429383 and Win 231 in a 44 Mag Case?

[Lizard333]

I was wondering if anyone uses Win 231 in your 44 mag cases with the 429383? I am currently using 9 grains of HS-6, but only have a couple of pounds of this powder left, but I a have 18 pounds of 231. None of my reloading manuals call for 231. The 44 S&W load calls for 4.6 to 5.7, but that is a shorter case. I know the 44 mag is normally loaded pretty hot, but I am just looking for nice plinking load.

Any help is appreciated!! Thanks!

[GRUMPA]

Well I looked in my Winchester books and the lowest they list is just over 11gr of the 231 but they move at over 1200FPS, no slow loads listed. If you have any BE I put in 4.5-5gr of that topped with 1gr Dacron for the real mild loads.

[felix]

I've shot 8 grains 231 with the Keith boolit quite a lot back in the old days. Accurate, but with a little too much recoil for me in the revolters. If that 383 boolit you have is around 240-260 grains, I would not worry about the load using 231. I would drop the load to 7 grains for starters and see if the results are satisfactory for your purpose. ... felix

[Lizard333]

Thanks for the replies Matt and Felix. I'll try 7 grains and go from there.

Shooting today was a bust, as it was 30 degrees with 20 miles an hour sustained winds. I would have wore pants if I knew it was going to be that cold.

[runfiverun]

231 is a pretty flexible powder you should have no problems from 5-9 grains in the 44 mag with a 240-260 gr boolit.

knowin it's cold here is easy [no guess work involved] i just look outsde,all the white stuff on the ground is the first clue.

[Lizard333]

We only got about half an inch of snow. Thought what the heck. I got a new scout rifle Wednesday, and I wanted to try it out. 7 shots was all I was able to get before the cold was simply unbearable. Nice thing was I hit my steel plate all seven times from off hand at 160 yards. Not a total loss after all. :)

[GRUMPA]

Here it's been throwing white stuff off and on all day, sux when your on solar power.

[Thumbcocker]

IIRC 6 grns is supposed to be a good plinking load with a 240-250 grn boolit.

[bumpo628]

There is data for a 240 grain lead SWC on the Hodgdon reloading center:
Bullet Weight (Gr.) Manufacturer Powder Bullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure
240 GR. LSWC CAST Winchester 231 .430" 1.620" 5.5 800 12,000 CUP 11.0 1334 38,100 CUP
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

So, min is 5.5 and max is 11.0

[rintinglen]

I've shot some 8 grain WW-231 under the 429-383. Very accurate in my SBH Hunter, but less so in my Redhawk. (Which has me scratching my head--normally the Redhawk shoots welll with what the SBH likes...)

[44man]

I shoot a 245 gr boolit with 6.5 to 7 gr of 231. Very pleasant and accurate.
There is no need to go higher.

[MakeMineA10mm]

My two favorite loads in this combination are:

5.5-5.6grs W231 with 225-270gr boolet for a 44 Special-equivalent--VERY comfortable/pleasant to shoot.

7.5grs W231 with my 267gr Hvy Keith SWC, which gives about 850fps from 5-6" barrels and is easy-recoiling enough to shoot all day, while being powerful enough for most uses.

A little-discussed characteristic of W231 in this application, is once you get above 8.0-8.4grs, recoil and muzzle blast become sharp - yes, more like a 44 Magnum ( :) ), but IMO W231 is not a good fit if you want velocities over 1000 fps. Time to switch to a slower powder there, but for easy-shooting, 44 Special-like loads, W231 is great!