beginner relaoding for a .44

[SandSquid]

I inherited a single action Arminius .44 Magnum from my father. It may not be fancy or particularly valuable, but it is all I have, and I like to shoot it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=40598&d=1328669998

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=40597&d=1328669998

While rooting around his "man cave" I found about (300) .44-Magnum and (200) .44-Special brass and 4 boxes of Sierra "Power Jacket" .44Cal (.4295"dia.) 210Grain JHC

In another box I found a set of each of .44 Lee and Lyman Carbide 3 die sets.
I'm presuming one set was set-up for Special and the other for Magnum though they were not labeled in any way.

I purchased an RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme and decapped all 500 pieces of brass.

I have a borrowed tumbler, flash hole uniformer and primer pocket reamer, and got the brass all clean and ready to go.

I purchased a hand primer and primed all the cases.

Just got a jug of Hogdon Universal powder and am researching load data trying to figure up a nice light plinking load for the Special cases.



Oh, and this Friday I'm taking delivery of a Winchester 94 .44 lever action ;-)

[stubshaft]

Just remember to clean the copper fouling out when you decide to shoot real boolits.

[Dennis Eugene]

Congrats, and good on you. I bet your ole Dad is lookin' down and smilein'. Dennis

[SandSquid]

Just remember to clean the copper fouling out when you decide to shoot real boolits.

I did get (500) Match Grade 44Cal - 250 Grain SWC Keith style .430dia hard cast lead boolits...

You think I should load these up first?

[Blammer]

I'd load the jacketed ones.

Find a load book, pick a middle of the road powder charge for that bullet and powder and load up about 50 and go shooting.

[MtGun44]

Looks to be well cared for. You should start with one of the Keith designs, Lyman 429421,
H&G 503 or RCBS 44-250-K over 8 gr of Unique. Once you are comfortable with that, move
up to 10 gr Unique, which is probably all that most of us ever need. "Hard cast" is probably
counterproductive, definitely not needed. Straight air cooled wwts is fine. Start with NRA
50-50 conventional lube and experiment AFTER you have success, if you must.

It will run about 1050 with 10 gr, moderate, not punishing you or the gun. Many folks find
it to be superbly accurate, too.

Bill

[SandSquid]

You should start with one of the Keith designs, Lyman 429421, H&G 503 or RCBS 44-250-K over 8 gr of Unique.



I'm sorry, those numbers mean nothing to me yet, These are what I just got (500) of from rom http://magnusbullets.com/store/page7.html:

.44 Caliber-250 gr-SWC-KEITH STYLE- NO 709
http://magnusbullet.powweb.com/store/media/709

I saw "Keith Style" so I grabbed them.

Completely open to specific recommendations, (especially if they take paypal ;-)

Does anybody here sell their own cast boolits to feed their habit???

[mpbarry1]

Those numbers are bullet mold id's. You should just go shoot and reload for a while.

About a year from now you will be out shooting and some "friend" will invite you to the club to shoot some cowboy action. It will be a blast. Then you will be ordering thousands of those keith bullets.

One day your wife will kindly point out how much this new hobby is costing you.

Thats when you'll want to know what those bullet mold numbers are for.

One tip. Get your wife hooked on shooting before she figures out what it costs. :)

[Greg B.]

Another advantage of starting with those 1000 fps mid range loads is that it will probably get your gun on target at around 25 yds. Since your revolver appears (old eyes) to have fixed sights you can sometimes get it to group higher or lower by using a lighter or heavier load. When I first started with my Ruger Super Blackhawk I went with the lightest loads I could find. At 25 yds. it was shooting way high because the boolit was staying in the barrel longer and hence being effected by the upward movement of the pistol during recoil. Loads like the ones suggested got it back on paper.

Greg B.

[SandSquid]

One tip. Get your wife hooked on shooting before she figures out what it costs. :)

Wife is already a (4 times consecutive) State Champion in freestyle archery, I can't afford to have he start shooting powder-burners!!!!

[SandSquid]

Looks to be well cared for.

Indeed, it was his pride and joy, and now it's mine.


I want to ultimately load for hunting w/ the Winchester 94, assuming it's a reasonable expectation for at least 2" groups @ 100 yards? ( I could not hunt in good conscience at any less than that.)

[canyon-ghost]

I have a set of RCBS 44 special/44 magnum dies. The difference? The magnum case is about 1/8" longer! .030 to be exact.

That's it, no more or less, no voodoo.

If you want to keep that gun, and it good shape, go lead. You clean all the copper fouling out with regular solvent and then put her on a real diet of lead bullets and mineral spirits cleaner.
The jacketed will wear on the barrel more, lead is it's natural choice. You can load from 44 special loads all the way up through 44 magnum loads, just keep them light enough not to kick too hard. If the light loads want to build pressure and heat, just use a medium load that's most consistent.

[375RUGER]

The difference? The magnum case is about 1/8" longer! .030 to be exact.


.130" I think you meant to say.
.125" if my adding is correct.

[runfiverun]

do not ream the primer pockets
most of those reamers are for rifle pockets and you will be seating the pistol primers too deep.
and your gun may not fire them.
also you need to be careful with the flash hole uniforming tool, some of them will enlarge the hole.

[SandSquid]

do not ream the primer pockets
most of those reamers are for rifle pockets and you will be seating the pistol primers too deep. and your gun may not fire them.


Wish I knew that earlier.
Guess I'll just need to try them in the pistol and see...

They should be OK in the Winchester Lever action though, aye?

[Wayne Smith]

Wish I knew that earlier.
Guess I'll just need to try them in the pistol and see...

They should be OK in the Winchester Lever action though, aye?

Probably be alright in both. If you get some misfires you will know why!

[SandSquid]

Probably be alright in both. If you get some misfires you will know why!

If they don't go bang in the revolver, I'll just use them for plinking in the rifle.
(The irony of using the word "plinking" in reference to a .44 :twisted: )

[SandSquid]

So far all my .44 hand-loads have gone bang just fine in the single action revolver, the T/C, and the Winchester 1894 and my accuracy has never been better!

[44man]

All of he extra work is not needed for the revolver and the gun looks fine.
Shoot and refine. As you ask here you will find finesse to tighten groups.
Will you get to 1" at 50 yards, boy, I will never tell you no.

[wallenba]

When you get the bore nice and clean, learn how to slug the barrel and cylinder chambers. It's an easy thing to do, just search here for the how to, or ask. I say this so that you can know your groove diameters before you buy your sizing dies. That way you can get better range results. Also take care to seat the primers deep enough, or the cylinder will bind up.
Nice guns to learn on.

[shooting on a shoestring]

SandSquid, you're on the right track. Learn to load it. Shoot it. Alot.
My advice, please put it in the back of your mind for future reference, don't ever trade it off. Lots of folks have started with a gun, achieved some level of proficiency and then in a moment of poor judgement, traded it off for the next gun they thought they just had to have....only to find they really missed their first....and then spend years looking for something like it and never quiet getting there. Keep it. Load it. Shoot it. Remember your Dad and be happy.

[wallenba]

SandSquid, you're on the right track. Learn to load it. Shoot it. Alot.
My advice, please put it in the back of your mind for future reference, don't ever trade it off. Lots of folks have started with a gun, achieved some level of proficiency and then in a moment of poor judgement, traded it off for the next gun they thought they just had to have....only to find they really missed their first....and then spend years looking for something like it and never quiet getting there. Keep it. Load it. Shoot it. Remember your Dad and be happy.

That is oh-so true!

[SandSquid]

don't ever trade it off.

I've been unemployed, except for the occasional Temp. position, since I got home from Afghanistan in OCT of 2011, I've sold a lot of my weapons to pay the mortgage along the way, but selling that revolver has never been an option.


My youngest (12 year old) daughter has already laid claim to it. The first 6 rounds out, of it she put into the forehead of the target.
65340

I told her she can have the same deal I had with her grandpa; When I die, it's hers. Until then she can shoot it anytime she wants to.

[45sixgun]

Congrats on the gun. Love seeing your daughter getting into it. My daughters love shooting mine too. Between shooting, casting, and reloading you have many years of good times ahead...

[SandSquid]

Between shooting, casting, and reloading you have many years of good times ahead...

I have not gone down the casting route, and doubt I will, at least with my current state of unemployment.

Robert from Penn Bullets does a darned fine job for far less money than I could ever hope to recoup by purchasing all the needful bits and bobbles to do it myself. So, unless someone I know retires and donates his set-up to me, I run into an old newspaper mill with a ton of Linotype they want to pay me to haul away, or society completely breaks down and I resort to scavenging wheel weight off burned-out hulks on the now silent interstates, or I don't see it happening.


The next priority should any discretionary funds become available, is a couple of 22lr revolvers for my wife and 2 daughters to go plinking with.