Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting loading for a 44mag rifle,which powder?

4227 seems to have a softer pressure peak than some of the others. I've read that Hank Williams Jr. loves this powder and uses it in his .45 Colt revolvers, even the earlier ones. I don't think you could get by with that using H110/296 or 2400. I get good results with 4227 in my .45 Colt Marlin Cowboy with 26" bbl., 300 gr. lead and JHP bullets. Bad on 'dillers.

DF

DF,

You are right and I'd forgotten that. Alliant still lists a few handgun loads for it including a couple for .44 RM.

I did extensive load development for .44 Magnum in my Ruger 77/44. WW 296/240gr. Hornady XTP was the most accurate combination and a bang/flop deerslayer of a load.

Winchester 296

Isn't winchester 296-H110 the same exact powder in different cans made by the same company?

Yep.

I've had real good luck, velocity-wise, with 296/110, but the accuracy king in both of my pistols is VVN110. It burns much cleaner, groups are half the size, and I only "lose" 20 to 30 fps.

Here is a 50 yard group with my SRH and VVN110. The bullet is a Beartooth Bullet 300 grain LCMGC @ 1330 fps.



That is not a one-off group, either. The accuracy of that load in that pistol is very repeatable.

That pistol does have a scope, a Leupold 2X EER.

My SBH shows a similiar improvement in accuracy with N110 vs 296/H110, and it's favorite load is a Hornady 300 grain XTP, seated at the rear cannelure.

It seems to burn cleaner, too. It will clean your wallet faster, also. I'd have to look up prices to compare, but when I bought the last bunch of N110, I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 or so dollars more a pound

So, keep N110 in mind for the .44 mag.

My son's 1894 Marlin likes H110 so well that we've never tried anything else.

John

24grs 296/H110 is what i load for both.

Yes - H110 is actually WW296. H414 is also Win 760.

W296 or H110 will produce the highest velocities in the 44 mag. A couple things to remember when loading them:

Use only magnum primers (e.g. CCI 350 large pistol magnum);
Do not reduce charges;
Crimp heavily.

These powders are difficult to light. Standard primers will produce hangfires and erratic velocity, or not fire at all.

Reduced charges also produce hangfires and erratic velocity. You want to use a casefull (within published maximums of course).

A heavy crimp is needed to hold bullets securely under heavy recoil. It also promotes complete ignition of the powder, higher velocity, cleaning burning, and lower extreme spread. I prefer to crimp in a separate step, not when seating bullets. The results are superior.

I use the Redding profile crimp for all my heavy 44Mag loads and 155 magnum primers.

That's a good crimp, gj!

A common bulletseating die will produce crimps like that, but don't try crimping that hard while seating the bullet. The case will bulge just below the crimp and the round won't chamber in the gun. Don't ask me how I know.

I seat them all first, then do the profile crimp.

Hornady 300 gr XTP over 19.0 gr H110 or 296 and ww LP primers. I got a ridiculous deal on 500 Winchester factory primed (w/the pretty red sealant) nickel brass and loaded up a lifetime of hunting rounds for that rifle. In my 1894SS Marlin, is what works very well. Shoots the 300's better than 240 gr's....

H110/W296 works for me in the 44 Mag.

Another vote for W296. I have a B92 and it seems to thrive on 296 and the Hornady 240 gr. XTP. I've used Lil'gun in it and get wide SD and spotty accuracy with it. My .44 Blackhawk loves 2400, have not tried it in the B92 yet, may have to. I have a small game load with Trail Boss under a cast bullet that's accurate, too, and seems to work well on little critters.

I've used 24 gr of H110 with a 240 gr bullet (often the Remington bulk SJHP) with good results in my handguns. I have a 4" Model 29 and a 6" Model 629.

I just acquired a Marlin 1894 carbine and am dying to try Alliant 300-MP. Alliant is showing some impressive velocities on their website, but an acquaintance of mine tells me that he is getting even faster velocities with reduced charges and shorter barrels than Alliant used. He deliberately tried to test their advertised velocities and found them to be on the slow side of actual. When's the last time that happened?!!

h110

I use H110 to push a Speer 270 grain GDSP. Velocity runs 1575+ out of my Marlin 1894S.