First load of .44 Mag, Vita 3N37

[Drai29]

Hello, I fulfilled a dream and treated myself to a .44 Mag, S&W 629-3 (6 inch).

Can someone help me with loading data?

The following components are available:
Keith bullet from the Lyman 429421 mold.
I have Vitavhouri 3N37 powder.

How would Elmer Keith put together his typical three loads with this powder? Or what do you recommend for me?

[wilecoyote]

from Viht. Reloading Manual, 3rd ed._

[rsrocket1]

wilecoyote's data page using 240g bullets corresponds almost exactly with Quickload and the Lyman 245g cast bullet.

11.6g gets you 1186fps with a peak pressure of 29,300 psi and 13.2g gets you 1303 fps but the peak pressure is above the max limit at 39,543. I'd back off and keep the max load below 12.6g to stay below 36kpsi (1260 fps). No need to punish your hands and risk stretching the frame with excessively powerful loads.

I have a 9.5" Ruger Super Redhawk and while it's fun to push the envelope with heavy loads once in a while, it's not something smart to do on a regular basis.

Also try some "44 special" loads with faster powders. You can load 44 mag cases with 44 special loads and upping the charge by a couple 10ths of a grain to make up the volume difference. For instance 5.5g Red Dot will drive that bullet 900 fps and give you the recoil of a 45ACP 1911. You can have a lot of fun with those loads.

[wilecoyote]

...wise words above from rsrocket1_
I have a pair of old 29s but, unlike Mr. Keith, if I stress them unnecessarily, even less if I blow them, they won't give me more. not even some spare parts_
my scoped 9,5" SRH can withstand more, but I'm here for fun, not for self-sacrifice_
unfortunately the 3n37 is not present in my .44spl. viht. tables, but if interested I can post what I have, anyway_

[Drai29]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll try to test some loads. If I don't forget, I'll post the results here.

[Kosh75287]

Since 3N37 seems to work fine with standard LPPs, I might be inclined to drop below the 11.6/3N37/245 gr. starting load, by 0.5 gr. This may afford you a more pleasant, nonetheless quite potent round for general use. There ARE better propellants out there for creating .44 Spl.-class loads in .44 Magnum cases, but I would THINK that a 4.3% reduction below minimum/starting would not give rise to any ignition problems.
If you can lay your hands on any, Alliant Unique, BE-86, or Herco make SPLENDID propellants for "warm" .44 Spl. loads. The historic Keith-Skelton 7.5/Unique/245 gr. LSWC load, in .44 Spl. cases, has been something of a "standard" for .44 reloaders for years. Using .44 Magnum cases, you may need to bump up the charge weight a little, but you'll get good results otherwise.

[Bazoo]

Howdy, welcome to CB.GL. I'm interested to see how it does. Thanks for sharing.

[Drai29]

Now it took longer than planned until I could cast the bullets.

The bullets are cast from Lyman 429421.

Starting load was 11 grain. I then went to 11.9 grains in 0.3 grain increments.

I also tested a light load of 10 grains.

All loads were comfortable to shoot.

See for yourself...

The distance was 25 meter, standing, hands-free.