.44 Mag 300 Grain Hard Cast H110 Load Help

[Sb1911]

I have a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 Mag that I want to develop a bear defense load for. For bullets I currently have Montana Bullet Works .431 300 Grain WFN-GC hard cast.

My Lyman 49th and 50th edition lists a 300 grain lead bullet with a max H-110 load of 18.5, I read an article that listed a load of 21.5 grains.

http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt44mag.htm

Does anyone have experience working with 300 grain hard cast and h-110 that could shed some light on this? Is there any published data that anyone recommends that shows any charges higher than 18.5 grain?

Thank you!

 

[nick22]

I have some 310 grain GC bullets I don't recall where I got my data from but I loaded 19.0 Grains of H110 under them and they are stout rounds that have always gone through every deer we have shot with them.

 

[sparkyv]

Hornady's 9th ed. shows 20.1gr max. I've loaded 300gr MBC Hammer WFN with 20.0gr H110 and got 1,161fps in my 6.5" M629. Fun stuff!

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th ed.

 

[41 Mag]

I've used the Lee 310gr out of my Redhawk and Contender, but I went with AA-9. I got more consistent groups with it and less fireball than with 2400 or 296/110.

I know that's not exactly what you wanted but if you look at the data in the pictured manual you'll see it's close.

 

[Sb1911]

I appreciate all the information from everyone. I’m may look into AA-9. I would like to get to just over 1,100 FPS with the bullet i’m using but I don’t know if that’s possible with my barrel length.

 

[Sb1911]

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th ed.
View attachment 1175660

Thank you for the information. Very interesting that with H110 you can get a higher velocity with the 310 grain bullet vs the 300 grain bullet.

 

[dobedo]

I have a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 Mag that I want to develop a bear defense load for. For bullets I currently have Montana Bullet Works .431 300 Grain WFN-GC hard cast.

My Lyman 49th and 50th edition lists a 300 grain lead bullet with a max H-110 load of 18.5, I read an article that listed a load of 21.5 grains.

http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt44mag.htm

Does anyone have experience working with 300 grain hard cast and h-110 that could shed some light on this? Is there any published data that anyone recommends that shows any charges higher than 18.5 grain?

Thank you!

Here is a good place to start.

https://shootersreference.com/reloadingdata/44-remington-magnum/

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Thank you for the information. Very interesting that with H110 you can get a higher velocity with the 310 grain bullet vs the 300-grain bullet.

The heavier bullet takes longer to get started, which allows the pressure behind the bullet to build just a bit more before it moves down the barrel.

At least, that's my theory.

It also could be just a different lot of powder, behaving slightly differently.

I read somewhere many years ago, that in straight-wall handgun cartridges, just fill H110 to the bottom of the bullet. Crimp, and done.
The idea was that H110 is slow enough that it is impossible to over-pressure the cartridge. No amount of powder that would fit under a properly seated bullet in a straight-walled magnum handgun could over-pressure the cartridge.

Is that true? Dunno. I've not tested it out either.

 

[Sb1911]

Here is a good place to start.

https://shootersreference.com/reloadingdata/44-remington-magnum/

Thank you!

 

[BW460]

I load a 300gr MBC Hammer WFN over 21.6 gr H110 for my S&W Model 69. It is a handful and it's my bear load. GRT calculates the chamber pressure at just under 29k psi and a little over 1000 fps out of the 4.2 inch barrel.

 

[mavracer]

Thank you for the information. Very interesting that with H110 you can get a higher velocity with the 310 grain bullet vs the 300 grain bullet.

That's because there's more variables than just weight.
Bearing surface and seating depth ( more specifically how much the bullet encroaches on case capacity) play a large roll.

Is that true? Dunno. I've not tested it out either.

It's true to a point. H110 and WW296 are slow enough that you really can't use enough in a straight wall to "spike" pressure like you can with a faster powder, however you can get pressure up into the danger zone depending on what cartridge and more specifically what gun you're using.

 

[murf]

this is out of my super blackhawk:

kicks like a mule

luck,

murf

 

[N555]

I have a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 Mag that I want to develop a bear defense load for. For bullets I currently have Montana Bullet Works .431 300 Grain WFN-GC hard cast.

My Lyman 49th and 50th edition lists a 300 grain lead bullet with a max H-110 load of 18.5, I read an article that listed a load of 21.5 grains.

http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt44mag.htm

Does anyone have experience working with 300 grain hard cast and h-110 that could shed some light on this? Is there any published data that anyone recommends that shows any charges higher than 18.5 grain?

Thank you!

I loaded 270s with h110. Loading the bullets way over Sammi coal there still wasn't room for enough h110 to hint a over pressure. Factory 270gr ammo was definitely hotter and definitely wasn't loaded with h110.

 

[CraigC]

The Lyman data is using a bullet that seats deeper in the case. Even the stumpy XTP data is higher than that. The Montana bullet is an LBT design with more weight in the nose. For the Oregon Trail 310gr WFN, I used 21.5gr H110 for over 1300fps in a 4 5/8" barrel.

 

[N555]

Oh yeah expect bad leading if you don't use gas checks.

 

[Walkalong]

I know we have done this a lot in the past, but the powers that be have decided we can't post a pic of more than a small part of a page of reloading manual etc due to copyright issues, which means I have deleted some pics of pages of reloading manuals recently, and will continue to do so.

 

[Sb1911]

this is out of my super blackhawk:
View attachment 1175857View attachment 1175858View attachment 1175859
kicks like a mule

luck,

murf

I really appreciate the information

 

[CraigC]

Oh yeah expect bad leading if you don't use gas checks.

If you're getting bad leading, something is wrong.

 

[N555]

If you're getting bad leading, something is wrong.

Yeah using a hot load of H110 under lead bullets is wrong.

 

[CraigC]

Yeah using a hot load of H110 under lead bullets is wrong.

News to me.

 

[Sb1911]

I have decided that I am going to go with 21 grains H110 under my 300 grain bullet. If I can get to the range this week i’ll report results.

 

[Sb1911]

Long over due update on this. I was able to successfully develop a nice load that I will continue to test. I am currently at just over 1200 FPS the bullets I am using actually weigh out at 310 Grains and is providing just over 1000 ftlbs of energy. I am happy with velocity and energy considering I have. 2.5” barrel so I will now focus on how consistent and accurate the load is.

I was able to find some published data for super Redhawks only in an April 2010 issue of Handloader ammunition Reloading Journal. This article gave me some good insight and helped me develop a base line for my own testing.

Thank you!