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View Full Version : Cowboy loads for 44mag rifle and pistol using Unique



Four Fingers of Death
07-16-2005, 06:16 AM
Picked up some of this powder today, haven't been able to get it for yonks. Need to load up some 240Gn SWC or RNFP for a shoot next weekend. Forgot to get a load handout with the powder. Any ideas?

drinks
07-16-2005, 11:28 AM
The usual load is 7 or 8 gr of Unique or Universal.
In a 20" barrel this should give 1000-1100fps., just under factory loads.
Don

Four Fingers of Death
07-20-2005, 07:39 AM
I have been splitting cases like mad lately after trying a too-light load, so I ordered 200 new brass. They arrived today. I will try your loads tomorrow. Mick.

Four Fingers of Death
07-24-2005, 06:31 AM
Worked best in my NM Super Blackhawk. Didn't get a chance to test it in the old Vaquero. Used the 231 load I had tried in the Rossi carbine. Got the round muddled up and shot the 231 load (11Gns doing 1125odd fps) in my revolvers. Had everybody running for cover put a big dent in one target and knocked another over. Talk about making an entrance! Whoops! I will have to get some serious range time in. The real star of the day was the cheap Rossi 357 that I bought. I just grabbed some 38Special PPC level loads with SWCs and it performed like a champ! Loaded throught the mag tube al a 22 rifle got a lot of attention at the range and simplified things somewhat. I kinda like it. I'll have to stop paying out on the 38/357 shooters with what I've been calling sissy guns.

Throckmorton
07-28-2005, 10:44 AM
I only have limited data this morning in the house but 11 grains of w231 seems WAY over a max. load.If you dent a steel target then SOMETHING IS WRONG,imho.
Please check your data and correct me if wrong but it is way more load than I can find so far.

leverfan
07-28-2005, 05:19 PM
Mick-

Since you're talking about 231 in the 44 mags, you weren't over Winchester's stated maximum for a 240 grain lead bullet. Right at max, but not over!

Now, your velocity was another story. That 231 load likely put you 200 or 300 feet per second over maximum velocity for cowboy action pistol loads. Some clubs will also fine you or disqualify you for denting their steel, too.

Your velocity, with a lead bullet, shouldn't really have done that much damage, though, unless your club is shooting at some pretty soft steel. They should be using armor quality steel, to avoid dents and craters that splash lead spatters all over everyone. It's no fun picking those out of your exposed skin. There's a fellow over on the SASS wire that took a bounce back in the scrotum. He said it hurt pretty bad.

Four Fingers of Death
07-29-2005, 05:13 AM
I only have limited data this morning in the house but 11 grains of w231 seems WAY over a max. load.If you dent a steel target then SOMETHING IS WRONG,imho.
Please check your data and correct me if wrong but it is way more load than I can find so far.

It was one of the loads out of the Winchester Reloading manuals. They say it should do 1125 or 1185 fps from memory. Snappy, but nowhere as snappy and their recommended load for 296. Hit the loud switch on one of those suckers and you know your firing a handgun. Shoot them on a cold morning and it feels like getting the cane at school.

Golleee! :)

Griff
07-29-2005, 05:05 PM
Here's what Winch. sez in their new on-line reloading manual for 231:
240gr lead SWC: 231 Max 11.0 gr 1285fps 38,000cup.
For Unique:
Fed. 150 Unique 11.8 1,255 35,000

Dick Dastardly
07-30-2005, 11:16 PM
I'm new here, but I didn't see much in the line of information about shooting Black Powder in the fine Browning 92 44 Magnum.

Turns out, this is a fine case and caliber as well as a very well chosen gun for shooting Black Powder cartridges, especially in main match CAS events. There is a bullet designed specifically for this rifle, powder and caliber combination that allows two day match shooting without loss of accuracy or function due to fouling. That bullet is the Mav Dutchman. It weighs in at 200 grains and hauls five times the amount of bullet lube as the nearest competitor.

I've been marketing these molds for around a year now and many hundreds are sold. Pards around the globe are reporting exactly what I've said above.

Like I said, I'm new here, but there is much to be said. I'll take it in small bites.

Yer Pard,

Dick Dastardly

leverfan
07-31-2005, 03:31 AM
DD-

The only reason I didn't recommend that load combo to Mick is because he's in Australia, and I don't know how hard it would be for him to get all those goodies together. I just got another EMF '92 from Nate Kiowa Jones, and it's waaay slicker than the stock factory Rossi rifles. It's in 44 Russian Extra Long, same as my Vaqueros, and I got my Mav Dutchman mould from you earlier this year. I'm using 32 grains of FFFg Goex right now, but I'm thinking of switching to Swiss. I'm hoping that Swiss would give me a few more fps out of my 40-65, and maybe burn cleaner in my other guns than Goex. It's just hard to come by a Swiss dealer near me, so I've got to go ahead and order some.