I got to shoot the 44 mag today. ( hunter )

[gray wolf]

:-D :drinks: :Fire:

Well the Ruger hunter bisly was a blast, I got to fire two rounds.
Had Winchester white box 240 GR. soft point. I am 70 and about 160 pounds 5'8" I didn't really know what to expect so I just held on with a good grip and fired two into the berm.
I think it may be all over for me now, I want/need to shoot it more.
It seemed the 240 gr. SP Win. white box has a fairly good recoil.
I guess after shooting so much 45 ACP with target loads that would be natural.
But to tell the truth I think I will have to work up to the 300 gr. full house loads. At 25 feet it seems this load would kill about anything.
240 gr. at about 1200 FPS. Seems it would spin a black bear off his/her feet. Sorry to sound like a little kid but it was just plain funnnn. :-D
Men I enjoyed it a whole bunch. From all the reading I have been doing it seems to be a very versatile cartridge. Looks like you can load it up down and side ways. Make it a soft shooter or a hammer.
It will be a challenge only having the tite group and the long shot powder but the Hodgons web site has quite a few loads for those powders. I guess some Unique and some 296 would take care of most shooting needs. I have some bullets coming from a couple of members, I will load them with what I have for now and see what I come up with.
The factory bullets were 50 rounds so I will have all those cases to try with.
As close as I can tell without a pin gauge the throats are .430
I do not believe they are any smaller. I think I will be able to tell better when I push some bullets through them.
I just wanted to say that I think it's a very nice pistol to shoot.
I should be able to shoot at some targets with it very soon.
Sorry I can't give better report-- but hey--I only shot it two rounds.

Sam-----the big kid.

[DLCTEX]

Addictive isn't it? I'm the same way about the 480 Ruger. I've shot it a lot more than twice, though. Somewhat like the feeling I had shooting the 50 cal. BMG. POWER!

[gray wolf]

YUP !! Power is a good think.

[JesterGrin_1]

For a nice load that will not punish you a 240Gr Lead Boolit with 5.5gr of TightGroup in the Rem .44 Mag Case and a standard LPP is a nice and accurate load and easy on the wallet. They move out right around 900 FPS or a little less. This sounds slow and it is for a .44 Mag but it is still a pretty good stopper when you compare it to a .45 ACP that is 230Gr moving at 850FPS and nobody says it is not a Man Stopper lol.

[gray wolf]

Did you say use a L R P to light it off ?

[x101airborne]

OY! by chance did you recieve a small flat rate box yet?
Just curious.

[badbob454]

me likey i have gotten tough enough ( spelled big annd chubby ) to shoot a 454 casull , wow with full hot loads its tough on the palm of my hand but can load mild 45 colt in it too, makes it a pussycat ...glad youy enjoyed it gray wolf ....my first shot of a 44 mag left my wrist sore for a week i shot probably a full box , but it is much stronger now , heck i enjoy the recoil now ..

[RobS]

If you don't want to go nuclear with H110 then 2400 is a very good, versatile powder that will load the middle and upper grounds where Long Shot falls off. I've also heard good things about Ramshot Enforcer from a forum member here.

[gray wolf]

No box yet but I will be looking for it,

[Don Purcell]

Gray Wolf, welcome to the Dark Side (in my best Darth Vader voice)

[429421Cowboy]

I took my first pistol deer with that load, i still think they are my favorite factory hunting load. The recoil/blast/flash is very bad on them though, i can load much nicer loads that are just as effective now but they still do a good job. My twin brother shot a wounded (by a rifle) mule deer buck from 15 feet right under the licence plate as he got up to run away with that factory 240 SP WWB load that came out at the base of the buck's throat and piled him up pretty good. I'd say your average mule deer buck and your average blackie aren't much different in size and that round would work well.

[GRUMPA]

I wouldn't be all that eager to try my luck at a 300+gr anything with that. It took me a few years to get comfy with the 240gr suckers. When I did finally cast the 310gr I loaded them for my win lever and chrono'd them at 1450fps. I now know what that "MAGNUM" part means after the 44, OH man that was brutal on my shoulder only after 5 shots, after that I developed flinchitus and stopped for awhile, I still use that round, dang accurate and fun to use around the ranch.

[TCLouis]

because I have none of the knowledge/experience of many here on this site, but looking at the cavities in my berm made by 429421's out of a 3" 44 SPL (Taurus 431) at 50 yards, I think even moderate loads are likely to damage tissue and internal organs of thin skinned game.

Penetration in the hard semi wet clay was 8-10 inches also.

This is in front of some 6 plus grains of AA#5, whatever the AA manual max is less some 4 tenths of a grain.

[runfiverun]

look for two....

[JesterGrin_1]

Did you say use a L R P to light it off ?

I am sorry I meant a Large Pistol Primer.

I must have been thinking of my .358 Winchester I am about to start working on. :)

[Lefty SRH]

HS-6 is another mid-range powder to try. I love my Bisley Hunter, mine is in .45 colt though.

[292]

The 44 is why I joined this obsession. I load 6.2 grains of Green Dot and a TL430/240 grain boolit. Shoots more like a 22 magnum.

[excess650]

Remember than H110 and WW296 are meant for high density loads. If you want more flexibility in loading, use 2400 or 4227(moderate to heavy loads). For lighter, more pleasant loads, most of the shotshell powders will do the job. There was a time when I liked Blue Dot, but have not liked the results I've been getting with Alliant Blue Dot(vs Hercules), so I won't suggest it.

Recoil from a 44? Back when Sierra first marketed the 300gr JSPs I didn't have any load data, so worked with 296 in my Redhawk. After I worked up my loads and was satisfied, I called Sierra to see if they had data. My starting loads were higher than their max, but I could eject empties 6 at a time and saw no undue pressure signs, so my load seemed good in my revolver. They chrono'd 1320fps average.

LBT cut me a "431-350-LFN" so I could see if I wanted to step up to the next level and have Bowen do a .475 or .500 conversion. The boolits were of the long nose variety so as to utilize all of the Redhawk's cylinder length, and weighed 370gr with GC and lube. 296 was the powder of choice again, and I resorted to a Past glove and Pachmayr rubber grips. Recoil was brutal and the POI wasn't anywhere near the sights. Velocity was 1315fps average. With the GC shank removed the boolit still weighed 330gr, and averaged over 1400fps. Recoil was still all but uncontrollable, and I wrote off the idea of a .475 or .500.

These days I have a Saeco 280gr RNFP and Lee 200gr RNFP for molds. The 7-1/2" Redhawk is gone, but I kept the 5-1/2" as its much handier. My loads are much more sedate, pleasant, and controllable. I have rifles and 12ga slug guns for more serious encounters.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The 44 is why I joined this obsession.

+1
I can't tell you how many J=words bullets I bought before I started casting.
I still have tons of them...but prefer my own cast much better.
Jon

[RugerFan]

My son has the same pistol and I have the .41 mag version. Both are scoped and both are very accurate and a blast to shoot.

[troy_mclure]

for a fun small game load use 2 .430 round balls.

[firefly1957]

To the left is a load of Blue dot under a Speer 200 gr hollow point H-110/296 gave much less cylinder gap flash but a lot more flash out of the muzzle. As far as what load you want you will have to decide what YOU want My hunting load is a cast 262 gr bullet of wheel weight lead and propelled by IMR 4227 it has much less flash and gives top velocities for that bullet. ( IMR 4227 does not require a magnum primer)

[krag35]

Might as well chime in.
I load Lyman's 429667 over trail boss for fun/plinking, and the C-432-265-RD over Blue Dot for heavier loads. I'm real happy with it out of my 4" Redhawk.
I used to run the 310 Lee over H-110 in full house loads, but then remembered, I don't hunt with a handgun, nor am i likley to be attacked by a T-Rex here in Central oregon.
265gr of lead @ 1000 - 1200 FPS will do all I need out of a handgun.

[Dennis Eugene]

I just can't get over the fact that you only shot it twice??? Dennis

[gray wolf]

I know, me either.
A guy like me that can shoot all day long only shooting two rounds.
But I did get to shoot it again yesterday ( another blast )
But for now we have only about 25 rounds left from the box of factory.
I think I am going to be a very unhappy camper if I can't cast for this cartridge.
But I am getting some bullets so I will be able to reload the 25 empty cases.

[melter68]

44 mag, nice power, its always better when your cast and reload your own, enjoy:bigsmyl2:

[troy_mclure]

unfortunately the used cases demand a premium.

[44man]

Isn't that Hunter a wonderful gun? [smilie=s: I am one to consider it the best SA Ruger ever made.
You are going to have years and years of fun and it shoots lead as good as it gets.
Any powder and load will work but for full power, use 296.
Only one powder I stay away from in the .44 is any 4227. It gets real fussy if the gun gets warm. Very accurate if you keep the gun cool.

[gray wolf]

As for the looks of the pistol, I think it is a nice sleek looking pistol,
And I sure agree that it seems to be built very well, and it seems to handle very well also. I have to hold back on how it shoots cause I just haven't had a chance to shoot it much. I don't like having to be so specific when closing the loading gate, seems if the barrel isn't lined up just perfect you will scratch the cylinder.
How do you do a quick reload if you have to stop and line up the barrel with a chamber ? I guess I am just not up to speed yet with it.
The end of the cylinder gap to barrel looks like about.0065 a .007 gauge is tight and a .006 slides in. I don't know if that is good or not or just so, so,
The cylinder has about .003 end ply and about .003 .005 side to side play.
I know how to measure but I don't know what it's telling me.
But I can say I liked shooting it.

[44man]

As for the looks of the pistol, I think it is a nice sleek looking pistol,
And I sure agree that it seems to be built very well, and it seems to handle very well also. I have to hold back on how it shoots cause I just haven't had a chance to shoot it much. I don't like having to be so specific when closing the loading gate, seems if the barrel isn't lined up just perfect you will scratch the cylinder.
How do you do a quick reload if you have to stop and line up the barrel with a chamber ? I guess I am just not up to speed yet with it.
The end of the cylinder gap to barrel looks like about.0065 a .007 gauge is tight and a .006 slides in. I don't know if that is good or not or just so, so,
The cylinder has about .003 end ply and about .003 .005 side to side play.
I know how to measure but I don't know what it's telling me.
But I can say I liked shooting it.
Forget those measurements, You really do need some play.
You will get marks on the cylinder when the cylinder lock pops up, FORGET IT. It is normal. Nothing to do with the gate. Just close it and make sure the cylinder is locked. YOU CAN NOT CHANGE IT.
End play is so the gun does not lock up when hot and metal expands and side play is for the boolit to turn the cylinder in line with the bore.
YOU ARE FINE and the gun with the right load will shoot 1/2" groups at 50 yards.
Holy cow, how do I say to relax?

[gray wolf]

I am perfectly relaxed LOL
I just like to know these things, thank you for helping.