Loads for Charter Arms .44 Bulldog?

[Rickk]

Can someone help me with some suggested loads for my 4" Bulldog? I have not loaded .44 spec for many years. Would like some light practice loads and something for Alaska woods carry.

[Dale53]

RickK;
I do not have a Charter Bulldog. However, I DO load for several .44 Specials. Recoil can be a problem with small, light revolvers and most recommend 200 gr bullets at a max of 800 fps for shooting comfort. That makes for a fine self defense gun against people but is definitely on the light side for some of the large animals you can run into in Alaska (Moose and Big Bear for two).

The "Skeeter" load we use in full size .44 Specials (S&W models 24 and 624 and Ruger .44 Lipsey Specials) for general field use is not too heavy for the Charter regarding pressure (Brian Pearce of the Handloader has pressure tested it at under 14,000 psi) but you may not like the recoil (7.5 grs of Unique behind a 240-250 gr Keith SWC). This is a dandy load in a full size revolver and pleasant to shoot. However, in the Charter it won't be pleasant.

In addition, it is by no means what I would recommend for a large bear. You might want to reconsider your choice of handgun for the Alaskan bush.

Just a thought or two...

Dale53

[S.R.Custom]

...The "Skeeter" load we use in full size .44 Specials... for general field use is not too heavy for the Charter regarding pressure ...but you may not like the recoil (7.5 grs of Unique behind a 240-250 gr Keith SWC). This is a dandy load in a full size revolver and pleasant to shoot. However, in the Charter it won't be pleasant.

I've done this as well as the Herco equivalent (8.2 grs under a 240 gr LSWC) with a .44 Bulldog Pug wrapped in a set of .38 boot grips. Can you say PAINFUL? Effective, though, and accurate for as long as you care to hang on.

[hamour]

I have loaded my bulldog both heavy and light using 240gr keith style SWC. Loaded heavy I could not get the bullets to stay in the cases. Recoil pulled them out and froze up the revolver.
Stay with a light load (beginning load) of unique or herco as previously stated. Reliability is king in a defensive revolver, then shot placement then power.

PS: Mihec just finished a brass cramer mold in H&G 503. He might have an extra or two laying around. Give him a shout via PM to check.
Cast this in its hollow point style out of fairly soft lead and you are good to go for human problems. Turn the pins around and cast some solid SWC for geneal field use.

[Bret4207]

IIRC I'm shooting 6.5 Unique with a 429421 currently. The book is out in the gunroom, but it seems to work fine. Some folks like the 200 gr better, but the 240's shoot better for me so far. I've used some of the 7.5 gr loads and some that were hotter with 2400. While unpleasant I didn't find the recoil to be unbearable, but the loads were too much for what I wanted.

[HeavyMetal]

When I got my 4inch target bulldog I trried a bunch of the lads the "special" guys in the mags had suggested.

In a light gun these were just way to much jumping around!

I played with a 429348 full wadcutter and Winchester WST found a real nice accurate load. I don't remember what it was so won't post a load.

If you can find an older Lyman cast boolit manual they used to show loads for this boolit in the 44 special section not sure if the current one does or not.