Mid Range 44 Magnum loads

[Thumbcocker]

6.5 of red dot under a Keith has been very good for me. Over 1000 shots per pound and accurate.

[Sven]

I was in the basement the other night getting out my .44 mag hunting loads and reviewed exactly what I was loading for my mid-range loads. I have been using 8.0 to 8.8 gr Universal for my mid-range .44 mag loads using 240 gr SJHPs and 250 gr. hardcast WFNs. I have used these loads even when wanting to use a revolver for my local club's action pistol matches. My 629 Mountain Gun has been what I've mostly carried whenever I go for a walk in the woods, so have wanted to do a little extra practice with it. My double taps are a bit slower and I have to reload every six rounds instead of every 10, bit I attend the action pistol matches to gain proficiency with what I carry, not to win matches.

[Wolfgang]

I again wish to thank everyone for their contributions. I wish I could say I have gotten out to try a few of the loads but it has been non stop putting the new blind up. We built the other one we have but my brother is so crippled up now that he can't climb the stairs to get into it and it sits about 13 or 14 feet up in the air at the floor. The new one he bought and I think is brand named "Shadow Hunter" is nice but weighs in at close to 500 pounds so it has been a bear to move around. Worked on that all weekend and then had to go a funeral for a close friend from high school who just lost his son in a car crash. I hope to get out and try some of you guys load suggestions soon but life has a way if getting in the way of your fun.

[429421Cowboy]

You will get out soon enough, it sucks that life has other plans though! Let us know how things work out for you!

As others have mentioned, Unique shines (in my eyes at least) at this roll, i use 9.5 gr and a Keith for my hunting load, my pound of 2400 languishes in a shelf now because i realised that twice the powder for another 200 fps and much sharper blast and recoil is hardly worth it! Plenty of critters died to the ol' 44-40 and such, with poorer boolit designs than we have today. No deer is gonna bounce a Keith off his chest at 900+ so why cook it out there any hotter than it needs to be? As others have stated, Promo or Red Dot is the most economical way to do it. If you are looking for lighter still, i load 5 gr or Bullseye in a Special case for something along the lines of a .45 acp performance, and they are super cheap too.

Take care, as soon as this snow lets up this afternoon i am headed out with my Ruger to try an get a doe for our school student food pantry!

[big dale]

Wolfgang: You might want to try about 9 grains of Herco with a Lee 240 grain semiwadcutter for a 41 magnum. It was my standard walking around load for my blackhawk for about 15 years. I liked it so much that after I got a 44 Super Blackhawk I started using Herco in it as well. Finaly settled on 11.5 grains and the Keith 240 grain boolit. Even after all these decades I still use more Herco than any other powder. I still like to shoot full mag loads once in a while, but most of my ordinary shooting loads involve Herco at 1000 to 1200 fps.

HJave fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[smkummer]

I'll add a vote for 9-9.5 grains Unique with the Keith 245 grain SWC bullet. Comfortable out of a SBH and even more so out of a Bisley SBH. Hits a 16" steel plate at 100 yards with ease from a rest. I agree with others as to not using double the amount of 2400 for 150-200 FPS gain when your acceptable accuracy range is limited with a handgun anyways.

[rromeo]

I load for .38, so I have Bullseye and W231 on hand. Is there any reason to try either of these? Unique looks like it will be my winner, but I'm always up for trying other things.

[Wolfgang]

Well gents I had the chance to get out yesterday and shoot a few rounds through the Chrony and get a feel for accuracy, at least at 25yards. All loads were using either a 250gr 429421 or a Lee HP mould that drops them 210grs with my alloy. The loads were assembled with H4227, 2400, and Unique and with the exception of some of the higher end 2400 loads, everything was running under 1200fps with the average being between 1050fps and 1150fps. I found that anything loaded with 2400 over 17grains was getting into more recoil than I cared for.

Two stand out loads were 9gr Unique with either bullet both were really accurate at 25 yards and both were a joy to shoot and the numbers ran as follows:
210gr HP- Ave-1143fps ES-24fps SD-12fps
250 Keith- Ave-1047fps ES-35fps SD-14fps

The next load that shot really well were the 16.5 grain loads of 2400 and I suppose not so surprising is that the speeds with both bullets were very nearly the same as with the above loads using 9 grains of Unique and I mean really close! A 17 grain load of 2400 pushed it up about 80fps and anything over 17 grains started to get into that obnoxious recoil and blast.

I was a little worried about dropping the power of my loads but then in looking at the numbers it dawned on me the even the mid range loads using the 250 grain bullet is still packing as much punch at 100 yards as a 45ACP has at the muzzle so there should be no issues unless I happen to run into that one whitetail that saved up all year and bought himself some body armor.

Thanks again for all of the advice and I think I will pick up a couple of pounds of different powders to play with later on when I have more time. I also noted that when the speeds got up over around 1150fps with the 210 grain bullet that I started to get some leading. I think that those narrow lube grooves are not holding enough lube and I start to outrun the lube I do have at those speeds.

Thanks to all,

Wolfgang

[Freischütz]

11 gr of Herco and 429421 works well for me.

[quasi]

I use 10 grs 231, any 240-265 grn Cast boolit I have cast at loading time.

[crabo]

12 grains of HS6 behind the H&G 503 for 1200 fps.

[9.3X62AL]

I've yet to fire a 5" Model 29, but have fired several each of 4" and 6" barrels. The subjective recoil of the 4" guns is vastly different from that of the 6" guns, and seems sharper and more straight-back than that of the 6" guns. I think Elmer Keith--the father of the 44 Magnum--said it best when he related that "1200 FPS is all you need" with his 240 grain SWC that bears his name. A 4" 29 firing full-tilt 240s running 1350-1400 FPS is no freakin' fun. In a Redhawk, mo' bettah--but still more than what's required to make venison with sideiron. The most-blooded firearm in my safe is an 1873 Winchester in 44-40 WCF that took muleys and blacktails into the hundred+ numbers range, and at least 2 black bears that my grandmother saw get kanked at the mountain ranch where my Dad was born. 200 grain bullets running 1100-1200 FPS from the carbine barrel leveled their karma mui pronto. If I want my hand beaten, I'll find an anvil and hammer.

[a.squibload]

Used to shoot 330 gn ww boolits thru my
2" 29 around 1400 fps, was't THAT bad.
It does have large grips.
Pretty sure it was 2400 but coulda been Unique,
would have to look it up.
I think heavier boolits take a little more time to
launch so less "whack" for your paws.

[4296]

I have use the following loads with the RCBS 250g Keith that run 1000 fps in 4" and 4 5/8" 44 magnum sixguns:


10g Unique

11g Herco

12g HS6

[digger44]

I use 6.4 Red Dot or 8 Unique under TL430-240 in my Ruger SBH. Fun and easy to shoot and still a good amount of punch.

[Sven]

Thanks again for all of the advice and I think I will pick up a couple of pounds of different powders to play with later on when I have more time. I also noted that when the speeds got up over around 1150fps with the 210 grain bullet that I started to get some leading. I think that those narrow lube grooves are not holding enough lube and I start to outrun the lube I do have at those speeds.

Thanks to all,

Wolfgang

FYI, I run a Lyman 429215 cast with wheelweights up to about 1200+fps to match recoil of the Winchester 210 gr Silvertip factory load. No leading (it IS gas checked) and gives a nice, pleasently stout recoil.

[dakota]

Back when I shot my 44 a lot, I used 10 grains of Unique with 240 grain Keith (or Thompson) cast, I had plain base and gas check. They were pleasant to shoot. I just bought S&W 29 and plan on going back to that load. I also had an 8 pounder of 5744 and I shot that up with mid-range loads in the 44. Can't remember the charge though.

[Old School Big Bore]

I have decades of shooting 4" M29, 3" & 4" Bulldog, 7.5" SBH, and several .44 rifles. When I was developing a duty load for the M29, Unique worked the best in the 4" guns, and my go-to duty load for that M29 right now today as in I'll go on at 4 PM, is the Speer 225 gr JSWCHP over 10.0 of Unique. I used the same Lee 210 you're casting as the practice boolit for that load; my two DC molds and my HP mold drop that boolit at 215 from straight COWW. One year I used that duty load in that M29 to take the 'South Texas Slam', a javelina, a coyote and a whitetail. All were hit through the heart and lungs, and none took a single step after the shot. At the time I developed it, I was using the SBH to shoot IHMSA with a Keith over 11.0 of Unique which gave me tolerable recoil for the 40 round match and took the rams over NO PROB. By the way, Jerry Miculek notes his favorite .44 load is identical to my duty round; I wonder if he could talk Speer into not dropping that great bullet...
When you go to shop for the additional powders for experimentation, consider including Herco, it's another great powder for midrange applications in several calibers including your .41 Mag. I've been dipping into an 8 pounder of it for those loads because my supply of Unique is running low and there's none around here.
Good luck with your big-bores.
Ed

[Tristan]

I worked from 8 to 10 grs. Unique under a commercial cast 240 SWC lit by a Winchester LP, and the 10 gr. load ended up being the most accurate; it is a mild load, but not a wimp by any measure. A good, moderate load.