bullets when they were cheap and available.. RMR offers nice copper coated bullets that would be fine for shooting snowballs and I think other stuff.. Haven’t done much but plink with them.. Good luck, this is addictive.. The more you shoot the more you want to, and then you think of the pistols you should have in addition to your .44’s!!! Enjoy!!

This the Missouri Bullet Co. 45 cal 255gr. I've been shooting them with good results in the 45 Colt with 8.0 gr Unique. I loaded up some in 45 ACP brass over 5.0 gr Unique but haven't shot them yet. No leading at all in the 45 Colt.

MM a good looking bullet!!!!

265 Keith sized .431 11-12 BHN and 8.5 grs CFE Pistol works well enough in 9 44 Mags from an original 1956 44 Magnum to a 629 DX, several 29-2s, two Rugers and a Marlin levergun. Even 2 Anacondas.....

You will want to start casting as soon as possible & also powder coating, no need for a expensive lubrisizer, just get Lee sizer dies. Good luck with getting wheel weights from any tire store, the EPA has stopped that for a long time unless you get lucky but a lot of it will be steel, or zinc anyway & you don't want that.
Sure wish I had kept my 629 DX, wow what a shooter.

Dick

Here is a commercial caster that has HPs at great prices....

http://www.gtbullets.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8&zenid=cl6ga1s0g6pqtiscakqs87o2v1

Another coated bullet company that I've used is Bayou Bullets. I've used their 240 coated in several 44's and I've never gotten any leading.

Dont be fooled by the "Keith" hype. The best bullets are WFNs dropped from LBT molds. The problem with so-called "keith" bullets is the crimp groove. So skip the "Keith" nonsense and get a WFN. Missouri Bullet Co makes a 300gr WFN , and you can order them coated. Leadhead's 270gr WFN is a good bullet, Cast Performance 255gr WFN is great (but pricey). And the Hornady 240gr XTP is a very good jacketed bullet.

I don’t think he needs a 300gr WFN for shooting snowballs but that’s up to him. Heck for shooting snowmen and rocks I’d look into a light SWC or WC if I was having to buy lead.

True. I use MBC 240gr "keith" for practice, but I run them at 1200fps. And the crimp groove is inadequate for the recoil in my 329pd. But they will work great in a much heavier 629.

Friends,

Here is a bit of info for the OP and others.

Basically I load 3 basic loads, light, medium and heavy.

2 powders (Unique and H110), and 2 bullet types (240 grain cast SWC and a 300-320 grain cast SWC).




For Me, these three loads cover all I will ever need to do:


8.5 grains Unique with 240/250 grain cast SWC loads for light loads. Perfect for practicing of fundmentals, popping bunnies, pop cans, etc. Great load to introduce new shooters to large frame revolvers.


10 grains Unique with 240/250 grain cast SWC loads for mid level/everyday loads. This everyday "working" load is perfect for big Mule deer, hogs, coyotes, you name it. Only when I get up to bull elk sized critters, do I want a bit more. For everything below elk, the 10 grain Unique load is my "Go-To" load.

On the top end is my heavy load, which is as follows:

22.5 grains H110 with 300 to 320 grain cast SWC loads for anything heavy, such as elk or dinosaurs.


Those three loads will do pretty much everything you will ever need to do with a .44.

In reality, 95% of all your needs can be met with the mid level, 10 grain Unique load.




With all that said, as of late, I have been shooting a fair bit of 185 grain full wadcutters pushed by 10 grains of Unique. This has slowly started to take the place of my 8.5/240 light load.

The 185 grain full wadcuttter is exceptionally accurate inside of 50 yards. Beyond that the SWC design really has the edge. The 185 grain full wadcutter also is an extremely light recoiling load, with quite surprising velocity. It would make for an excetionally good personal defense load for 2 legged critters. It is actually pretty easy to do double taps and controlled pairs, which is not something you see too often with a .44 magnum. At least not more than a couple times before person has had enough of the recoil.


Below is some chronograph info that may be helpful to some.


Instead of running my favorite 5" N Frames, I chose to run a 4" Model 29 and a 7.5" Magnaported Redhawk. I figured this would allow others to get a better idea what these loads may run in their .44s of varying barrel lengths.




The loads tested were as follows:

185 grain full profile wadcutters, pushed by 10 grains Unique.

240 grain RNL (Round Nose Lead), with 8.5 grains Unique.

240 grain SWC (lead Semi Wadcutter) with 10 grains Unique.


For reference, I am at roughly 4,000 FT elevation, and it was around 50 degrees this morning during the test.



Each load was fired 12 times in both the 4" S&W and 7.5" Ruger.



4" Model 29:


240 grain RNL/8.5 grns Unique avg: 967 FPS

240 grain SWC/10 grns Unique avg: 1164 FPS

185 grain wadcutter/10 grns Unique avg: 1282 FPS




7.5" Redhawk:


240 grain RNL/8.5 grns Unique avg: 1093 FPS That is 126 FPS difference between the 4" and 7.5"

240 grain SWC/10 grns Unique avg: 1236 FPS That is 72 FPS difference between the 4" and 7.5"

185 grain wadcutter/10 grns Unique avg: 1372 FPS That is 90 FPS difference between the 4" and 7.5"


Test gun (4" Model 29 wearing Herrett's Troopers) w/ new hand carved Milt Sparks Sheridan Pattern 200AW



[img]https://i.imgur.com/K5Uk3r8.jpg?1[/img]


Here with Ropers







7.5" Redhawk:





So there is a bit of info for ya. Hope it helps.

Great info here fellas. Thanks for posting it all up.

Oh, geeze! Thanks for the info!


I just stepped out the back door and touched off a 240 HP with 9 grains of Unique.

Very pleasant.


I was apprehensive about the Unique loads because I am afraid of a double charge.

Looking in the case though, I think you would notice right away.

Whats a good way to dispense Unique? I have a Uniflow measure, but have not tried dispensing a charge that light.

If you want to cast affordable bullets, go with a lee six cavity mold and either tumble lube or powder coat. The 240 swc and 310 gr rf are both great shooters.

Probably the best way is the Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure. The problem is, you need Lee dies since it mounts on the die itself and throws the charge through it.

https://leeprecision.com/powder-handling/automatic-powder-measures/

I have very few die sets that are other than Lee due to this. Be advised to be careful on that site as you could easily come away ordering more stuff than you meant to. My reloading setup currently is two Lee turret presses. I've owned a Hornady progressive for literally years and never even unboxed it. The turret press is certainly sweet. Fastest non-progressive press out there.

Missouri Bullet Company is a great place to get bullets. They are great folks. It's about 100 miles from me and I've been there a few times. Very nice people. I've got a lot of their cases of bullets stacked up in the basement.

Dick, who made that holster?

Mac, is your dinosaur load safe for N-Frames?

Kingston, that's a Northwest Hunter shoulder rig by Mike Barranti at Barranti Leather. It's his signature series line, I have about a dozen of them, mostly cross draw belt rigs but I do have 2 of his wonderful shoulder rigs. They are serial numbered to the buyer. I have #1 & I think #8. They will handle iron sights or a scoped gun. Very comfortable with a wide, padded shoulder harness that is fully adjustable & a chest strap to hold it close to your body if you're riding a horse, etc.

Dick