44 mag pistol groups

[Outback32]

hey guys I'm curious to what you consider good groups from a 44 mag pistol. with lead and shooting off hand. I'm loading the Lee 240 gn swc in a 7inch ruger sbh hunter. I've loaded 9.0 gns universal and 9.2 gn of unique. interested to see what you guys consider good groups. thanks

[andre3k]

Two inch groups or less at 25 yards with a rested handgun is good enough for me.

[Tatume]

hey guys I'm curious to what you consider good groups from a 44 mag pistol. with lead and shooting off hand. I'm loading the Lee 240 gn swc in a 7inch ruger sbh hunter. I've loaded 9.0 gns universal and 9.2 gn of unique. interested to see what you guys consider good groups. thanks

Two inch five-shot groups at 25 yards shooting offhand is good.

[Outback32]

Ok that's what il aim for thanks. il post my results. with lead and plated just to see the differences. thanks

[Outback32]

well my results were terrible in my opinion. with both unique and universal powders. both are barely in a pie plate. could it be gun or powder

[Grmps]

or shooter

I would start by getting measurements off the gun-- forcing cone & bore,

How much over the bore size is your boolit/forcing cone

what alloy are you using (is it too soft for your velocity)

what are lube/or coating you using?

I would use a rest until you get good grouping (then you know it's you, not the load when go for off-hand accuracy)

try baking down to 7.5grn unique or look at 6.5grn red dot (make sure these loads are suitable for your gun) these are favorite loads of CB forum members

Unique

6 940
7 1071
8 1187
9 1302
10 1371

[LUCKYDAWG13]

How well do you shoot 240gr Hornady's out of it My go to powder for my SBH is 19gr of 2400 under a 240gr XTP

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE GUYS IN THE REVOLVER FORUM IS THAT YOUR HOLD IS EVERYTHING. AFTER LISTENING TO THEM, I CAN USUALLY HIT A DOG FOOD CAN AT 25 YARDS,FROM A STANDING POSITION, NOT A BENCH, USING A 275GR KEITH FROM NOE, AND W-296. MAKE SURE TO HAVE THE CORRECT HOLD, AND THEN MAKE SURE THAT YOU HOLD IT THE SAME EVERY TIME. ALSO, IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET IT, BUT SHOOTING FROM A BENCH, AND SHOOTING OFFHAND IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. SO IF YOU SIGHT IT IN ON THE BENCH, IT WILL SHOOT TO A DIFFERENT POINT OFF HAND. I HAVE FOUND ITS A LOT LIKE ARCHERY, FORM FIRST, AND THEN JUST PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! IF I DID IT YOU CAN TOO! PS- sorry for the caps lock, I didn't loo up while I was typing! lol go talk to the guys in the revolver forum, they helped me a ton! (try searching for my posts, then look for my questions about accuracy and such)

[Oklahoma Rebel]

by the way I have the same gun. what are you sizing to? I am sizing to 431, but thinking of going to either .4315 or 432.... not sure yet.

[NSB]

hey guys I'm curious to what you consider good groups from a 44 mag pistol. with lead and shooting off hand. I'm loading the Lee 240 gn swc in a 7inch ruger sbh hunter. I've loaded 9.0 gns universal and 9.2 gn of unique. interested to see what you guys consider good groups. thanks

Shooting off hand is a real show stopper for most. At 25 yards the bullet and load are not going to be the deal maker, it's going to be your shooting ability. More so beyond that distance. Most loads will shoot "OK" at 25 yards and then fall apart from there. The vast majority of shooters cannot shoot 2" groups off hand at 25 yards with any handgun or any load. You need to separate the concept of accuracy shooting a handgun from the load you're using. Good shots and good loads go together. The best loads in unskilled hands won't give you good accuracy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're not already a good handgun shot just finding the "right load" won't make you one. Develop your load shooting off a rest and then load that load and shoot a lot off hand to become a good off hand shooter. A really good handgun shot can shoot five shots into 3"off hand at fifty yards with the right handgun and load. That's with years of dedication to becoming a good shot.

[Outback32]

that makes a lot of sense it quite possibly is me. il shoot from a bench although I don't have a pistol vice. I've got bags you shoot rifles from. I can try that to Oklahoma rebel I'm sizing to .432 and powder coating

[243winxb]

I shoot for score. One of my better targets. Oven heat treated bullets, water cooled test. Cast bullets cant be to hard. imo. No skidding or slumping.

Age 73 now. The good old days are gone.

[44Blam]

Off hand! Funny thing, I do a combat shoot every month and one guy makes up the rules for each stage.
This last month one stage was:
Loaded pistol, safety on, on a barrel.
Pick up the pistol off hand.
Alternate targets at 15 yards for six shots. Timed.

I missed one bullet... When I was walking up, I couldn't remember the last time I shot off hand... BUT, I'm kinda ambidextrous and my left eye is dominant but I shoot right handed... Oddly, it felt new but comfortable. Go figure.

[reloader28]

For no particular reason I work up my loads at 15yds on a rest. I figure that takes my shakiness from the equation. If I can get an 1 1/2 at that I figure I'm doing good.

I hate shooting paper targets. Have a heck of a time doing it. I dont know why. BUT, I can take that same load and I dont have any problem whatsoever hitting a bowling pin at 100+yds. If you really want to see how accurate your load is try 200yds. I shoot quite a bit at a 12"x12" gong at 400yds with the same pistols and loads that only give me 1 1/2 - 2" groups at 15yds and am very successful. Most generally its me and not the gun.

Like was already said, I dont sight in off a rest as the POI is always different. I just use the rest for load work up.

I should add that I size .433

[JBinMN]

Shooting off hand is a real show stopper for most. At 25 yards the bullet and load are not going to be the deal maker, it's going to be your shooting ability. More so beyond that distance. Most loads will shoot "OK" at 25 yards and then fall apart from there. The vast majority of shooters cannot shoot 2" groups off hand at 25 yards with any handgun or any load. You need to separate the concept of accuracy shooting a handgun from the load you're using. Good shots and good loads go together. The best loads in unskilled hands won't give you good accuracy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're not already a good handgun shot just finding the "right load" won't make you one. Develop your load shooting off a rest and then load that load and shoot a lot off hand to become a good off hand shooter. A really good handgun shot can shoot five shots into 3"off hand at fifty yards with the right handgun and load. That's with years of dedication to becoming a good shot.

Good post above from among the others here, but the BOLDED is the key, IMO...


I do this for all calibers I shoot. Find the load combo that is the most accurate off the sandbags/bench, then practice with that load for finding my "form" & I know that firearm is already accurate & now it is up to "me" & not the firearm to find the accuracy again, when not firing from/on the sandbag/bench.

[NC_JEFF]

My best is 4-4.5" groups offhand, 2" from a rest. SBH 7.5" 4.0 gr Clays. Nowhere near a magnum load but very accurate. It feels like a target 38 load

[bluejay75]

Two inch groups or less at 25 yards with a rested handgun is good enough for me.

Andre,

Whats the velocity on the AA9 Load?

[andre3k]

Andre,

Whats the velocity on the AA9 Load?

Stats - Average 1436.86 fps
Stats - Highest 1466.3 fps
Stats - Lowest 1395.67 fps
Stats - Ext. Spread 70.63 fps
Stats - Std. Dev 24.73 fps

[Ateam]

ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE GUYS IN THE REVOLVER FORUM IS THAT YOUR HOLD IS EVERYTHING. AFTER LISTENING TO THEM, I CAN USUALLY HIT A DOG FOOD CAN AT 25 YARDS,FROM A STANDING POSITION, NOT A BENCH, USING A 275GR KEITH FROM NOE, AND W-296. MAKE SURE TO HAVE THE CORRECT HOLD, AND THEN MAKE SURE THAT YOU HOLD IT THE SAME EVERY TIME. ALSO, IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET IT, BUT SHOOTING FROM A BENCH, AND SHOOTING OFFHAND IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. SO IF YOU SIGHT IT IN ON THE BENCH, IT WILL SHOOT TO A DIFFERENT POINT OFF HAND. I HAVE FOUND ITS A LOT LIKE ARCHERY, FORM FIRST, AND THEN JUST PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! IF I DID IT YOU CAN TOO! PS- sorry for the caps lock, I didn't loo up while I was typing! lol go talk to the guys in the revolver forum, they helped me a ton! (try searching for my posts, then look for my questions about accuracy and such)

I am new to revolvers, and feel my hold is just some adaptation from shooting autos. Do you have any good reading on revolver hold types/theories? Sorry for the hyjack.

[Outback32]

shot from a rest today. 2.5 to 3 inch groups. the gun liked unique and 2400 it didn't like universal at all. so the not so great groups yesterday were 100% me. I will admit this is my first single action revolver and I don't shoot near as often as I should. Are there any other powders you like for plinking loads. I have plenty of unique just like to experimentwithother powders. thanks again for the help