Favorite bullets for .44 Mag?

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Buck13

Buck13

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I have a used 7.5" Redhawk on the way, so time to start *trying* to find bullets. I figure at the minimum, I want a moderate load (essentially a warm .44 Sp) for plinking, and full-on blaster for a few rounds of fun. For the former, cheap and fairly accurate are the goal. For the latter, pricier bullets are more acceptable, so maybe gas-checked if needed. Suggestions of bullets?
 
CPE has a good, cheap load above for plinking.

For the warm stuff, I like Hornady XTP 240 gr. with a load of H110 behind it - clean and extremely accurate out of both of my S&W 29s. Don't undercharge H110 - it's not for mild loads and can act up when using less than published data.
 
My preferred mild magnum in my 7.5 SBH is a soft cast 200 grain RNFP, sized .430, over 11.5 grains of Unique. That gives just over 1300 fps, doesn't lead that I've noticed, and groups well.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
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If your buying, I can highly recommend Montana Bullet Works.They offer a farily large selection of bullets for the 44. I would suggest to at least try and get a good measurement on the mouths of each chamber of your cylinder. This will give you the best idea of what size might work best. Slugging would be another option, but some do others say it's not an issue. Myself I did both.

The main reason I DID was that I read, and was told by several that Ruger's were known to have a tight spot where the barrels screw into the frame. I shoot my home cast sized to .430 and have no issues with leading with most loads, even driving 13bhn plain based bullets up into the 1300+ fps range.

With MBW they offer most bullets with a size selection, and also have some which are your choice of hardness. Myself and my friend both have shot their Lyman (429421) with excellent results on paper using AA-5,7 and 9, and velocities up in the mid 1200fps range. They are very good bullets. That said they also have many RFN bullets to choose from as well. I simply didn't feel the need for the added hardness. If you liked one of the harder bullets, you could quite possibly ask them to ship you half a box of air cooled and half heat treated and determine which works the best. Don't know if they would or not, but it never hurts to ask.
 
I shoot a 250 grain lead gas checked bullet over 21 grains of H110. Give it a good crimp and it works well in my SBH.
 
CPE has it about right.

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Unique and 240/250 gr slugs. usually between 8 and 10 grains of Unique. No where near max and plenty for most critters. And easy to shoot in my 629-2 shown above.

The loads have no real hard blast, nor kick. But a 240/250 at 950 or so fps is nothing to sneeze at. That's over 480 foot lbs of energy and that hard cast SWC slug plows through alot and makes quite a hole.

Deaf
 
My fav 44 bullet "by far", is one dropped out of a RCBS mould, #44-250KT. I cast them medium hard, size them at .430" and lube them with ALOX...

I have a lot of different 44 moulds, but i like the above best.

DM
 
When I reloaded and shot the 44 Special/Magnum I cast bullets from the Lyman 429421 mold. Mine was an older one, true to the Keith vision of what a 44 caliber bullet should be. RCBS and others have copies of this mold. Unique was good for medium loads and 2400 for heavy loads. today, there are lots of newer powders available but those two would still be my recommendation.
 
The 250gr Keith bullet is hard to beat. A generic commercial cast 240gr SWC also works very well. For jacketed bullets, I like 240gr or 270gr Speer Gold Dots.
 
As I posted in another thread, make sure you check the cylinder throats on your RH BEFORE you go and buy a bunch of bullets.

Most Rugers, including my 4 Super Blackhawks and Redhawk have cylinder throats that are in the range of .4315" to .4320". This means if you shoot a lead bullet sized to .430", you are going to get leading, gas check or not.

If you are going to shoot cast, you should do yourself a favor and slug your bore (more information here)

All of my Ruger 44mags have been much more accurate since bumping the bullet size up to .432.
 
Any good commercial 240-250gr hard cast SWC should withstand full power 44 loads without a gas check. My favorite loads were 8.0 and 10.0gr of Unique, I quit using the 8.0 load when I bought a dedicated 44 special.
 
my favorite & most accurate load in my 5 1/2" super Blackhawk is 25gr of H110 with a Nosler 240gr. HP...1450fps. kills what I hit ...bought the gun new in 1968 for $74 otd
 
I shoot mostly 180gr Remington JHPs in front of H110.

Then 240 and 300gr XTP's in front of the same powder.

In the past, lots of 240gr hardcast SWC's. They were very reasonable in boxes of 1000.

In most everything I shoot these days, it's jacketed, period. I just feel more comfy pushing them hard and often and figure that copper fouling is easier to rid than lead.

I load 38/357, 40, 45ACP, 44spl/mag, 357 Sig, and 500 S&W for myself at this time.

Couple other cals for other folk (.32 S&W short/long and 32 H&R mag)
I do load the leads in the .32 S&W's


I bought quite a few Leads from this gent years back.


https://secure25.securewebsession.com/proshootpro.com/order.htm
 
98Redline said:
As I posted in another thread, make sure you check the cylinder throats on your RH BEFORE you go and buy a bunch of bullets.

Most Rugers, including my 4 Super Blackhawks and Redhawk have cylinder throats that are in the range of .4315" to .4320". This means if you shoot a lead bullet sized to .430", you are going to get leading, gas check or not.

If you are going to shoot cast, you should do yourself a favor and slug your bore (more information here)

All of my Ruger 44mags have been much more accurate since bumping the bullet size up to .432.
Click to expand...

I was pretty much planning to hammer some slugs through the cylinder soon after it arrives, but you've convinced me it's a top priority! Unfortunately, I placed an order for some .430" 429421s this morning, so I may need to find someone with a Model 29 to pass those along.
 
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for a mild load I like the Remington 180 gr. JHP over some 110 or titegroup. For a heavy load I like Oregon trail lazercast 310gr WNFPGC bullet, seated over titegroup. Shot that one through 8 inches of solid liveoak from 25 yards and could have reused the bullet.
 
Hell, factory .44 mag ammo these days IS just a warm .44 Spl.
When I bought mine 20 yrs ago, I was surprised to find some PMC ammo I got for it was only pushing a 240 gr SWC to 1200 fps from the factory test barrel.
Now, you find the big 3 selling "hunting" ammo that only pushes a 240 grain jacketed HP to 1100-1200 fps. And that's from a test barrel. Pretty lame.
Even Cor Bon has some pretty weak loads for it.
But, all is not lost. Tim Sundles remembers how the .44 mag is supposed to be loaded.
All hail Tim Sundles! All hail Buffalo Bore!

I have a mild load for min that pushes a 180 XTP to 1800+fps with Vihtavuori N110 and is still 3000 psi below SAAMI pressures.
It doesn't sound very mild, though. It's a loundenboomer. :)

Copper fouling is easier to remove than lead????
I've never noticed that being the case. There are a couple of very fast ways to remove lead fouling. There are no fast ways to remove all the copper fouling.
I can remove the lead fouling with a Lewis Lead Remover much faster than I can dissolve copper fouling with copper solvent.
I prefer electrolytic removal for copper fouling, but that means I have to let the Foul Out run overnight.
 
I second the recommendation on Montana Bullet Works......except they are temporarily out of business.
My last bullet order and check were sent back to me yesterday unopened with a letter from Dave's wife saying that due to a family emergency they would not be taking orders, phone calls, or emails. They said after 6 weeks if you were still interested in buying bullets from them to give them a call.
I don't know more than that. I liked using them a lot and loved their bullets.
I am going to have to buy from Beartooth Bullet Co. for a while and have heard mixed reviews on them.
I've already placed an order so I guess I'll know soon.
 
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