Trifocals
06-30-2009, 12:55 PM
Some years in the past, I owned a Ruger .44 mag carbine that would not produce better than 3" - 4" 100yd groups, in spite of all the "accurizing" tweaks I tried. In desperation, I sent the barreled action to a noted gunsmith to have the rifling lead taper reamed. After that tweak the rifle acted more like it wanted to shoot. At that time I had a huge assortment of .44 "J" bullets I had purchased from a shooter who needed college money. I was also fortunate to have a wide assortment of powders suitable for the .44 mag.. Without going into a lengthy, boring dissertation, I tried many different powder/bullet combinations. One powder always seemed to stand out accuracy wise, 4227. I finally settled on a 4227 load that gave minute of angle groups, consistently. Several years ago I began loading for several .44 mag. revolvers with the same results. 4227 powder produced better groups. I have never chronographed any of my loads. By the books my velocities with 4227 are probably slower that loads with 110 or 296 powders, but does a critter know that? Recently I've been reading that Hodgdon's Li'l Gun powder is outstanding in the .44 mag. I have some on hand, but as yet haven't tried it. Have any of you .44 mag fans tried Li'l Gun in the .44 mag., and if so what are your findings?