.44 Magnum Self Defense Loads for a S&W M-29

[Anthony]

Good Evening Everyone,

I received an email notification on this thread and thought I would update everyone.

After everything was said and done I went with the Hornady 180-grain XTP load.

The Federal 180-grain Hi-Shok would be my other primary choice.

Anyone else toting a .44 Magnum these days?

If yes, what are you loading it with?

Anthony

 

[Snowbandit]

Depending where I'm going and what I'm doing I often carry either a 3-inch 29 or 4-inch 629 in Mountain Revolver configuration. Weight and balance of these two is so close to identical it's hard to tell them apart from the back. Using magnum ammo, when not hunting, I prefer the Corbon 165 grain JHP which runs 1300 fps according to their published ballistics. For general use I'm just as happy with the Federal 200 grain LSWHP in .44 Special. That load chronographs just over 850 fps and is fine for most uses. One I avoid all together is the Silvertips in .44 Special. Last I checked them they barely made 600 fsp.

 

[Fan45acp]

Anthony, Yes in the winter,summer it is just to Hot to carry and dress for my 29. I'm in NE Texas where it has been + 100* for weeks. I'll carry my 4" 29-2 in a sour dough pancake holster. In cooler weather,Levis a Beltman belt,and a good cover shirt I'm good to go. I'm old school,and I use cast bullets. With this revolver my load: 9 grains/unique with a Lead Head 255 grain SWC and Federal 150 LPP. I realize that you should use factory loads for SD, but this combo works for me..WE do it different in TEXAS..

 

[Cop Bob]

I don't carry one much as a CCW weapon, but I did carry one for awhile as a duty weapon. As did quite a few officers in my department..

Personally I carried handloads.. I used a 180 gr Serria HC, pushing it to about 1488fps..
Actually quite a few officers also carried this same load.. there were at least two shootings with this ammo... two rounds expended, both to the chest, the suspect was falling as the 2nd round struck.. Neither round exited a 175 lb male.. He was pronounced dead at the scene... The second, one round skidded along the hood of a vehicle digging in and wrinkling the sheet metal, piling it up in front of the round. It stopped in the hood, leaving about a 5 inch tear. A single suspect was shot, one time, upper torso. bullet did not exit.. it resulted in an instant incapacitation..

There were no public outcrys, however this was in the early 80's.. today..probably.. but then again, were in Texas... yeah, I know, you don't care how we do it down here.. But the department now frowns on handloads, but if you can qualify with it,and they make an approved holster for it, you can carry it...

 

[Deaf Smith]

If I was to use my 629-1 for SD I'd just use my regular field load.

That's a 240gr LSWHP with 10 grains of Unique.

No, it isn't a max load or even near it but don't need that for SD. 1000 fps is fine with me.

And the thing is, being my field load I'd tell any jury that all I had was what I use in the field, and didn't make up a load just to kill people.

Plus it's alot cheaper to shoot than any factory load. That means more accurate shooting.

And one thing about a .44 or .45, you don't need fancy bullets to be effective.

Deaf

 

[Maple_City_Woodsman]

After everything was said and done I went with the Hornady 180-grain XTP load....

Anyone else toting a .44 Magnum these days?

Excellent choice.

I was reflecting on this thread the other day. It occurs to me that if one wanted to standardize on a single load for the .44 magnum revolver, a 180gr hollow point at solid, but not 'heavy' velocities would be the best idea.

If one were going to use their .44 as a dedicated hunting gun, then the heavier bullets would be most prudent because they penetrate better. The picture changes significantly though when you throw in self defense as a primary role.

A light hollow point at a relatively high velocity will yield much less penetration than other .44mag loadings (though still be significant), and minimuze your chances of collateral damage; you may shoot it better as well, thanks to a bit lighter recoil. It should still work well on medium size ruminants as well. Probably the best balance for all possible uses.

 

[Lucky Derby]

Any case reports of this happening?

Google "Harrold Fish"
This happened in AZ, which is a very gun friendly state. it was also a 10mm, not a "....44 Magnum, the world's most powerful handgun and will blow your head clean off...."


ETA: I just realized this thread is 4.5 years old.