Looking for Loads for My 1st Encore - .44 Mag

[fishteach]

Hi All,

This is my 1st post about my 1st Encore rifle, which I got this fall in .50 caliber black powder. It was used, but with it I also purchased a used 26" heavy bull barrel in .44 Rem. Mag. from TC's custom shop. I've shot the .44 barrel with a variety of factory loads and have had very good accuracy out to 150 yards. I plan to hunt everything with this and am looking for .44 mag hand load recipes and velocity information from others with similar length barrels. I've gathered a lot of load data from the web, but most is from hanguns and barrels not longer than 16 inches. I am particuarly interested in load recipes for 300-325 grain cast bullets, but also would like data about bullets in the 200-300 grain range. I know that there are great loads avaiable from Buffalo, Garrett & others, but it's not as much fun as loading them yourself and they're kind of expensive for a stay at home dad. Any insight is greatly apreciated.

Thanks, Brett

[rufracer]

honestly, just pic the loads you best like, and go with it (safely). I had the same issue with my puma 454 with a 20" barrel. I decided to use what I could find.
H110, w296, and lil-gun are the powders of choice. You will see around 200-350fps increase with a 16-20" so gas-checks are recomended. Are you casting?

[fishteach]

Thanks for the reply. No, I'm not casting, but I bought 400 cast bullets (all gas checked) from a friend in different weights & styles to experiment with. They are cast with #2 alloy, lubed and the styles are 200 grain power points (Lyman 429303), 245 grain (Lyman 429244), 300 grain (Lyman 429650) & 325 grain (Lyman 429649). I figured I'd be working up the best load for the barrel, but was hopeful that maybe somebody out there had a similar barrel and some good load data to start with. I'll be using H110. Thanks, Brett

[rufracer]

I would also suggest going to www.realguns.com and using their multiple calculators (Exterior balistics, TKO,muz. energy, etc..). This helped me greatly in chosing my load. A 315gr flat point at 2100fps. I could get more but havent yet.

[rufracer]

180 GR. HDY XTP H110 1.600" 29.0 2170 21,800 CUP 31.5 2286 29,900 CUP
200 GR. NOS JHP H110 1.600" 27.5 2064 29,000 CUP 28.5 2106 37,800 CUP
210 GR. SIE JHC H110 1.600" 26.0 1969 29,900 CUP 27.0 2030 31,100 CUP
225 GR. SPR JHP H110 1.575" 23.0 1778 25,600 CUP 25.0 1924 36,300 CUP
240 GR. NOS JHP H110 1.600" 23.0 1750 25,200 CUP 24.0 1817 36,200 CUP
270 GR. SPR GDSP H110 1.600" 19.5 1502 29,300 CUP 21.5 1637 37,700 CUP
280 GR. SFT JHP H110 1.700" 18.5 1358 27,000 CUP 20.5 1510 36,100 CUP
300 GR. HDY XTP H110 1.600" 18.0 1393 35,100 CUP 19.0 1473 38,800 CUP

I found this at http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

It says its for a 44 mag rifle.

[lovedogs]

I've tried lots of different loadings for the wonderful .44 in a variety of different pistols and rifles, from 4 inchers to 24 inchers and I keep coming back to two loads that do it all for me. My favorite cast loading is a Saeco that's supposed to be a 250 gr. RNFPGC but drops out of my mould (w/#2 alloy) at 243 gr. and for jacketed loads I like the Speer 240 gr. Mag JSP, both using 23 gr. of H110. I've tried other powders but none compared to the H110. The Saeco is the only cast I liked and the Speer is the only one I found to come close to holding together on deer at high velocities. 2400 worked in some but H110 worked in all 7 of my .44's.