Mild 240 grain .44 Magnum loads?

[Divil]

Hello,

I am considering getting a Redhawk .44 Magnum. Probably a 4.2 Barrel version. Shorter barrel revolvers balance better for me. If I want rip snorting full power loads I will use factory JSP or JHP rounds. I will use those sparingly since I am not keen on beating myself up too much.

I am looking to have 2 or 3 cast boolit and 1 plated pill load(s) in the 950-1100 fps range. Enjoyable range loads that let me know I am shooting a big bore revolver but nothing too punishing. Something more than my .44 Special loadings. I have a dedicated .44 Special revolver that uses and is sighted in for 210-220 grain loadings. I intend to use all loads featuring 240 grain boolits in .44 magnum brass so nothing gets confused with my .44 special loads.

Any .44 Magnum load recommendations for a 240 grain boolit at 950-1100 fps?

Thanks,
Divil

[Maven]

You can try 7.5 - 8.0gr. Unique with CB's of that weight. I use those charges with both Lyman and RCBS Keith CB's in my Ruger SBH, but with a 10.5" bbl. and they are quite comfortable with the factory grips.

[kingrj]

8 grains of WW231 (aka HP-38) has worked great for me for 40 years...my favorite wandering around load in 4" M629...

[Targa]

I use Win 231/HP38 and Universal for my lighter .44mags.

[Ed_Shot]

+1 for Unique 7.5 gr. Also really like Red Dot/Promo 6.0 gr. under a 200 gr. ~ 250 gr. boolit in a 44 Mag case.

[black mamba]

9.5 grains of Longshot under a 240 lswc @ 1.61" gives about 1020 fps in my 4" 29-2 with great accuracy. Same bullet over 9.2 gr. of Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol gives about 1050 fps with one ragged hole at 20 yards.

[Thumbcocker]

6.0 to 6.5 of red dot or promo with a 240-250 grain boolit.

[farmbif]

10.5-11 grains be-86 ive found works real well for a mild load.
but as others have stated above there are lots of options for such a load

[Soundguy]

Trailboss will get you 830-917
Titegroup will get you 800-1280

I load both under a lrn or a lswc 240 grn. the trailboss is more a pleasure to shoot.. but a mid load of titegroup puts you right in the middle of where you want to be.. just a bit snappier..

[JoeJames]

I normally shoot 44 Special loads in my Ruger BH which is chambered for 44 Special - 240 grain swc over 6.8 grains of Unique. But my Rossi 92 will not feed 44 Specials; so for 44 Magnum I upped it by @10% and in the 16' Rossi 240 grain home cast Lee .430 240 sits over 7 grains of Unique, 44 Magnum case, and it runs about 1050 fps in the Rossi. Nice, accurate, and pleasant to shoot.

[375supermag]

FWIW...
I shoot a lot of mid range .44Magnum loads through several revolvers and a Marlin lever action rifle.
I find that 10.0 grs of Unique with a commercial cast coated 240gr LSWC is an accurate load for general purpose/target/plinking at steel plates and targets of opportunity like tin cans, plastic bottles, etc.
That load has some authority on the receiving end but does not bother my 67 year old wrist, yet lets me experience the power of a big bore revolver. I can shoot as many rounds as I wish without any pain in my hands or wrists...typically about 20 rounds each out of five different revolvers and a couple dozen or so out of my lever action rifle on any given range trip.

[Larry Gibson]

Out of my 4" Anaconda 8.5 gr Unique under a 240 gr commercial cast or the Lee 429-240-SWC runs 815 and 830 fps. It is a very pleasant load to shoot besides being quite accurate.

[Outpost75]

Cross-Posted by Permission from The Fouling Shot

Tales from the Back Creek Diary - Bullseye Powder .44 Magnum “Medium” Velocity Loads


Soft, plain based, bullets and fast-burning powders provide economy and utility.

A firearm does not need to be operated at “full power” any more than any other machine. It is true that some people still believe that if you own a .44 Magnum and reload for it, you must be able to feel the heat on your face every time you pull the trigger, as your hand stings and your ears ring. But this is nonsense, of course. Less power loads are fine for recreation and most field shooting. They indeed have their place. My friends and I probably shoot 100 rounds of “medium velocity” loads for every dinosaur killer. Few reloading manuals list loads for the .44 Magnum other than hand busters. Experienced reloaders successfully improvise, but less intrepid, practical shooters are frustrated.

The so-called “medium velocity” load is subsonic when fired in from a typical revolver. It also does not exceed the leading threshold of about 1300-1400 fps., when a soft, plain-based bullet is fired from a rifle. Remington offered marketed exactly such a .44 Magnum load for a short time during the early to mid 1980s. It was intended for the police market, as a counterpart in .44 Magnum, to the similar lead bullet .41 Magnum police load, which has also, unfortunately been discontinued.

Remington’s .44 Magnum Medium Velocity load offering used a flat-nosed, 240-grain, plain- based, swaged lead bullet with two cannelures, resembling an elongated .44-40 slug. Its shape mimicked today’s “Cowboy Loads” having a catalog velocity of 1000 f.p.s. from a 4-inch vented test barrel, simulating revolver conditions.

These ballistics approximate those of the original 1873 black powder .45 Colt service cartridge, when fired from a 7-1/2 inch barrel. This is hardly today’s “mouse-fart” cowboy load, but stout stuff like they used to kill buffalo and shoot Indians. For today’s hand loader the greatest economy is realized by being able to exploit plain-based cast bullets, using the least expensive, soft scrap alloy, such as wheel weights or common scrap, with faster-burning pistol or shotgun powders which provide twice as many rounds per pound, as the slow-burners normally used for full power .44 Magnum loads.

Lyman’s Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition lists .44 Magnum charges with using fast-burning powders, but their starting loads, while useful in revolvers, often exceed the leading threshold of plain based bullets, when fired in a rifle. Newer powders such as Titegroup or Trail Boss are listed, but my favorite, Bullseye was not. Be careful in reducing slower burners, such as #2400, because ballistic uniformity is impaired if you go below about 16 grains in the .44 Magnum case with 240-gr. bullet.

What follows is my listing of loads which “work” and are well proven. I hope this shortens your learning curve and that they work as well for you as they do for me.

Medium Velocity Loads for .44 Mag., 265-gr. Saeco #441, BHN11, unsized .433”, LLA

Case, Primer and________Velocity____Velocity_____Five, 5-shot Groups* @ 50 yds. H&R
Charge Weight________5-1/2” RBH___H&R 22”*____Largest___Smallest__Average

Starline .44 SPECIAL - WLP

5.2Bullseye, RCBS LD#10__782, 10Sd___940, 9 Sd_____3.0______1.9____2.46

Remington .44 Mag. WLP

6.0 Bullseye, LD#11______774, 36Sd____983, 49Sd____2.5______1.9____2.24
6.6 Bullseye, LD#12______948, 13Sd____1141, 9Sd____2.5______1.4____1.94
7.8 Bullseye, LD#14_____1017, 11Sd____1233, 10Sd___2.5______1.2____1.88

Remington .44 Mag. WLP, Remington 240-gr. Semi-Jacketed HP

8.4 Bullseye, LD#15_____1033, 11Sd____1197, 15Sd___2.2______1.2____1.76

[JoeJames]

Out of my 4" Anaconda 8.5 gr Unique under a 240 gr commercial cast or the Lee 429-240-SWC runs 815 and 830 fps. It is a very pleasant load to shoot besides being quite accurate.That is a very good example of why a chronograph is as handy as a pocket on a shirt.

[Divil]

Thanks for the input guys. Seems I need to reserve my Unique for the .44 Magnum. Ditto for the limited amount of Trailboss. Wish I still had Universal, that stuff has totally vanished locally.

[onlybrowning]

Thanks for the input guys. Seems I need to reserve my Unique for the .44 Magnum. Ditto for the limited amount of Trailboss. Wish I still had Universal, that stuff has totally vanished locally.

Would love to find more Unique . I agree with all the above and have shot many 240 swc over 8, 9, and 10 grains.


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[Jack Stanley]

I haven't used Bullseye with 240 grain bullets but I probably will when I run out of Unique .

Currently I use from 8.5 to 9.0 grains of Unique for lead and ten grains for a jacketed bullets .

Jack

[derek45]

unique
w231
universal
CFE-p
HS-6

[MT Gianni]

6.5 gr Red Dot works here and Red Dot works in almost anything.

[vernm]

I find that IMR 4227 gives me plenty of umpf, but seems softer shooting than say H110.
Maybe I like it just because I bought 8lbs cheap a few years ago.

[todd9.3x57]

i have a ruger sbh with a 4 3/8" barrel and i use either a 44 spl with 250gr penta hp/7.5gr of unique or the 44 mag with 280gr wfn gc/10.0gr of unique (my deer load). i guesstimate is the 44 spl is going 900-1000fps and the 44 mag is around 1000-1100fps. i should use my chrony, but i don't.

[dla]

I know from experience that 6.5gr of Clays or TiteGroup behind a 240gr lswc will yield 900'ish fps from a 4" barrel.

[AlaskaMike]

Power pistol and BE86 are excellent for loads like this. Accurate #5 and 7 should work well too.

[Three44s]

I go with 8.5 gr of Unique in magnum brass.

Next step and the best: 11.8 to 12 gr of HS 6 behind the RCBS 250 K lit with a magnum primer

HS 6 meters far better than Unique, once the measure is set, I only check charges periodically. My 4” Smith runs 1066 FPS and a SD of just 7 FPS. In my 7.5” Redhawk I get 1176 FPS with 15 FPS SD.

Plenty of power for most work and recoil that is hardly excessive.

My drop dead favorite packing load!

Three44s

[Cosmic_Charlie]

12 grains of HS-6 under a 240 grain boolit make for a great all around load. Not punishing and has worked well for me in the SBH and Henry single shot.

[45DUDE]

When I had a 2.5x7 Burris scope on my long barrel 29-2 18.5 of 2400 was hard to beat with a lead 240.

[rintinglen]

9.5 grains of Longshot under a 240 lswc @ 1.61" gives about 1020 fps in my 4" 29-2 with great accuracy. Same bullet over 9.2 gr. of Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol gives about 1050 fps with one ragged hole at 20 yards.

I have had encouraging results with this load in my Redhawk. I have not run it over a chronograph yet but it groups well, ~2" at 25 yards in my first outing with it and recoil is very manageable.

[Rich/WIS]

When I still had my 6.5" M29 liked 8 grs of Unique with the RCBS 44-250KT. Very accurate and pleasant shooting.

[meh]

Thanks for the input guys. Seems I need to reserve my Unique for the .44 Magnum. Ditto for the limited amount of Trailboss. Wish I still had Universal, that stuff has totally vanished locally.

Universal has vanished online, it seems. Some powders show up from time to time and then sell out, but Universal hasn’t been one of them, at least that I have seen.