44Special or reduced 44Mag?

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Owning a 44Mag is still a dream:-) but I just have a few questions.

Obviously the majority of rounds will not be full house magnums, so do people usually just use reduced 44mags or 44specials? With a 357mag I usually use 38 brass when I do not want a magnum load simply because 38 brass is cheaper, however 44mag and 44sp brass is about the same price. Would my money be better spent on all 44mag brass or should I by some 44mag and 44sp?

Thanks.

[Wally]

I use both--you are better off using the .44 Mag brass IMHO. When the .44 Mag cases neck splits I trim to .44 Special length and use them again & again...extensive use of .44 Special brass in a .44 Mag chamber gunks it up badly and it is none to easy to clean out.

[Rocky Raab]

I have no need for a Magnum, and so can't attest to that supposed gunk ring. But I do firmly believe that excessive case volume compared to powder charge is detrimental to load consistency.

In practice, the arguments are probably self-cancelling. You can do it either way and create a drawback of some kind, as well as an advantage.

[shdwlkr]

I don't have a 44 mag but do have a 357 mag and using 38spls will give you a gunk build up if you shoot enough 38 spl in a 357 mag.
On a side note I do have a 44 spl and shoot some heavy lead down the barrel and don't see a need for a 44 mag. I shoot 255 grain bullets same as can be used in the 45 colt only of the size for my 44 spl.
I would really like to get my hands on a ruger 44spl but cash being short that is just a dream for now.
If you really want/need the 44 mag just use the brass and load at 44 spl loads it will work just fine.

[Blammer]

get the 44mag and shoot reduced loads with 44mag brass.
won't need to crimp and the brass will last forever!

10gr of unique and 250gr boolits are great mild plinkers and accurate and fun to shoot!

[Marlin Hunter]

My guess is that 44 magnum brass would be better since the boolit would not have the extra .100" free bore travel to get cocked sideways in the chamber/forcing cone... or something like that.

[NuJudge]

I've been shooting a lot of the Kieth bullet and 7.5gr of 231 in Magnum brass lately, with excellent results. Very accurate and pleasant to shoot.

CDD

[Ricochet]

I've used both a great deal. I'd rather use the Magnum brass and reduce loads, because if you shoot a bunch of Specials and then switch to Magnums, extraction is difficult because of the fouling ahead of the Special case mouths. I haven't shot any .44 Russians.

[EDK]

Four levels of 44 Special/Magnum loads. Low end is factory 44 Special; next is loads in the 900 fps area (think Skeeter Skelton and 7.5 UNIQUE with 429421;) mid range 44 magnums to about 1200 fps; and last and hottest, full charge 44 magnum handloads/specialty factory ammo.

Use magnum brass and adjust loads to suit. Less boolit jump to throat/rifling should marginally increase accuracy.

Uncle Ed's law: If you need a maximum load, you need a bigger gun.

[jhrosier]

I use magnum brass for the magnums and 44 spl brass for the 44 spl.
The magnum brass is easy to find used and generally priced lower than 44 spl brass.
Plus, I'm not that well organized anyhow, and I don't need anything like "44 spl for magnum" loads to keep track of.

BTW, i see a lot of barely used Ruger Super Blackhawks for sale for decent prices.
S'mattern fact, I have never seen a worn out .44 Magnum Ruger.
I think that a lot of folks buy one and find it too much too handle, and trade it off practically unused.

Jack

[mdi]

When I started reloading for my 629 I used both Special and Magnum brass. After these several years. I just use magnum brass; Mild loads for my 629, med to heavy for my Dan Wesson and my Super Blackhawk. A lot of less brass to fool with and my dies are set up for Mag.:p

[Shuz]

I've been loading for the .44 magnum for over 46 years now. I have never seen the need to use .44 Special brass for light loads. One type of .44 brass sure makes my life a lot simpler;especially since I use a Dillon Square Deal B for all my .44 rounds and don't have to worry about changing the powder and crimp dies.

[Dale53]

I have been shooting .44 magnums ever since they came out. Soon after I got mine, I decided that I would only shoot "full" loads in the .44 Magnum (practice load is 23.0 grs of H110 behind a 250 gr Keith bullet). Hunting load is 24.0 grs of H110 behind the same bullet.

When I want a target load in .44 Caliber I just use a .44 Special revolver. For years I used only 7.5 grs of Unique behind a 250 gr Keith bullet in my .44 Specials.

Specials for .44 Special.
Magnums for .44 magnum.

However, if a person only could afford one gun, then I would definitely load three levels of loads in .44 Magnum cases. You can easily color code the primers.

FWIW
Dale53

[badgeredd]

I load a reduced load as well as normal loads for my 44s. I found it easy to keep the two separated by using nickled brass for the reduced loads and Brass colored cases for the norml (read full load) loads.

Edd

[Three44s]

I segregate my different power levels by using different headstamps ...... it's quite easy.

Three 44s

[NickSS]

I only use 44 mag brass as it is easy to find in the scrap bucket at my club. Lots of shooters throw out once fired 44 mag brass but I almost never see a 44 spl case. I load mostly one load in my 44 mags which is a 240 gr SWC over 10 gr of Unique. It works for everything I use the gun for.

[Mark]

I've been shooting a lot of the Kieth bullet and 7.5gr of 231 in Magnum brass lately, with excellent results. Very accurate and pleasant to shoot.

CDD

I agree. The above has been my reduced 44 mag load for years. It shoots great in all of my guns (even better in my 629 for some reason).
I don't shoot 44 special brass in my 44 mag for the simple reason of crud build up in the cylinder. However, that being said, I am tempted to try my 4 inch M29-2 in the SSR class of an IDPA match. In that case, I would use the 44 special to aid in the quick extraction of the fired case.
Mark

[Ricochet]

Using different boolits for different load levels is a system I've used.

[mooman76]

I also vote for using 44 mag brass and load light. 44special brass is a little harder to come by for one and for another there is the buildup to consider. I usually load like a hot 44 special in my 44 mag for every day shooting. I have a 44 special too so I don't want to mix up 44 special hot loads and mag loads. I did this once whenI was showing someone how to load and wa too busy talking instead of paying attention. I didn't like the loads when I tried them in my special so I just shot them out of my mag instead.

[Dale53]

There is one caveat when shooting shorter brass in magnum chambers (.32 S&W L in .32 H&R Mag, .38 in .357, .44 Special in .44 Mag, etc). This normally will cause little problem when light target loads are used other than fouling build up at the case mouth - this must be removed before firing magnum loads as it could raise pressures.

That is, the practice of using heavy loads in the shorter cases. This can actually erode the cylinder at the case mouth causing future problems. Now, before some want to jump all over me saying that they have been doing it for years without problems, I have SEEN this erosion that was so bad it caused ejection problems with the longer brass. This is NOT an urban myth.

All in all, using HEAVY loads in short cases is a BAD idea that CAN lead to problems. I haven't seen this in target loads in short cases. My practice is to limit my short case use to target loads (I do this routinely in my .357 magnum handguns as I shoot a lot of .38 Wadcutter loads). In thousands of rounds, I have seen NO permanent damage. Now, my experience is limited to a relatively small number of handguns in this scenario, so YOU determine for yourself if short cases in long chambers is a good idea under ANY circumstances. I believe target loads are fine but heavy loads are a NO-NO.

FWIW
Dale53

[Jack Stanley]

I only use magnum brass mostly so I don't have to re-adjust the Dillon . The different power levels I use are kept track of by the type of bullet I use . When I see a LBT nose sticking out of the case , it is a heavier load with gas check and suitable for the 29 or the lever gun .

If I see a big cast hollow-point , it's also gaschecked and has a lot of 2400 under it . It will make you see spots when shooting at deer in the dimming light of dusk .

When I see a Lee "cowboy" bullet it is a lighter load , plain-based and works well in the lever and the four inch 29 . It acts like a 44-40 load I think .

I just recently got a H&G 503 for a Kieth semi-wadcutter and I'm thinking a medium charge of Unique . I'd like to use it in the four and six inch twenty-nines and the lever but I don't know if the Marlin 336 will use it or abuse it . The Grooves are a bit large on the Marlin and it likes fat bullets .

Jack

[MT Gianni]

I shoot the same boolit for my mid range and higher loads. 7 gr of green dot gets labelled with green fingernail polish around the primer. WC820 loads get red polish.

[Cahaba Scout]

I've used .44 Mag with light (.44 Spcl level) loads for years shooting silhouette with pistols and a Win 94 and never had a problem with them... cases seem to last forever... after twenty years some of the primers get easier to seat, but have no other issues.

[Outpost75]

Shooting a great many .44 Specials in the Magnum chambers will cause sufficient leading to cause resistance to chambering magnum rounds.

I prefer to load reduced power. 44 Magnums which approximate .45 Colt power levels for the majority of my shooting.

A good starting load with the Saeco #441, 260-grain Keith bullet is 6.5 grains of Bullseye, which gives 900 fps from a 5-1/2" barrel. Do not exceed 7.5 grains of Bullseye in the. 44 Magnum, as there are better powders if you want higher velocities.

[big dale]

I have been meaning to get a 44 special handgun for several decades now. Each time I almost buy one, another old model near new Super Blackhawk becomes available at a good price and I get that one instead...I just love those things. I hate adjusting dies so [I] find it very simple to just use 44 Magnum brass. I shoot 10 or 15 shots of pretty full loads each time I go to the range or gravel pit. Most of the rest are at about 1000 fps which kill the rocks I shoot in my gravel pit very dead for me. I have lost track of how many of those 8 pound kegs of Herco I have used up that way. I am still using a bunch of brass I bought around 1980 and it still works fine. I just hope you enjoy shooting your 44 as much as I have for all these decades.


Be sure you remember to spend a day every month or so shooting a couple of boxes of pretty full loads at rocks and stuff plinking at ranges of at least 100 to 200 yards. Long distance plinking is a lot of fun and you can get to know your gun and load by doing this.
I identify full loads with a red sharpie to the primer.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale