New Loads for 44 Magnum

[ColColt]

I went to the range this morning with my favorite M29-3 and it turned in some good groups. Ten shots with 8 gr of Universal and the Lyman #429421 boolit turned in a 1 inch group c-c at ten yards with ten rounds. I had to beagle this mold as it wasn't dropping boolits large enough for the throat of this revolver but after beagling they came out .435" and were resized to .432"(throat diameter).

Another group ran 1 3/4" c-c with 18 shots using 11 gr of HS-6 and the same boolit. I think these two loads will be keepers. I had loaded some with CCI300 primers and others with CCI350 primers. The magnum primers seem to have flattened a little more than the standard primers. I was surprised after returning the target to my stand that there was 2-3 small places on the paper target that had lube on it about the size of two pin heads. Lube was BAC. Why would that have happened and is it a sign of something? I don't recall that happening before. The cases were a little greasy but that didn't bother me.

Leading was all but non-existent, just a minor amount into the grooves that took nothing much to remove.

[44man]

The best is to have ALL the lube spin off at the exit at the muzzle. That keeps the boolit in balance.
The only other way is to keep ALL the lube in the grooves but that never happens evenly.
Some lube on the brass is common.
I have one revolver, the 45-70, that brass comes out so clean it never needs tumbled but that is not so with every other caliber.

[Shuz]

Leading was all but non-existent, just a minor amount into the grooves that took nothing much to remove.

I suggest you try some 2400, starting at 18.0g behind that boolit to see if the leading goes away.
In my experience, any minor leading I get with my revolvers using burning rates similar to Unique, will go away if I switch to a slower powder like 2400 or H-110/296 or WC820.

[bigboredad]

Like Shuz 2400 takes care of a lot of leading and with that bullet style I had really good results with 18.5gr. of 2400 and very pleasant to shoot. Unique works great in my .45 acp loads as does 231 but for revolvers I prefer slower powders one of them being they seem to not lead with my boolits

[ColColt]

I have tried 2400 not long back. A charge of 20 gr but there seemed to be a little sticky on extraction so I think I'll try again and drop back a grain or so. I didn't see an evidence of particularly flattened primers, just a little stiff on extraction. I'm sure it's just this particular revolver. Those two loads mentioned give a velocity around 1000-1100 fps which is where I like it. Full house loads for the 44 are pretty rough if you shoot 50 on the same range trip. Speer shows a 20 gr of 2400 max load as 1350 fps but that's through a 7 1/2" barrel and mine's a six incher so, probably about 1275-1300 fps. Hodgdon's data is about the same for the same bullet.

[44man]

I have tried 2400 not long back. A charge of 20 gr but there seemed to be a little sticky on extraction so I think I'll try again and drop back a grain or so. I didn't see an evidence of particularly flattened primers, just a little stiff on extraction. I'm sure it's just this particular revolver. Those two loads mentioned give a velocity around 1000-1100 fps which is where I like it. Full house loads for the 44 are pretty rough if you shoot 50 on the same range trip. Speer shows a 20 gr of 2400 max load as 1350 fps but that's through a 7 1/2" barrel and mine's a six incher so, probably about 1275-1300 fps. Hodgdon's data is about the same for the same bullet.

Primers mean nothing but stiff extraction must be avoided. Back off a little.

[9.3X62AL]

I've shifted to 2400 with plain-based boolits at high-end loadings for the reasons given by Shuz and others. It is a little slow and gritty in the 10mm, but zero leading and VERY consistent velocities.......just a little under "best efficiency". AA-7 is VERY hard to beat in the 10Gun, as is Blue Dot.

[Little Big Oz]

I've been working with 2400 and Blue Dot in a Super Blackhawk. I usually shoot loads using each of those powders at each trip to the range. I get some leading, but haven't so far tied it to either powder being worse than the other. Seems that I feel more recoil from the 2400 when the loads are at similar velocities, so I prefer the Blue Dot loads. Is 2400 less likely to lead my barrel than Blue Dot?

[songdog53]

I have used both 2400 and Blue Dot in my W's and have found i get best results from 2400 in accuracy but Blue Dot does well and haven't noticed any leading from either one. Only problem is the 2400 i am using is from really old batch i bought in bulk when local gunshot went out of business and leaves some gritty looking unburnt power in cylinders and barrel.

[Three44s]

I run my HS-6 with magnum primers. I also run all my metalics with inside deburred flash holes.

Hodgdon's #26 manual lists 250 gr. lead at a top load of 12 gr. with a pressure of just 24000 psi for HS-6.

You ain't gonna break anything with that in a magnum revolver.

As to lube on your target .......... you could change lube ...... soften your alloy just a bit or up your pressure ..........

I use 2400 and found loads ranging from a low of 17 or 17.5 gr with a magnum primer with "250 lead" and around 18 or 18.5 gr. switching to standard primers and going up to 20.5 or .6 working well.

I used to shoot with 21 gr. in my Smith MG but have backed off that.

If I care to max out ......... I go with H110 and magnum primers.

One thought on sticky cases ........

For cleaning purposes, I use on occasion JB or USP bore paste on a chamber mob. Lead away cloth cut into squares works well. If there is lead ....... I use the Chore Boy copper pad stuff first.

I use CorrosionX along with this as it's a cleaner and also permeates the metal to some extent.

After cleaning I dry the chambers and bore thoroughly and let the remaining CorrosionX dry in place. This way, if I get sticking I know it's not fouling related or augmented.

Best regards


Three 44s

[ColColt]

I run my HS-6 with magnum primers. I also run all my metalics with inside deburred flash holes.

The jury's still out on this for me. There's a fellow on the S&W forum that always uses magnum primers with this powder but, I've seen no data to quantify that need in current manuals. I do get a little unburned powder or perhaps just ash from it with 9 gr but no more than I get from 19-20 gr of 2400. I probably should use a BHN 11 or 12 with this load instead of 50-50 lead/Linotype. I'm still debating whether for me I should use magnum primers. I'm a CCI aficionado and that would mean 350 primers which I have little of these days.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I would be interested in hearing your load results at 25 & 50yds.

[ColColt]

HI,
I would be interested in hearing your load results at 25 & 50yds.

Are you serious? At 65 I'm lucky if I can see the rear end of a bull at 50 yards. However, I'm about to rectify that with a new gizmo for my glasses from Lyman. It's called a Shooters Eyeglass Diopter. Maybe I can try for 25 yards...maybe with it.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/sights/hawkeye.php

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Yes, I'm serious.
I am a piker, 44 man shoots at 100yds. for accuracy.

[MtGun44]

hawkeye works great for us "older" shooters. I used to keep a few in my shooting box
for sale because everybody would ask "What's that thing on your glasses?" They wanted
to buy one as soon as they tried it. Finally bought 5 and have sold them out, need to get
some more.

Bill

[ColColt]

HI,
Yes, I'm serious.
I am a piker, 44 man shoots at 100yds. for accuracy.

I was teasing a little when I said that. I can see fine for several hundred yards but, even in my 20's and 30's I was deadly with the rifle. I missed the company trophy in basic with the M14 by just two points...still qualified as expert but I sure wanted that trophy.

I'm probably as good or better today than I was then with a pistol or revolver-just don't see the target as crisp as I once did. Our indoor range is only 25 yards and I don't have access to the outside to shoot 50 yards, so....BTW, what's a piker?

Anyone shooting at 100 yards with a pistol must be doing it with a 2-4x scope. Using iron sights at that range my original statement about the bull stands.

[MtGun44]

I can regularly do 4" at 100 with iron sighted several pistols. Not getting easier as my eyes age,
but I did it last fall a couple times just to see if I could.

Nothing spectacular, but as a friend said "You wouldn't want to stand out there."

Bill

[44man]

I can regularly do 4" at 100 with iron sighted several pistols. Not getting easier as my eyes age,
but I did it last fall a couple times just to see if I could.

Nothing spectacular, but as a friend said "You wouldn't want to stand out there."

Bill

True, open sights are great when you have good vision. I used to!
Used to shoot Creedmore with my SBH and hit pop can after pop can at 100. When I shot IHMSA I could see the sights and target clear but now you need to point out the front sight.
Tried all kinds of scopes but don't like them and hate them for hunting.
I actually shoot smaller groups with an Ultra Dot but they don't like paper at 100 or more so I aim at a can or something 3 dimensional and catch boolit holes on paper.
All the group pictures I post are shot with a red dot.
The dot is getting fuzzy so I need new glasses. It is still the very best for deer.
Had a scope break on a big bore, 2X Swift. I put the replacement on my Mark II. I have shot squirrels with this gun to 60 yards with open sights but if I hit one with the scope I need to be on sandbags. I never wasted so many shots since I put it on!
You need to be a little warped if you can hit anything with a scope off hand. I would need a half bottle of Jack!

[ColColt]

Back when I had better eyesight and about 40 years younger I could hit a silhouette target at 300 meters with peep sights on a M14 all day. Anyone care to join me in a few bars of Precious Memories? I've never attempted to hit anything at 100 yards with a pistol but would still like to try., I'm always amazed watching Hickok45 and how with any pistol he rings those metal targets at what looks to be 70-80 yards-offhand, and he's probably as old as me. Like the old song, "some cats got it and some cats ain't".

[Whistler]

Last winter we did a 100m-200m-300m shoot on Grizzly targets. Firearms were by the IMSSU rules, very similar to IHMSA. We had three shooters hit all ten shots at the 300 meter targets. One used a Freedom Arms 353 with .357 Magnum using 215gn boolits. The other a T/C Contender .30-30. The third shooter had a sawn off Mauser M96 rifle in 6.5x55 made single shot.

All pics here (click)

Example (to the right you see the 100m targets, in the middle 200m and above the shooters right knee you see the 300m targets):