S&W 629 loads

[crabo]

I am interested in working up what would be a 200 yard silhouette load for my S&W PC 629. I would like a load and boolit that would have good long range accuracy, and not beat my gun to death.

Anyone have any good suggestions on where to start? I don't know if I will ever shoot silhouette with it, but I had so much fun shooting this gun at a 12" square plate at 150 meters, I want to see what I can do with it.

Thanks,

Crabo

[Lloyd Smale]

429421 or a 240 rcbs swcgc and 20 grains of 2400. Both bullets fly well at long range'

[wonderwolf]

same 429431 bullet but with 10gr of unique work well in my 4",6",8 3/8" and 10" S&W .44 mags. I don't think it has enough umph to know the ram down at 200 but it is accurate at 200 yards as I've shot on the practice ram at our range a lot with it.

[rugerdude]

I use either a Lyman 429421 or RCBS 44-250-K over 20.5 grains of 2400 in my Ruger Bisley. Both loads are more accurate than I am, even "way out there", and 2400 doesn't seem to have as sharp a recoil as some of the other "magnum" powders.

[ebner glocken]

A load that has worked well for me through the model 29s is 24.0 grains of ww-296 behind a 240 or 250 grain swc. The non gas check ones lead a bit more.....whatever your personal prefrence is. One of the most accurate loads I have shot is a sierra 240 JHC with 24.0 of 296 in the S&W and bump it up .2 grains in the rugers.

Ebner

[dubber123]

429421 or a 240 rcbs swcgc and 20 grains of 2400. Both bullets fly well at long range'

I sure agree, Lloyd talked me into trying this out of my 4" 629, and so far it has out shot any others. I used an old square lube 429421 mould.

[MtGun44]

Trust Elmer. 429421 sq groove is sometimes a bit better, but I have had
good results with rd grv. Do not use magnum primers, Win is nearly magnum
and either will cause fliers. New, matched headstamp brass - I buy Starline
for my serious loads. Use Redding crimp die as separate operation. New
Hornady dies support the boolit straight into the case. Trim brass to consistent
length even if new for consistent crimp, critical to LR accy.

Sort out outlier bullet wts, make sure the boolit is .001" larger than cyl throat
and cyl throats are larger than groove diam of bbl or you are spinning your
wheels working on good loads. Try 19, 20 and 21 gr 2400. 10 shot groups
at minimum 50 yds for final testing. 25yd testing is essentially a waste of
time if you are trying for a best accy 200 yd load.

Good luck. Plenty of variables, but follow the above and you will be real close.
For jacketed, try Horn 300 JHP and 1000 fps worth of H4227, std primer.

Do not ignore the revolver dimensional issues, these are important if you
are serious about long range accy. Read the sticky on revolver accy.

Bill

PS RCBS 250 Keith is a really good version, too. One of the best if you are looking
for an off the shelf mold, but recent Lyman 429421s are coming with sq grooves
again.

[fourarmed]

Most of the people I know who are shooting .44s in silhouette have gone to 300 grain bullets, at least for the rams. The 240s have a tendency to wander between 150 and 200 meters. Not saying you can't do it with lighter bullets, but it can be frustrating. I use a .41 Dan Wesson, and the 210-220 bullets work pretty well to 150, but the 265 grainers are much easier to get to group on the rams.

[Randall]

I have been using a Lyman 280 grain 444 marlin bullet that carries well.