Range report on reloads

[Warners]

I couldn't wait to try my 44 Magnum reloads, since I've been talking about them for a couple days. I just got the Super Redhawk yesterday and mounted the Burris 2x scope last night and took 5 minutes to laser bore sight it in before heading to the range tonight. To recap, my loads are 240 grain Hornady XTP's over 24 grains of W296/H110, seated to 1.600 inches OAL. Yes, that is listed on Hodgdon's site as the max load. It was stout recoil and noise, but didn't seem abusive at all. I shot 50 rounds comfortably. Compared to shooting the 500 magnum a few weeks ago, where I shot 2 rounds, set it down and said, "I'm glad I can say that I shot that, but it's really not for me". Haha.

So from a reloading standpoint, all of my rounds fired as expected. No flattened primers, and they ejected from the cylinder freely - no stickiness or stubborn ejection at all. Good news. Of course, 24 grains of powder in those loads definitely gets some attention. I told the young couple next to me that it was about to get loud in there so they weren't surprised by it.

From a shooting standpoint, I couldn't be happier with the gun and my choice to sell my AK and ammo to buy the Super Redhawk and Burris scope. I broke even on the deal which is a huge win in my book (also had enough scratch left over to buy dies and reloading components to make up about 400 loads). With the 7 1/2" barrel and scope, the gun is pretty hefty which I'm sure soaks up a lot of the recoil. After a few cylinders, I learned (forced myself) to adjust to it and not flinch. All together, I shot 50 rounds through it. This was the first time shooting the gun, and had just bore sighted the scope in, so there will be some tweaking and getting used to it. This was one of my better 6 round groups at 35 feet:




Warner

 

[Kachok]

Nice I like loading the 44 Mag, recoil is often overstated, I never found them to be that bad at all.
I use 240gr XTPs too, very good bullet from what I have seen.

 

[Warners]

PS - Whoever it was that said recently how good W296/H110 smells was RIGHT! THAT'S how powder should smell when burned.

 

[flipajig]

Congrats on the 44. It is probably my faveret to shoot and load for you can go from mild to wild. Just a reminder to work up a load start low and work up. Even though its the max published load you haven't shot it in your gun I know Ruger's are tough guns anything could happen I shoot a SBH and 2400 is my toto powder.
Flip

 

[Warners]

Yeah....well, starting slow with 296/110 would be 23 grains of powder. Max load is 24. I've seen published loads up to 26.5 grains of H110/W296 with the Hornady 240 grain XTP. Not saying that's safe for all guns, NOR would I personally load that hot, but 24 grains appears to be perfectly fine. That's what I'll be loading from now on, I believe. I saw NO pressure signs or reason to believe that this won't be my go-to load for 44 magnum. I pretty much decided that I'm not even going to bother shooting 44 special loads in this gun. If I want something lighter, I'll shoot one of my other guns. Switching from the 44 magnum to my mid-level 38 special loads felt like I was shooting a 22. Haha. Almost NO felt recoil. I purposely switched over to the 38 loads to make sure I hadn't developed a flinch after shooting 50 rounds of 44 magnum. It really takes discipline (for me, anyway). I found it was good practice for me.

Warner

 

[tech30528]

I wouldn't worry about the pistol. I have a friend who casts 310 grain bullets for one of those and runs a compressed load of H110 behind it. I've also seen him hit 14 inch steels with it at 100 yards. IIRC the chrony put them at 1760fps mv.

 

[Warners]

I wouldn't worry about the pistol. I have a friend who casts 310 grain bullets for one of those and runs a compressed load of H110 behind it. I've also seen him hit 14 inch steels with it at 100 yards. IIRC the chrony put them at 1760fps mv.

I'm VERY pleased with the Super Redhawk. It's STOUT. It would take quite a mistake to blow this thing up. Nevertheless, I intend to be VERY careful with these max listed loadings. My two boys will be shooting this thing for sure, so if I hurt myself being careless, that's one thing. But if my carelessness hurt one of my kids, well....that's NOT going to happen.

Warner

 

[tech30528]

I've fired his, it is definitely a handfun so to speak. I'm not a revolver guy, I prefer small semis, so firing his is like firing a cannon. He's obviously used to it considering his range and groups, but you almost limp wrist the thing to keep it from beating the crap out of you, which for a semi auto guy seems counter intuitive. To each their own I guess, but he has been reloading the same brass for literally years. A great choice of pistol for anyone looking to tinker. After he got the power load bug he gave away 2 Colts because they would not handle his new hobby.

 

[Warners]

I know what you're saying about not locking down TOO hard. I think that's a mistake I made when I shot that 500 Magnum. I was so concerned about holding onto it and not becoming a youtube celebrity by whacking myself in the forehead with it, that I had a death grip on it, and instead of letting the recoil travel up (at all!), I tried to hold it like a vise, and I agree with you that holding it like that INCREASES the perceived recoil and amount of pressure your hands and joints take. I noticed last night that if I allowed the muzzle to rise a bit I absorbed the recoil more slowly and gradually. I started to get into a rhythm like that, and not only was it more pleasant, my group sizes decreased. I feel confident that I'll be able to get some pretty good groups with the gun/scope combo. This was the first time shooting it, so I just wanted to get some lead down range, get used to the gun, and keep them on the paper. Next time I'll work more on accuracy.

Warner

 

[Warners]

Ok.....here are the results that I was looking for. I went to the range this morning with my oldest son and shot this group with theload that had 23.5 grains of powder in them. I know, not the longest shooting distance but at least my grouping is good.



Warner