44 Special Ammo Suggestions

[BlackSky]

What would you guys suggest for a factory self defense load in .44 Special. Not hunting or woods carry, just for two legged threats. The gun would be a S&W Model 624 with 3" barrel. A quick search of Midway shows the following rounds. Should I go with the heavier bullet or the lighter buller with more velocity?

*Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 44 Special 165 Grain Flex Tip eXpanding
*Hornady Custom Ammunition 44 Special 180 Grain XTP Jacketed Hollow Point
*Speer Gold Dot Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point
*Winchester Super-X Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Silvertip Hollow Point
*Cor-Bon Self-Defense Ammunition 44 Special 165 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point
*Cor-Bon DPX Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Barnes XPB Hollow Point Lead-Free
*Grizzly Self-Defense Ammunition 44 Special 220 Grain Xtreme Copper Hollow Point Lead-Free
*Buffalo Bore Ammunition 44 Special 180 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

 

[EnsignJimmy]

For self-defense against wild animals of the two-legged kind, I tend to lean toward the Gold Dot, because GDHP bullets are proven, reliable, performers; especially at the modest velocities of a standard-pressure .44 Special load. The Cor-Bon 165 grain load apparently comes well-recommended as well.

Buffalo Bore . . . being Buffalo Bore, will hurt on both ends of the gun. The Cor-Bon DPX load is warm, but not as warm as the Buffalo Bore load.

If it were me, I'd get the Speer GDHP.

 

[RidgwayCO]

For SD, I use only the Speer 200gr GDHP commercial rounds in my .44 Specials. They've been chronographed in my guns as follows:

FPS ... Barrel ... Firearm
-------------------------------------------
821 ... 2-1/8" .. S&W M296
794 ...... 3" ..... Rossi 720
888 ...... 3" ..... S&W M696-1
859 ... 3-1/8" .. S&W M396 Mtn Lite
904 ...... 4" ..... S&W M624
910 ... 5-1/2" .. Freedom Arms 1997

For comparison, Speer advertises 875 fps from a 6" barrel.

I tested the Hornady 180gr HP/XTP and Winchester 210gr STHP back in 1997 out of the Rossi 720, but got miserable velocities (706 fps for the Winchester, and 786 fps for the Hornady). Haven't tried them since then, so maybe they're better today.

 

[rcmodel]

This stuff is hard to beat for the price if you can find any.
And you don't reload!

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=462521

rc

 

[DC Plumber]

I have Hornady Custom 180g HP XTP's in my Smith and Wesson 696 (L Frame) which has a 3" barrel. I've also shot the Winchester 200g Silvertips out of my 696. Never chrono'd either one. I'd be comfortable with either one, but have the Hornadys due to availability.

For my Smith and Wesson 24-3 (N Frame) with 3" barrel, I have it loaded with 240g GDHP over 17g of 2400 for 950fps.

 

[BullSkater]

I just chronographed a new box of Speer Gold Dots. Velocities ran around 620fps out of two deferent revolvers. Both with 2.5 inch barrels.
They mushroomed to about 52 caliber in water.
I wonder if Speer is down loading them now?

 

[DC3-CVN-72]

I load my 629-4,3in. bbl. with CCI. BLAZER 200 gr. .44 spl. GDHP. & sleep well.

 

[Sam1911]

Anything BUT this: *Winchester Super-X Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Silvertip Hollow Point

I was so shocked when I chrono'd some of that out of my 4" 629 I wanted my money back. Barely broke 700 fps.

I'd vote for BB, but I don't use factory stuff at all so my vote doesn't count.

 

[DMZ]

Anything BUT this: *Winchester Super-X Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Silvertip Hollow Point

I was so shocked when I chrono'd some of that out of my 4" 629 I wanted my money back. Barely broke 700 fps.

I always wondered why that seemed like such a mellow load out of my 3" M29.

Now I know.

 

[winchester1886]

My self defense load that I used in my 44Special W/2" bbl was7.8gr of w-231 200gr Speer Gold Dot for Avg.891fps. TOL 1.495"

 

[madcratebuilder]

From your list I would use the Speer Gold Dot. Very manageable recoil and minimum muzzle blast, both important in a short barreled SD revolver.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I'm another GoldDot supporter. I have them in my Taurus 445 right now. I bet they would hurt really bad no matter how slow they move or where they hit you.

 

[Lucky Derby]

The "best" is most likely the Gold Dot. But the beauty of .44 Special (and .45 Colt) is that just about anything other than cowboy loads will work. In 9mm & .38 I am very careful on ammo selection. In .44 & .45, not so much.

 

[ironhead7544]

Any of the CorBon loads. The 200 gr Barnes was designed just for the 44 Special. The Gold Dot is OK. Went 815 FPS from my 3 inch 696.

 

[joed]

For self defense I use 200 gr Gold Dots in my .44 Spls. I have a small Taurus about the size of a Charter Bull Dog and that is limit for that gun. The 24's and 624's I have would take more but I limit them to what I shoot in the Taurus.

For self defense I doubt you'd need a second shot.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I use the blazer gold dot in my old charter arms Its seems to work fine I ain't going to stand in front of a 44 to see if it hurts at any speed. 600fps is 400MPH Need to look at the speed 200gr bullet at over 400MPH isn't going to bounce off you.

 

[batmann]

I second the Cor-Bon loads. I keep my .44's loaded with the 165 Gr HP. I have always found Cor-Bon to very close to their published velocity and the 165 Gr HP uses flash retardant powder, an important factor to consider.

 

[Drail]

I have tested a lot of bullets and the Gold Dot 200 grainer is very very good, even at 800 fps. One thing to keep in mind though, if it is a factory loaded round with a CCI/Speer primer installed you may not want to use them in a CCW gun with reduced springs in it. CCI primers require a pretty healthy whack to fire. I've seen a lot of guys at the range have failures to pop when using CCI primers in a gun that they dropped a reduced spring kit into even when the same gun would fire Federal or Winchester all day and never have a failure.