Why use .44 Special brass in a .44 Mag revolver?

[ghh3rd]

What is the advantage of loading .44 Special for plinking, rather than using .44
Mag brass and choosing a boolit/powder combination that will let you step down to plinking power?

Thanks,

Randy

[runfiverun]

none except to keep the loads separate,unless you use different boolits like i do.
still shoot special brass in mine though with a third load.
the smaller case is more efficient with the lighter loads.

[Zim]

random thoughts
Rifle shooters want the bullet seated in the lands for accuracy. Not going to happen for a revolver.
If the bullet has a long nose, you might not be able to crimp it in the crimp groove and still shoot it. Depends on your cylinder length.
For reduced loads you can also seat it deep and crimp over the forward driving band. Good for Keith designs. Won't work for ogival wad cutters or some RN designs.

Some don't reload, so commercial 44 specials are their ready answer.

Different arguements depending on your goals.

[Ricochet]

For me, the main arguments for using Special cases are immediate visual recognition of a mild load, and being able to use them in both my Bulldog and SBH. The argument for using the mild loads in Magnum brass is that fouling builds up in the chambers ahead of the Special case mouths. Switch to firing Magnums without cleaning, and extraction gets hard.

[Rocky Raab]

With the component situation being what it is, you "load what you got." It's a lot easier to load the Special brass as is than to stretch it to Magnum length!

Seriously, though - the differentiation of loads is the key. Mild loads ONLY in the Special brass, boomer loads in the Mangle'um length.

It is fine to load light loads in the big cases, but it's a serious mistake to juice the Special cases,. No matter how well you think you know which is which, or how well you think you mark the boxes, there is simply too much risk that somebody ELSE will come along and try to shoot the hot loads in a gun that isn't capable of containing the pressure.

[beagle]

Only if you happened to pick up a thousand rounds of once fired .44 Special like I did once at a steal./beagle

[Recluse]

Simple for me: The 44 Special is probably my all-time favorite caliber to load and shoot, while the 44 Magnum ranks quite a bit lower. And, the older I get, the less I like punishing myself (or my guns) with a steady diet of magnum-power loads in any of the magnum calibers.

:coffee:

[Ricochet]

Seriously, though - the differentiation of loads is the key. Mild loads ONLY in the Special brass, boomer loads in the Mangle'um length.

It is fine to load light loads in the big cases, but it's a serious mistake to juice the Special cases,. No matter how well you think you know which is which, or how well you think you mark the boxes, there is simply too much risk that somebody ELSE will come along and try to shoot the hot loads in a gun that isn't capable of containing the pressure.
Doesn't take someone else to do it. I used to load Specials with Speer 240 grain LSWC at a fairly mild level (6.3 grains Unique IIRC) for my Bulldog, and shot those in my SBH as well. The Magnums usually got a 240 grain Winchester LSWCGC on top of 25 grains of 296. The problem came in when I decided to load some Specials with 8.0 grains of Unique, and thought that using the Winchester LSWCGC bullet would remind me they were loaded too hot for the Bulldog, but dadburn if those bullets don't look a lot alike! I loaded up the Bulldog, shot it with that (with the original walnut grips on, before the Pachmayrs), and instantly knew my mistake! Didn't hurt the Bulldog, which I think could shoot quite a few of those above-standard loads without problems, but it sure made my palm smart! I listened to it and quit loading warmed-up Specials. Anything that goes in my Special cases is something I'll put in my Bulldog.

[nonferrous]

I have bags of .44 Magnum brass and not so many .44 Special. I have Magnum load recipe's that are milder than Special loads to use for target.
I guess if keeping the target loads seperate from the full house jobs is a problem, they would have to be marked.

[malpaismike]

Hello the camp! IMHO, Ricochet and Recluse have the skinny: .44spl is my favorite hg cartridge; over the years I have owned 6 Colts so chambered; my new Smoke Wagons are .44-40, for my current bp shooting, but have .44spl cylinders fitted to them for when I want to shoot smokeless (club matches; saves the bp stash). Short case marks lighter load; I use the same 200gr lrnfp, but 5gr spl and 7gr mag of HP38; thus, you get almost 40% more loads per lb w/ spl. See ya round the campfire. mm