44 mag load for a friend...help

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Kachok

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A very good friend of mine has been asking me for months to load him some 44 mag ammo since it is crazy expensive locally. I just bought dies, brass, and some 240gr XTPs but I have ZERO experience loading it. He is an older gentleman and does not want a super hot load so I can load them on the mild side as long as they are enough for deer. I plan on loading him 100 rounds for a Christmas present. I have Longshot and Blue Dot powder for pistols but I don't think either of these is ideal for this cartrage.
The firearm is a Ruger revolver with an 8" barrel.
As always thanks for the help.
 
I am not near my notes or I would give you my data and chrono numbers...You should find info in any good manual, though.
 
I did find a published load for 240gr and Longshot but it's max is 12gr charge which I would think to be a touch low in the density department since I load 8gr in 40 S&W. Starting load is 11gr and listed at 1249fps which is plenty potent (maybe too much so) about 70fps over factory 240gr
 
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FYI the Mordern Reloading II shows a 240 grain XTP with 13.7 grains Blue Dot MAX for 1285 FPS. The MIN is 12.1 grains at 1146 FPS. I try to use H110/296 or IMR 4227 when I load my jacketed. I mostly load lead and use 240 grain SWC with 700-X as I have several kegs of it to use up. With lead there are propellants with faster velocities but I want a softish shooting target round.:)
 
man, if you have blue dot, use it. I love blue dot in the .44 mag AND special, .357 mag AND .38 special. my carry load in my .357 snubbie is a blue dot concoction.

check this out

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I have a bunch of threads on THR talking about this. My load is 10.9 gr of Unique pushing a 240gr (usually MagTech) JSP. It's been my go-to load for target shooting, plinking and has taken 5 deer from 5 to 85 yards from two different hunting revolverw. When I'm hiking or archery hunting bears in Maine, it's still my favorite load. An absolute pleasure to shoot, and deadly as you could ever want.

Joel
 
awesome birdog. i like unique for .38 cowboy loads i never thought about it for magnum loads. i'm gonna try your recipe sooner than later
 
Per 45_auto:

Alliant gives a load of 13.7 gr of Blue Dot with A 240 gr hollowpoint at 1285 FPS in their online reloading guide here:

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/default.aspx

Per Alliant online reloading guide:

REDUCE RIFLE AND HANDGUN CHARGE WEIGHTS BY 10% TO ESTABLISH A STARTING LOAD.
The exceptions to this are the loads listed as "target" in the 38 Special and 45 ACP data tables.

DO NOT EXCEED THE LOADS DISPLAYED ON THE SITE OR ALLIANT'S RELOADERS GUIDE.

Hornady's Fifth Edition shows the 240gr XTPs to have a muzzle velocity range from 900 to 1,800 fps.

FWIW,

Paul
 
I've used 16.5 grains of Blue Dot with 250 grain cast bullets in .45 Colt (for a Ruger Blackhawk) and it was a very good load. Same thing should be good in .44 Magnum if you back off to 240 grain cast bullets. Might be a little harder-kicking than you want though... And this is a powder where you'd use less with jacketed bullets.

If you didn't have the powder already, I would say 12 grains of Herco with a 240 grain SWC or RNFP or WFN.
 
19.6 grs. 4227 with the 240 gr. XTP in my Super Blackhawk has been my go to hunting load, nice shooting, accurate, and deadly.

Smokeyloads
 
Kachok - many of us here will not reload for others.
Not trying to be a jerk, but the liability & litigation just isn't worth it.
A simple mistake could cost you thousands.

Perhaps you could invite him over & teach him how to load his own.
By the way, Tite Group gives a very nice mild report.
 
shotgun powder is awesum for relvolver rounds.cheap and easy to load. however just one double load will destroy a gun.if your a experienced loader then disregard this advice.i use reddot but im a old dude and it was popular in my day.
 
Kachok - many of us here will not reload for others.
Not trying to be a jerk, but the liability & litigation just isn't worth it.
A simple mistake could cost you thousands.

Perhaps you could invite him over & teach him how to load his own.
By the way, Tite Group gives a very nice mild report.
I don't load anywhere near max in any firearms but my own, and even those I work up. I loaded these to the minimum starting load since he is not worried about super high performance. I will proof the load before he shoots them anyway. If that low a pressure breaks a gun it is simply defective anyway and since it has withstood hundreds of factory shots I highly doubt that is the case.
 
I also reload with some of my friends. Having them help me puts them in the loop if there were to be a problem though nothing has ever happened yet. One 9MM that would not fire due to hard primers we had purposely used to load ammo for use in a MP40, but that is another issue entirely. He should have known better than try and use +P loads in a crappy 9MM and that probably saved his pistol.:scrutiny: Does illustrate that once they walk out the door any ammo you are responsible for assembling can have anything happen to it however.:(
 
Only folks I ever load for is my parents and in-laws. I figured it is safer that way because I know if anything goes wrong then they're not going to sue me. I did have a friend I contemplated loading for but old him he could come help. That was 8 months ago, still hasn't come by. :)
 
I shoot Bear Creek Valley Supply moly-coated lead bullets in my .44 calibers. They run about $45/500 for a 240 grain SWC bullet and I load them with Unique. All I can say is the load is simply amazing and very powerful. No problem with extraction, excess flash, wrist pain, etc. No smoke from the lead or lube. I load about 10.0 grains of Unique with a firm roll crimp. I like the load so much, all of my .44 mag brass (110 or so) is loaded with it except for a small box of expansion rounds.
 
Only folks I ever load for is my parents and in-laws. I figured it is safer that way because I know if anything goes wrong then they're not going to sue me. I did have a friend I contemplated loading for but old him he could come help. That was 8 months ago, still hasn't come by. :)
make them load it, with your supervision..
 
I've found H-110 and WW 296 to be the most accurate for 240 gr. bullets and give the highest velocities. Blue Dot, AA 9, and 4227 never gave me the same high velocities.
 
I'm another fan of Bluedot. You can reach 90% of full safe velicities, or reduce it without worry. You can't safely do that with the slow burning ball powders.
 
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