HP-38 or CFE Pistol for Light 44 special Loads from Rossi 92

I have a Rossi 92 44/Special/44 Magnum with a 16 inch barrel that I bought several Months ago.
The Carbine functions fine with HSM 44 Special 240 grain Semi-Wadcutter Ammo.

I bought some HP-38 and some CFE Pistol powder as I could not find any Universal Powder.

I am wanting to put together a 44 Special Load that will be Subsonic from the Carbine using one of these 2 powders using either a 240 to 260 Grain Lead Semi-Wadcutter or RNFP,using Starline once fired brass and WLP primer's.

Which of these 2 Powders would be Preferable and why ?

Thank's

HP-38 would be better for light loads. It is designed to work well for standard and light loads.
CFE Pistol works great for higher end loads as it is designed to give a little extra velocity with lower pressure.

I have never tried CFE but HP-38 and Universal are all that I use for light .44 loads. I typically use .44mag brass downloaded to .44spl loads but HP-38 also works very well with .44spl brass.

My standard load for .44 Special is 6.0 gr of W231 with a 240-260 gr Keith boolit.(429421) I use this in my two pistols a S&W696 and Ruger SBH Bisley. I also use a 8.0 gr Midrange load in a Magnum Case with the same Boolits.

They work just fine in my Marlin 1894 CB24 rifle as well.

But in the rifle I usually run my Magnum loads of 23.0 gr of H110 with a Thompson 250 gr gas check boolit. (429244) For plinking the Midrange Loads come out as they are less expensive to make.

Randy

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan

My standard load for .44 Special is 6.0 gr of W231 with a 240-260 gr Keith boolit.(429421) I use this in my two pistols a S&W696 and Ruger SBH Bisley. I also use a 8.0 gr Midrange load in a Magnum Case with the same Boolits.

They work just fine in my Marlin 1894 CB24 rifle as well.

But in the rifle I usually run my Magnum loads of 23.0 gr of H110 with a Thompson 250 gr gas check boolit. (429244) For plinking the Midrange Loads come out as they are less expensive to make.

Randy

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Hi
What velocity are you getting from your 6 grain 231/hp-38 load from your Marlin Cowboy ?
I am using a Rossi 92 44sp/44mag with 16 inch barrel and would like to keep the velocity below 1050 fps with a 240-250 gr cast lead most likely,might try a 200 gr for function but y would still want to keep the velocity below 1050 fps .

Thank’s Randy

I asked a distributor what is up with Universal and Trail Boss powders? He said he has both on order but Hodgdon has not made any of either in years. They are not officially discontinued but none is available.