black powder loads for .44 Magnum

[George Mabry]

Looking for someone with a little experience in black powder .44 magnum loads. How many grains by volume of 3f bp would you put under a 200 grain LSWC in a 44 magnum case? Also is it necessary in bp cartridge loading to have the base of the bullet flush with the top of the powder load?

Thanks for your time,

George

 

[rcmodel]

No idea how many grains.
But, a Case Full to the base of the seated bullet and very slightly compressed when seating.

No Air Space under the bullet.

But why?
The detail cleaning work of a modern revolver every time it is shot would far out-weigh the smoke & stink fun for me.

rc

 

[IBEWBULL]

Grains

I think black powder is measured by volum.

 

[Don McDowell]

It'll take about 30-35 grs, but unless you use a bp lube on that bullet you're likely in for a time cleaning the thing and accuracy might not amount to much.
Best results will likely be with the powder compressed about 1/8 in. when the bullet is fully seated.

 

[George Mabry]

Thanks for the replies. I did this once before back in the '70s but can't remember the details. I was thinking I had the case full of powder.

George

 

[Dave P]

I got that itch a few months ago. Shot a few rounds, and spent the next hour cleaning a stainless pistol - what a mess!

Need any more BP powder - I don't need it anymore!

 

[Don McDowell]

Cleaning a gun after blackpowder isn't hard, and in no way should of taken more than a few minutes.
To start blow a few breaths down the barrel, then push a dry patch , then follow with a patch wet with water,then a dry patch and again with a wet followed by a dry. That should take all the bp fouling out of a handgun barrel, then use the damp patches to push thru the cylinders, and then push those out with fresh dry patches. Then take an oily patch and push thru the bore and the cylinders. Wipe the forcing cone and outside of the frame clean. Put the empty brass deprimed in a jug of water with some simple green , shake them around and the rinse until clean. Lay the brass out to dry. Tumble to make them shiny if you want.

 

[BCRider]

NO AIR GAPS WITH BLACK POWDER!

Never mind what the measure is. You want to fill the case up to where the bullet being seated lightly compresses the charge. If you want to measure the weight for the records that's fine. But black powder in center fire casings is easy to measure. It is ALWAYS "one full case, shake a little off the top to let the bullet seat, done"

If the bullet seats 1/4 inch into the casing then I would like to see the poured powder sitting at 1/8 inch below the mouth. If you vibrate the casing to settle the powder you'll likely see it settle to about 3/16 below the mouth.

If you want to play with varying the charge then you MUST fill in the gap with something like cream of wheat or oat bran filled in over top of the BP. Again this is because you MUST NOT have any air gap with black powder or BP substitutes. Even to the point where all loads must be somewhere between lightly to firmly compressed.

Incidentally, due to the casing volume a .44Mag loaded with black powder will only shoot to roughly the same as a .44Spl or perhaps a slight bit stronger.

Generally you'll also find that the lube used on commercial bullets isn't all that happy around BP fouling. If you notice that the fouling is tar like and tough to clean out that's a sign that the lube and fouling are not compatible. Hence why BP shooters typically cast their own and lube with things like Crisco lard and beeswax mixed together along with other BP friendly lubes that don't promote a sticky mess in the bore.

Although I haven't actually loaded any .44Mag casings I've done a bunch of .357mag casings for my black powder cowboy action shooting. Same rules though. No air gaps and load to achieve a light to moderate compression. I never bothered with weighing the charge since it's a moot point. Full casings trumps all else. When shot from my revolvers they feel pretty much like a regular 158gn .38Spl for recoil.