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View Full Version : Your favorite 44 rem mag powder/bullet



marklyftogt
07-29-2012, 01:25 AM
I am thinking about getting a Marlin 1894 rifle in 44 mag.

Looking for loads on the lower end (close to starting loads). I don't need or want cannon shells.

What do you guys load??

Shuz
07-29-2012, 10:05 AM
I load 18 to 21g of 2400 for both my Winnie Trapper, and my 1894 Marlin 44 mag carbines, depending on the weight of boolit.

EDK
07-29-2012, 11:14 AM
Go to lasc.us and read Glenn Fryxell's article on 1894 MARLINS...a wealth of info. Also go over to marlinowners.com/forums and do some reading.

LYMAN 429667; 429244; 429640. MIHEC 434640 PB. RANCH DOG TLC 432 265 and NOE plain base clone of the RANCH DOG. IF I'm not loading rifle specific loads, I don't need the extra expense of gas checks.

Use the HODGDON Cowboy Action shooting loads as a starting point. I load generic stuff for an assortment of revolvers and Cowboy rifles, so I favor faster powders like TITEGROUP, HP38, UNIQUE, HERCO for economy; lower charge weights rather than 2400, 4227, 5744, etc. 7.0 grains of any of them is a good start and work up to what you want. I don't like the narrow window of charge weights in H110/WIN 296 either.

I have used pistol caliber rifles since my 1892 WINCHESTER converted to 357 magnum in 1966. One should always remember that the best load in the rifle may not be that great in pistols. (AMERICAN HANDGUNNER had several articles on this by John Taffin several years ago.) Generic ammo is exactly that. Load rifle specific for high end performance...I use different colored brass and different appearance boolits to identify...because it will loosen your filings in a revolver.

Shuz is going some hotter than I would, again depending on the boolit used. There's plenty of discussion about this topic.

:redneck::cbpour::guntootsmiley:

Larry Gibson
07-29-2012, 11:27 AM
Any 240 - 255 gr cast (429421 and the 44-250-K are my favorites) ove 8.5 gr Unique. These run 1100 - 1200 fps out ofrifles with 16 - 24" barrels. It has been a very accurate load in most every rifle and is also quite pleasant and accurate in revolvers. A Lee TL430-240-SWC over 6 gr of Bullseye is also a fine plinker/small game load.

Larry Gibson

longbow
07-29-2012, 11:42 AM
Depends on what you want to do and whether you want to buy a new mould or not.

I normally head straight to the heavy boolits for any given caliber especially with cast, just 'cause it seems right.

Recently I decided I wanted some light plinker loads for both my .44 and .303's so purchased light moulds for those guns.

I contacted Tom at Accurate Molds and got him to scale down a .45 cal. TC mould to .433" to suit my Marlin's fat groove diameter. It became the #43-165B (165 gr. TC) and is rapidly becoming my favourite plinking load.

It is very light for .44 but seems to be shooting very well in my gun. I am still playing with powders/loads but started with 10 grs. of 700X which was somewhat more energetic than I expected and makes a loud "CRACK" but very low recoil. I suspect 6 to 8 grs. would be more in line with what I was looking for. Nonetheless it is fun to shoot, accurate, low recoil, cheap on powder and lead, feeds flawlessly... so exactly what I was looking for in a boolit. A great plinker and ladie's or kid's load.

If you are in the market for a new mould you might think about something 200 grs. or lighter for low recoil rounds.

Even heavier boolits in the 240 to 270 gr. range can be downloaded to lower recoil loads as mentioned above. I use mostly IMR4227 under anything heavier than the 165 gr. It seems to be quite flexible from light to heavy loads so I use a lot of it in .44, .308 and .303.

Longbow

Char-Gar
07-29-2012, 11:53 AM
I load the 44 Magnum like the old 44-40 for my Marlin levergun. Cast gas check bullets in the 200 to 230 grain range, sized .432 over 10/Unique. Accuracy is outstanding. I would guess he velocity to be about 1,200 fps.

Keyston44
07-29-2012, 04:52 PM
My favorite Marlin 44 mag loads are with the 265gr Ranch Dog mold. 22gr of H110 with the gas checked slug and 10 gr of Unique with the plain based slug.

Key

TCFAN
07-29-2012, 07:03 PM
Like Char-Gar I load my marlin 44 mag as if it was a 44-40. I also use a 230 gr. boolit with a gas check sized at .433 from a Accurate mold over 10grs. of Unique. From my rifle it is going right at 1400 fps.and is very accurate out to 100 yards using peep sights.This load does everything I want out of a 44mag rifle and I think it would kill any deer in the state of Missouri with in 100 yards or so...........Terry

longbow
07-29-2012, 08:09 PM
Now that's sound advice for mild loads ~ load like the .44-40. Lots of good load data around as well.

Char-Gar
07-29-2012, 10:49 PM
When Marlin decided to make a 44 levergun, they lifted the barrel twist right from the old 44-40. It is pretty slow and gives some folks fits and many wish it were faster. My solution was to load it like it was a 44-40 with bullet weight/lenght and velocity.

The 44-40 in Winchester, Marlin leverguns and Remington pumpguns were considered more than adequate for deer and the like back in the day. I see not reason why that should change. A rifle so loaded will shoot through and through a deer and leave a big hole along the way. Running the velocity up a few hundred more fps won't kill said deer any deader.

Somewhere along the way of my shooting life, I grew up and realized that running every gun and cartridge full bore was not the best idea when such power was not needed.

runfiverun
07-29-2012, 10:54 PM
the twist rate of the marlin 44 mag rifles is taken directly from the 44-40 so loading them like that is [almost] mandatory.
i use a pretty generic load of either the 429667/429241 and 9 grs of unique/10 grs of 800-x/18-19 grs 2400.
the 667 goes right along in everything except my browning 92 and win-94 [they need special attention]

mongo
07-30-2012, 12:33 AM
I use a Lee 240gr Round nose over 9.0gr of Unique. Lubed with a generous coat of 45/45/10 This load works good in my S&W29 SBH and Win94, with little to no leading. Very accurate in the pistols but best with the rifle is 3-4in at 100yds, I think it may be the rifle as it does the same with whatever iI feed it.

HDS
07-30-2012, 12:44 AM
H&G #503 keith bullet over 8.5 grains of Vihtavuori Tin Star or N32C as it's also known. Gives me around 1100fps out of my 1892 lever. That's a 44 special load and very nice.

6pt-sika
07-30-2012, 07:54 AM
In Marlin 1894's and Marlin 336-44's chambered for the 44 REM MAG cartridge the following have worked well for me .

Ranch Dog 432-240GC with 25 grains of H110

Ranch Dog 432-265GC with 23 grains of H110

Ranch Dog 432-300GC with 21 grains of H110


Before I got into the Ranch Dog molds I used the Lyman 429244 and the RCBS 44-240 SWC quite a bit . Pushed them then with 2400 just because I had 3 pounds of it and nothing to use it for . I acquired a Lyman 429244 HP mold not to long ago and have intentions of trying that one in my old 336-44 but have not so far .

Nobade
07-30-2012, 09:08 AM
NOE 200gr. "biglube" boolit, KIK FFFg, 1/8" compression. Super accurate and fun to shoot.

Only way I have gotten comparable or better accuracy out of my Marlin with smokeless was to paper patch boolits up to .434", but to get the patch to engrave the rifling for good accuracy the round has to be .200" longer than max allowable so it's strictly a single shot with those.

bobthenailer
07-30-2012, 11:23 AM
I use the Saeco # 420, 200 gr tc bullet , loaded in 44 mag cases with 5.5 @800 fps to 7.0 grs @ 980 fps of Tightgroup powder for all of my 44 mags handguns and 1 rifle, past & present with excellent accuracy from perhaps 10 different firearms! previously i used BE with the same charge weights with the same results.

bones37
08-01-2012, 09:04 PM
Like others have posted here, I also use the 44-40 type loads. I have an RCBS 200 CM with the bands enlarged to cast a .433" boolit. I have found that this to be a great comprimise considering the slow twist and micro groove barrel. It has greatly enhanced the accuracy and usefulness of the rifle.