Looking for gentle .44 mag loads

[FunYet]

I'm finally getting the hang of reloading and am beginning to enjoy it.

Today I took a batch of .44 special to the range and ended up shooting the entire 100 rounds. I have a S&W 629 but find commercial magnum loads are too punishing for much range time, and the range I shoot at does not like shooters using full house loads.

I'd like to load up some "gentle" .44 magnum loads and am open to suggestions. Once I deplete my supply of .44 special brass I'd prefer to work with just .44 magnum to keep my brass needs simple.

By the way...is it REALLY true that shooting .44 special a lot in a .44 magnum gun will ruin the forcing cone, or was Mr. Gun Dude at the range just rying to sell me another gun!?

I have 180 grain and 240 grain bullets on hand and a few types of powder on hand; Clays, 2400, Unique and W231.

Thanks,

FunYet

 

[Sharps Shooter]

You bet! Versatility it the thing I love about the .44 Magnum. You can load it as light as the mild .44 Special and it will still be accurate enough to snip the head off Blue Grouse at 20 yards. Or you can load it hot enough to put a 300 grain SWC through both shoulders of a Mule Deer at 40 yards.
I've never heard that before about damaging the forcing cone by shooting .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum. But I HAVE heard, and read in several loading manuals warnings about loading jacketed bulllets too light. Especially those half-jacketed ones built by Speer. You can end up with a bullet jacket stuck in the bore. The next shot is a disaster. You didn't say whether or not the 240 grain bullets you have are jacketed. If they are, I would not use them for light loads. Same goes for the 180s, although I'm pretty sure they ARE jacketed. Besides, using jacketed bullets for light loads in a .44 Magnum is a waste of money. I use either the Speer or Hornady, swaged lead, 240 grain SWCs over a charge of 6.7 grains of Unique. Standard primer. I've never chronographed it, but I suspect it's a little better than 700fps. It's deadly accurate at 25 yards - 6 shots in a ragged 50 cent piece size hole. And it's VERY mild. One thing though - don't use those swaged lead bullets for hot loads. They'll lead up your barrel in a hurry. Which brings me to another point. If you cast your own bullets and therefore can control their hardness, you're good to go however hot or mild you want to load them. But most commercial cast bullets are harder than ****, and will not obturate properly at low pressures. Same thing - you end up with a badly leaded barrel, only this time the alloy is very hard and a bugger to clean out.

 

[FunYet]

You didn't say whether or not the 240 grain bullets you have are jacketed...

I forgot to mention, the 180 grain are Sierra jacketed HP and the 240 are Hornady XTP jacketed. Neither is usually the cheapest option but they were on sale. I'm eventually (probably) going to buy a batch of 1000 Ranier 240 gr copper plated bullets, only because they're easy to get my hands on. I'm trying to avoid unjacketed bullets only beacuse I shoot a LOT and am trying to minimize my exposure to lead, though it may already be a bit late for that!

 

[mbartel]

I like to use the Rainier or Berry's plated lead bullets for mild loads. The copper plating means no bore leading and they are soft enough to obturate properly at the lower velocities. They are cheap too. If you order from Berry's the shipping is free. An excellent buy if you figure the shipping costs on heavy lead bullets. Neither of these brands has a cannelure for roll crimping, but at these low velocities, a taper crimp will work fine and it doesn't work the brass as much, so your cases should last longer than they would if you used a full roll crimp. Here's the link to Berry's website.

http://www.berrysmfg.com/categories/2-0.php

 

[Sharps Shooter]

I've never tried plated bullets but if they're soft enough to obturate at lower pressures and don't lead your bore, they sound like a good option. Especially if you're worried about lead exposure. About the only time I'm concerned about lead exposure is when I'm casting bullets. Then again, I don't shoot at an indoor range. Heck, I've never even been to one, but from what I've heard, some ranges won't allow you to shoot non-jacketed or un-plated bullets.

I forgot to say in my first response that I use only .44 Magnum cases for all loads, light thru heavy, in my .44 Magnum sixguns. Like you, I want to keep my brass needs simple. Besides, I don't like having to clean out those crud rings in my cylinder that build up in front of the .44 Special cases before I can switch to magnum cases. Of course there's a lot of space left over in my cases, but it sure doesn't seem to hurt accuracy.

 

[P0832177]

I used to shoot a lot of hard cast 240LWSC in Win brass with Fed 150 and 8gr of 231. That was a fun plinking load! But, if you want some stout laser like ammo, A Sierra 180gr JHP in Win brass with max charge of 296 with Fed 155 primers. Out of a six inch 629, off the bench it was less then a paper plate groups at 100 yds with no problem.

 

[Quantrill]

5.5gr of 700X under a 429421. Nice, accurate and gentle. Quantrill

 

[stellarpod]

I shoot 44 Mag in my Cowboy matches. It sounds like your looking for a round with similar recoil characteristics. My current recipe uses a 200gr lead RNFP (round nose flat point) bullet with 4.8 grains of Clays. I'm pleased with the performance. The Hodgdon "Cowboy Action Data" brochure lists 725 fps for the starting load of 4.2 grains and 1028 fps for maximum load of 6.4 grains.

For your choice of bullets, with Clays powder I'd recommend the following to start with:

180 gr. - 4.2 grains
240 gr. - 4.3 grains

These should be VERY light shooting. The figures are based upon data from the above mentioned brochure and are actually intended for lead RNFP bullets. I suspect they'll work fine with your jacketed bullets though. Someone here may know better and should feel free to chime in if I'm off base.

One thing I notice with Clays: in the summertime when temperatures start to rise my loads seem noticeably hotter. I've been thinking about backing down to 4.6 or 4.7 for this reason.

stellarpod

 

[Clark]

I found AA#9 to work very well for reduced load in 44 mag with lead
bullets.

"Accurate number 2" lists 9.7 gr AA#9 behind 245 gr lead round nose as
starting load for 818 fps in a 44 Special.
The same book lists 21.7 gr AA#9 behind 240 lead semi wad cutter as max
load for 1550 fps in a 44 magnum.

Likewise 10.4 to 23.6 gr AA#9 in the 200 ~ 215 gr Lead for 898 - 1665
fps.

I found that somewhere between max 44 Special and 44 mag start was where
my wimpy friend liked to shoot my model 29.

 

[Jeeper]

I always like Universal clays and HS6 for weak plinker loads behind a 180 or 240 plated. Another option is to try something like precision bullets. They dont lead the barrel.

 

[P95Carry]

Note - the load I mention is for reference only - not a specific recommendation.

When I used to shoot long range with my Redhawk in 80's - 100 and 300 yards - I found that I did better with other than hot loads. What worked well for me was 8.5 grains Red Dot under a home cast 250 Keith plain base SWC.... which was medium hardness being mostly lead alloyed with tin (11:1 IIRC) - minimal antimony.

This was a ''crisp'' load, totally comfortable and probably approximated a 44 spl +P - I cannot find fps figures unfortunately.

For long range use thay had to be ''lobbed'' but thing was, they flew true and consistent.

 

[drinks]

Mild .44mag.

Any .44sp load will be fine, if you really shoot a bunch, get a Lee 240swc gas check mold, a pot and a sizer die, find some wheel weights usually free for the asking and shoot until your arm gives out for very little money.
Unique, Universal for lighter loads, Herco or SR 4756for a little faster and 2400, IMR 4227 and H110 for faster loads. Will do best with a good bullet lube if shooting over about 800fps.
All the fun you can handle.
Don

 

[rbernie]

Ranier 240gr HPs over 7.xgr of TiteGroup - very clean, very economical, works well in shorter barrels as well as long ones, and suitable for self defense in a pinch. I get my Raniers from MidwayUSA; about $28/box o' 500 if I recall correctly. The Raniers have no cannelure, but I crimp over the shoulder and have had no issues with set-back or creep.

I'm a real fan of TiteGroup for lighter loads and no longer use Unique or 231 much. It's remarkably clean and very low-flash, even in my snubbies.

 

[zeke]

Another possible option. Rem 180 sjhp over 10 -11 gns unique, fed 150 primer, hard LFC, Win brass. From a 4 in barrel the 10.0 gns gives bout 1180 fps, the 11.0 gn load gives bout 1250 fps. While not as soft shooting as a target load, this combination is very accurate, uses a hp bullet with soft lead core and is controllable.

The Rem bullets are cheaper than most jacketed bullets, have a crimping groove and can be had in bulk.

 

[Al Norris]

Another TG fan here!

I'm currently going through a box of Oregon Trail 240g hard cast RNFP. I've been using 8.5g of TG, worked up from 6g. I find it mild, as compared to full loads using H110. I'm not very recoil sensitive, so what's mild to me, may not be mild to you.

rbernie, 7.xg is an real mild load! But my 5.25" vaquero likes the 8.5g better. I've gotten leading from using those low loads. More accurate out to 50 yds.

 

[Standing Wolf]

is it REALLY true that shooting .44 special a lot in a .44 magnum gun will ruin the forcing cone, or was Mr. Gun Dude at the range just rying to sell me another gun!?

He was either trying to sell you anther gun or making a spectacle of his ignorance.

I've been very happy with light .44 special Tight Group loads in .44 magnum cartridge cases. Now, if I could just find a true .44 caliber wadcutter bullet!

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

240 JHP at about .44 spl velocities 6-1/2 grs. of Unique .... about 750 fps.

240 JHP with 8 grs giving about 950 fps .