Good .44 Special Defense Load?

[Deanimator]

Now that I'll soon have a working 4" S&W Model 29, I'm interested in good .44 Special defense loads. When I previously owned the gun, I shot almost nothing but factory .44 Special LRN loads and moderate .44 Special and .44 Magnum handloads.

Thanks.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I was very favorably impressed with the Corbon .44 Special DPX load:

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Corbon 44 Special DPX Report.htm

Best.

 

[Deanimator]

Hello. I was very favorably impressed with the Corbon .44 Special DPX load:

Thanks, that sounds like what I was looking for.

 

[Pappy John]

I feel pretty well armed with CCI Blazers. They use 200 gr. Speers' Gold Dots moving at a very consistent 830fps from my 3" 696. Cheap enough to practice with too.

 

[cookekdjr]

I really liked the Blazers out of my Redhawk. Shot to point of aim and had zero recoil. I have no doubt about their ability to stop a bad guy in his tracks.
-David

 

[unspellable]

Load

I like the Blazers too, but I can't seem to find a second box.

 

[Johnny Guest]

One alternative course - - -

If you want to use your M29 for field use and general plinking, and IF you or a close pal handload, a good load in a 240 gr. lead semiwadcutter over 7.0 gr. of Unique powder, in magnum cases. This should give around 800 fps from your 4" barrel, and it has loads of sectional density for plenty of penetration. The 29 is a heavy, strong revolver, and this load is very mild to shoot. Another benefit is that it is quite economical and allows for a good deal of practice shooting without getting too deep into your billfold.

If, on the other hand, you are strictly interested in an anti-personnel defensive load, I don't see how you could do better than the Cor-Bon DPX load reviewed by Stephen A. Camp. I have not personally fired it but Steve is objective and brutally honest in his testing. If he says it's a good special purpose load, you can take it to the bank.

Regards,
Johnny

 

[Impala]

CCI Blazer .44 special
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=CCI+blazer+.44+&btnG=Search

has anyone tried magsafe 94 grain +P Defender load? the price is really high, it looks like it would do some damage.

 

[JERRY]

Cor-Bon.

 

[mjb]

I load 200 grain Federal lead semi wadcutter hollowpoints in my Colt Anaconda. I also like the Winchester silvertips.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Here's the results of the 200gr Blazer in a 4" gun.

http://www.brassfetcher.com/CCI Blazer 200 grain Gold Dot hollowpoint.html

 

[Lou22]

I just bought a S&W 296 snubbie in .44 special. I've heard lots of good about the Blazer 200gr Gold Dot loads and plan to use them for carry.

Lou

 

[Limey46]

I've been experimenting a while now with defensive handloads for my 296, and I've settled on a recipe I like a lot -- very accurate and plenty nasty with recoil that's acceptable. By "acceptable" I mean sharp and hard but not painfully horrible. I should add that I carry my 296 with the original Uncle Mike's rubber grips, which leave the backstrap exposed and are therefore far from ideal in recoil reduction. My load is a 200-grain Hornady XTP over 5.0 grains of Titegroup, crimped tight. I haven't chronographed it, but an educated guess puts it around 875-900 fps from the 296.

In factory loads I too like the 200 grain Blaser, and also the Georgia Arms 200-grain defense load.

 

[jrou111]

In my 4" Tracker, I keep the first 3 rounds of the Blazer 44spl GDHP, followed up by 2 Remington JHP 44mag if those don't stop the BG.

If the problem still hasn't stopped, I keep a reload of 5 more 44mag JHP.

 

[Burnsie]

"In my 4" Tracker, I keep the first 3 rounds of the Blazer 44spl GDHP, followed up by 2 Remington JHP 44mag if those don't stop the BG."

I like that idea.

 

[sgt127]

"In my 4" Tracker, I keep the first 3 rounds of the Blazer 44spl GDHP, followed up by 2 Remington JHP 44mag if those don't stop the BG."

I like that idea.

...and the ringing in your ears tells you its time to reload!

 

[jrou111]

Yeah, I've test fired the 44spl and they ring bad, I know those mags are way worse. It drives everyone out of the indoor range when I shoot.

 

[kmrcstintn]

2 choices that I've played around with a while back when I had a .44 mag revolver:

Speer Gold Dot JHP (especially economical if you can get then loaded in the CCI aluminum Blazer cartirdges)

Hornady XTP JHP

both good performers and accurate to boot

if these don't tickle your fancy, here are some secondary choices:

Winchester Silvertip JHP

Federal Premium Hi Shok LSWCHP (all lead semi-wadcutter hollowpoints)

Choose well:

 

[Deanimator]

Federal Premium Hi Shok LSWCHP (all lead semi-wadcutter hollowpoints)

Ooh, I like that!

I'm a big fan of the Federal .38Special 158gr. LSWCHP "FBI" load. I keep it in all of my .38s and .357s.

This merits further investigation...

 

[Gewehr98]

I pack the Federal 200gr LSWCHP loads in my S&W 696.

I won't run handloads for defensive handgun, so with the above Federal factory loads I've found the combination of revolver and ammo pretty darned accurate, and the recoil isn't so sharp as to induce an unhealthy flinch. I need to chronograph them sometime out of the 3" barrel, but they probably don't give up much to the 200gr Winchester Black Talons in my 3" Caspian Officer's ACP.

 

[bpisler]

I have the newer winchester silvertips in my
old school charter arms bulldog.I really the
huge cavity it has,reminds me of the old Speer
"flying ashtray" 45 acp from the 1970's

 

[jdmb03]

I use Winchester silvertips.

 

[Stainz]

I reload, so the $20/50 GA Arms new Starline brass cased equivalent to the Blazer 200gr GDJHP is a better choice now that the Blazers are $16.99/50 locally. Those two rounds - and my homebrews with that same Speer #4427 200gr GDJHP over 5.7gr Titegroup (Speer data.) - yielded 800-807 fps from my 2.5" 296, 835-840 fps from my 3" 696, 880-885 fps from my 4" 629, and 950 fps from a 20" Henry 'Big Boy'. Speer claims they reach an effective opening by 800 fps... some testers shown in various sites found .66-.70+" opening. It's exclusively what my 296 carries.

Stainz