inexpensive .44 special ammo?

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Drgong

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Just curious, what is the most inexpensive ammo you can get for a .44 special? (without hand loading) that not going to foul up your revolver?

I am just curious as there are a number of .44 specials that have caught my eye, but the cost of ammo is making me a little bit queasy.

This does not have to be self-defense ammo, as I do not mind paying top dollar for self defense ammo.
 
No such thing as cheap .44 spl ammo, really. In the past I'd say, if you can find some Blazer 200 gr or Fiocchi 240 gr., they were about the cheapest. When it's not on backorder.
 
Without handloading?

Nothing, really.

Even when I DID see .44 Special in stores, it wasn't significantly cheaper than .44 Magnum.

I'd consider it a handloader's round, just like .41 Magnum. That doesn't mean they're not good; I just wouldn't consider these rounds to be regular commercial ammo, for all intents and purposes.
 
LOL

I've found all sorts of things on the floor or on the ground at shooting ranges and outdoor open shooting areas.

Never, not once, have I EVER found any .44 Special brass. ...in several decades...:D

Don't expect to find any once-fired .44 Special brass, at least in this universe.

I suppose you could buy a bag of .44 Sp brass, and keep sending it back to them.

For the cost of shipping, you could get set up to load your own pretty quickly.:)
 
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I've found all sorts of things on the floor or on the ground at shooting ranges and outdoor open shooting areas.

Never, not once, have I EVER found any .44 Special brass. ...in several decades..."

Don't expect to find any once-fired .44 Special brass, at least in this universe.
Click to expand...

You exaggerate terribly!

I did find a Starline .44 Spc. case at my range just last year! (And it wasn't even one I'd dropped!)

So see, it does happen! At this rate, when I'm in my 80s I'll have found a whole box worth!


:D
-Sam
 
$105

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&parentId=cat20847&id=0053986

About 5 bucks per box of 50 for components, guessing from my .44 Magnum calculations which are a bit higher due to additional powder. That's using quality stuff, and Oregon Trail 240 grain bullets, not casting my own or anything.

Despite the .44 Special now being offered in guns from several major makers again, for the purposes of shooting it you're best off considering it to be a "wildcat" and assuming you have to make it yourself.:)
 
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I did find a Starline .44 Spc. case at my range just last year! (And it wasn't even one I'd dropped!)
Click to expand...

LOL

The guy probably grumbled all the way home, too, because he couldn't find it.

There are 2 .357 Magnum cases on the ground somewhere south of my house on BLM land... My lever gun tossed them in the brush and I could never find them.

However, I found 3 nickel-plated Winchester .357 cases that appeared to be once-fired, when I was looking for my 2 brass Winchesters. So I figured I was more than even, and gave up.:D
 
I found about 50 pcs. of .44 special at the range last week. Only the second time for me.

You could try Georgia Arms,but the it"s back ordered about 6 weeks.
 
I found 475 - 44 spl cases at the range.. once...

Sold it to finance other projects since I don't own a 44. The buyer was quite happy to get them..

Likely a once in a lifetime find..
 
GA Arms lists 200gr LRNFP for $23/50 and the Speer #4429 200gr Gold Dot, chrono's the same as the same bullet in Blazer guise, just comes in new Starline brass for $27/50. Academy Sports/Outdoor runs the Blazers for $29.99/50 now. I had one of those Aluminum Blazer cased ones split in my 3" .44 Special, a 696, several years back, so I keep the GA Arms as PD ammo for my .44's.

To reload, the best price I've found for lead is ~$63/500 for Meister or Oregon Trails 240 gr LSWC - add $50 for a pound of powder an 1k primers - and $146/1k delivered for Starline .44 Spcl brass. Add s/t, Hazmat fees, s/h, and you'll have $370+ in 1k rounds if you have a free reloading press, dies, scales, etc. That's $18.50/50 in lots of 1k. Reloading isn't all that inexpensive - especially without brass. It allows you to shoot more. And... it's another hobby. It also allows you to make 'what YOU want'. I started my reloading nearly seven years ago - just to make .45 Colt, as I literally had thousands of empties. I make everything for all of my calibers - except a few PD rounds now.

Stainz
 
To reload, the best price I've found for lead is ~$63/500 for Meister or Oregon Trails 240 gr LSWC
Click to expand...

I get all mine (200 gr. RN) from Roger Burris at King Shooters' Supply for almost half of that price. http://www.betterbullets.com/documents/KSS_Pricing.pdf

Well, checking the list the prices have gone up. $39 for 500. That's the 200 gr. round nose slugs I use for IDPA.

The 240 gr. SWCs are a bit more at $47.

$10 shipping, up to 4 boxes. Or, if you're anywhere near eastern PA, pick them up yourself.

-Sam
 
That's $18.50/50 in lots of 1k.
Click to expand...

Ouch...thats a LOT of money to roll your own! I think I would buy 500 rounds of GA 200gr Lead FP's for ~$230, shoot it all and save my brass. I would then then ship the empties to mastercast to reload for $85/500 rounds. If you toss in $35 for all the shipping, you would still be out only ~$350 or $17.50/50!
 
To reload, the best price I've found for lead is ~$63/500 for Meister or Oregon Trails 240 gr LSWC - add $50 for a pound of powder an 1k primers - and $146/1k delivered for Starline .44 Spcl brass.
Click to expand...

Sheesh. That's outrageous! I only commented on the bullets, but you can do a lot better than this!

Let's see:

$39 for 500 bullets is $3.90 per 50.
A 9 oz. can of Trail Boss (what I load for my IDPA .44s) is about $11 and should last (using my just under 7 grain load) about 560 rounds. So that's just under $1 of powder per 50 rounds (and other powders get a lot more loads per lb.)
Last time I bought primers they were still $19.99 a 1000 (yeah, that was at the very beginning of this year) but I did buy a flat of them recently for $27.40/1000, so that's $1.37 per 50 rounds.

The cases are something around $20/100 in 100 packs from Cabelas, but you can do a lot better buying in 1000 case lots from Starline. As Stainz says, about $7.30 for 50. But, I can't really count cases in my costs. They're practically a 1-time purchase. All of mine have been loaded 10 times or so, and they're going strong. If they all die at 20 loadings (which doesn't seem likely) that would be $0.37 I spent on brass for each 50 rds I loaded.

That works out to $6.64 for 50 rds.

Now does reloading make sense?

-Sam
 
44 special

I want one of the Ruger 44 specials so badly I can hardly stand it. Right now with my money situation I just can't justify the expense. But when I do, I'll be reloading my own. Drgong you need to take the plunge and start rolling your own. It's fun, interesting, not that difficult and you'll be a more proficient
shooter because you'll shoot more often. I 've been reloading now for about 18 years and buy very little factory ammo. 22 rimfire and 45 acp is really all I buy. The rimfire can't be reloaded and the 45 acp ammo is for self defense only to make myself more lawyer proof in case I ever need a lawyer. I reload some 45 acp but it's just for range shooting.

The biggest expense is getting started. Be sure you get more than one manual and read what the gun writers have to say. They come up with a pearl of wisdom every now and then.
 
Drgong

One more thing I forgot to say. Seek out a friend or acquaintance that reloads. He may be persuaded to reload some for you if you buy the dies and components, Or he may take you under his wing and teach you how to do it yourself. Either way it will be cheaper in the long run.
 
I left 100 rounds of spent .44 special brass at the range a few months back, before I realized I should get into reloading. Now I keep every case.
 
I don't know if I'd buy a .44 Special if I didn't handload. I couldn't afford to shoot it if I wasn't casting bullets from wheel weight metal and reloading them myself. And I'd be limited to anemic factory loads and the terribly expensive "hot" loads from Buffalo Bore, etc.

The handloading kits available from most of the major manufacturers can be had for less than $200. Lyman and Lee offer hand press kits that are much more labor intensive, but still functional and very affordable. I still like to use my Lyman "tong tools" now and again, especially with nostalgia cartridges like the .44 Special.
 
A little note about reloading...

Once you start, you wonder why you didn't start earlier.

You'll stop even thinking about factory ammo, and start looking at bullets at the shop instead. Since I started reloading, the only factory ammo I've bought in calibers for which I own dies has been a few small boxes of expensive self-defense ammo (for CYA reasons).

At that point, you won't worry about where you'll get plinking ammo. You'll just choose a gun that you like, because you like it.

The added benefit is easy and cheap custom loading: I load up special low-recoil rounds that make a gun like a 642 into a fun plinker and a Model 10 into a trainer that feels like a .22, and then I can load up .44 Magnum howitzer loads if I want them, too.

If buying this gun is what gets you into handloading for revolvers, you'll come out better off for it.:)
 
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