.44 Special Charge In .44 Mag Casing?

[G11354]

Can you use .44 Special load data in a .44 Magnum shell?

Would like to shoot the lighter recoiling .44 Special rounds without buying more brass.

 

[WestKentucky]

You can, but it's a touch weaker than in a special case. Case volume is larger in the mag so you get less pressure with the same charge when comparing mag to spl.

 

[243winxb]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=775954 Same question here. Hope it helps.

 

[zerobarrier]

I do it, works just fine. I use publish load data for 44 special and seat to the cannelure, all the bullets I use have one.

 

[fouled bore]

What powder will you be using?

 

[Buck13]

If you're shooting a SWC bullet, rather than stopping at the crimp groove, you can seat the bullet so the top of the first driving band is barely inside the Magnum case mouth and put a bit of crimp over it. That will make the effective case volume similar to a Special case. Obviously, this only applies to loads from the Special table, not any Magnum data.

I've done this with 429421 bullets and seemed to have good results. The caveat would be if the case walls thicken and start to size down the base of the bullet, which couldn't be good for accuracy or leading. I should seat a couple like this and others normally, pull the bullets and measure the bases to see if I can detect a difference.

Recently I started shooting 429667 bullets over 7.8 grains of HP-38, crimped lightly in the crimp groove, which has been giving me excellent accuracy @ 1020 fps, minimal leading, and is a real pussycat in a Redhawk. Even though that bullet doesn't have a distinct shoulder, I was thinking of seating them in until the first sign of a gap between the bullet and the case wall, then adding a tiny bit of crimp just as an experiment with case volume. But I should probably just leave well enough alone, since that load works so well already!

 

[G11354]

I was leaning towards BLUE DOT.

 

[fouled bore]

I have not used blue dot. I have used H110 and read that it is unsafe to down load, that is what I understand you are wanting to do unless you cut down the brass or do what Buck13 suggest.

I suggest you try to stay with published loads, just look for loads with low fps. I just loaded some with SR7625 ( I believe this power has been discontinued ). They seem to be a really nice light recoil load for my 44 Mag rifle. I haven't tried them in my pistol yet.

I am sure you will get some good suggestions from others that are more knowledgeable than I am on this subject. I am sure the powder and bullet you want to use will make a difference on the answer.

 

[Valkman]

I'd buy the brass, it's not that hard to find here or on other forums. I was in the same boat last year when I wanted 44spl for my Marlin 1894. I just bought some brass and adjusted my dies and used W231 and soon I had what I wanted.

 

[G11354]

BLUE DOT has load data for both .44 Spec and .44 Mag. It can be used to load medium to hot loads in .44 Spec.

 

[fouled bore]

Check out this link...

http://www.reloadammo.com/liteload.htm

Down loading makes me a little nervous after reading that page.

Have you loaded any 44 mag with the blue dot yet to see how you like the recoil?

I wanted a light recoil so my son would not pickup a flinch shooting a light weight rifle. Not sure what I will do when I run out of the 7625. I am interested to see what you come up with.

 

[G11354]

According to my Hornady reloading manual BLUE DOT in .44 Spec has a minimum load of 6.9gr and a max of 9.0gr when paired with a 240gr bullet.

.44 Mag with BLUE DOT has a minimum load of 11.8gr an a max of 15.0gr when paired with a 240gr bullet.

I imagine this will be safe to load.

 

[cfullgraf]

No need to run 44 Special cases unless you want to clean the carbon ring in the 44 Magnum chambers.

Unique might be a better choice of powder but here is a thread covering Blue Dot in lighter 44 Magnum loads.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-650815.html

 

[gamestalker]

I've loaded truck loads of 44 mag. with Blue Dot, but I've never tried to run a special load in magnum brass.

Alliant has some Blue Dot data for special, why not just use that, or some other published data?

I've also got a Blue Dot data in my Speer #10 with 225 gr. JHP's. I don't see much of anything else for special, but I'm pretty sure there's other published data out there that will meet your criteria.

I wouldn't personally load a special charge into a magnum case though, but that's me, I've never stuck a bullet in a barrel, don't really want to either.

GS

 

[stu1ritter]

I usually load my 44 mag brass with 44 special data using the max load possible. If I can find +P data for the bullet, that's what I load. It is usually just below the start load for 44 mag. I get excellent accuracy, clean cases and recoil I can handle comfortably.
Stu

 

[TimSr]

According to my Hornady reloading manual BLUE DOT in .44 Spec has a minimum load of 6.9gr and a max of 9.0gr when paired with a 240gr bullet.

.44 Mag with BLUE DOT has a minimum load of 11.8gr an a max of 15.0gr when paired with a 240gr bullet.

I imagine this will be safe to load.

You'll be fine dropping into the upper end of special data in Mag cases with Blue Dot. There are not any safety issues but when you start getting too light, Blue Dot starts burning really dirty.

There are other powders where this is not true.

 

[MEHavey]

Echoing some posters above....

I'd recommend shying away from BlueDot for light loads.
Like many other slower powders, it gets strange when underloaded.
Go Fast....

Unique and or Universal at 7.0gr/240gr (or even 200gr) would be a suggestion
RedDot at 6.0-6.5gr, same bullet weights.

 

[Sam1911]

There are not any safety issues but when you start getting too light, Blue Dot starts burning really dirty.

Echoing above. I've found that medium loads of Blue Dot burned REALLY dirty. Not just sooty, but whole unburned flakes of powder scattered throughout the gun.

Fine for full charge loads, but not light loads.

If you want GREAT light loads, try Trail Boss.

 

[Walkalong]

Pick any max .44 Spl load from proven data and you'll be fine. Being in .44 Mag brass in a .44 Mag gun you can bump it up a bit with no worries.

Any of the fast to medium powders will work fine.

Blue Dot at .44 Spl pressure levels is not likely to burn well, but I don't know because I haven't tried it.

BD will do fine for medium plus .44 Mag loads. That will be reduced recoil compared to .44 Mag, but it doesn't sound like as light as you are looking for.

What do you have besides Blue Dot?

 

[Buck13]

Semi-relevant anecdote: Last weekend I was shooting over my chrony with a couple of Blue Dot loads in 10 mm with 165 grain Xtreme heavy plate HPs. Alliant's max is 11.5 grains for that bullet weight. At 11.2 grains, I had an ES of 40 fps and clean burning. At 10.2 grains, I had an ES of 201 fps (not really sure I believe that, but even if you throw out a couple of outliers, it was pretty bad) and my notebook laying on the bench under the gun was collecting a light snowfall of blackened but intact powder flakes.

No more much-below-max BD loads for me! Except for the stout 10 mm loads, I've never had BD do anything impressive in the accuracy department, so why use a heavier $ charge of a slower powder when a cheaper charge of Red Dot, HP38/W231, AA#5, Power Pistol, Unique, etc will do the same jobl? Or spend the same money on Trail Boss and get the cheap insurance against double charging...