Tarus Tracker 4" 44 Mag - 300gr cast loads

My wife added a new Tarus Tracker 44 mag, 4" ported barrel to my collection for my birthday and I've been working on some heavy hitting loads for it. Information on loads for this particular gun is hard to find.

If you know this revolver you know that the porting eats almost an inch of barrel length so it's pretty short in that respect and the cylinder is doing good to take a round with an OAL of 1.61 - any more and things start catching when it rotates.

I've been working on a hard hitting load to take as a bear round when up in the mountains of Wyo. I picked up some Cast Performance 300gr WFNGC as these reportedly would seat properly and still fit in the Tarus cylinder - and they do (any cast slug makers - feel free to contact me - I'd love to buy a box of your bullets if they'll work in this revolver).

Disclaimer: I believe all load data presented here to be within published limits.

I worked up initial loads using Win primers and H110 powder. after several increments from 18gr up to 20gr, I settled on 19.5gr as the best shooting in my particular specimen. This is getting pretty close to a 100% charge.

I want to run the same workup using VV N110, it has a bit more bulk to it and so by the time I get to 19.2gr I'm confident I'm compressing the charge at the same seat depth. I haven't fired any of the N110 loads yet until I'm confident they're not going to present a problem. I'd rather break them down and not shoot them than take a chance.

The Cast Performance bullets seat pretty deeply in the case - anyone have any opinions/info with this particular combination? The H110 at 19.5gr wasn't showing any adverse signs, cases fell out of the cylinder after shooting and brass looks good under magnifying glass post shoot. I'm unclear on how the deep seat depth for this bullet will affect case pressures compared to other types that don't seat as deeply.

My H110 load @ 19.5 chronos at 1498fps pretty consistently which seems pretty darn decent for that short of a barrel (and makes me wonder about pressure levels a bit even with this load).

thanks for any info/advice....

 

Welcome to THR, serenityarms.

You seem to be getting some decent velocity with the short barrel, and honestly, I wouldn't change a thing if the cases are dropping out.
I don't use VV powders so I can't comment on it. Perhaps save it for some lighter/shorter bullets.
I linked to a load with a 300gr Master Cast and H110 with more powder at 1.60 COAL, so it's similar to your load.
As I mentioned, I wouldn't change a thing in your load, if it's accurate enough for you.

http://www.reloadersnest.com/detail_handgun.asp?CaliberID=16&BulletWeight=300&LoadID=531

In case you haven't visited yet, here's VV loadsite and 44 Mag data.

http://www.lapua.com/en/products/reloading/vihtavuori-reloading-data/relodata/6/21



NCsmitty

 

Just be sure to put a good crimp on those because they will move on you. There's a lot of bang to them. Good choice of bullet.

 

My H110 load @ 19.5 chronos at 1498fps pretty consistently which seems pretty darn decent for that short of a barrel (and makes me wonder about pressure levels a bit even with this load).

Let me get this straight- You're getting basically 1500 fps with a 300 grain slug in a 4" barreled 44 mag with a cylinder gap? Good Lord, sir, if that load hits the broad side of the barn for you, and you have no pressure signs, I'd stick with it.

 

I'm with you on this one. Thats more than a guy could ask for, really.

 

I have a 44 Tracker also but since it's new, I've kept the handloads on the mild side so far. Once I get her broke in I'll venture into the 1400/1500 realm. Sounds like an elephant gun..

 

Thats sounds a little too high velocity from a 3 inch barrel. I only get right at 1200 fps from a similar load out of a 5 and 1/2 inch SBH. I would expect about a little over 1000 fps from that load in a 3 inch tube.

 

Thanks for the feedback all - I'm used to having to experiment with several powders and lots of loads to find something that shoots really well in any particular gun so I was pretty surprised to find my first run at 44 wound up working so well. I figured I had to be doing something wrong and this seemed like a pretty good forum to use to double check myself

I ran some Hornady self defense loads through it and was getting pretty consistent 1230fps speeds - overall I didn't expect to get these speeds from this gun considering the short barrel (or, perhaps my chrono is lying? it matches a friends pretty close so I don't think so) - even from the factory loads.

jgiehl: agreed - I keep them all crimped nice and snug. This load kicks pretty hard

ironhead7544: when I got started on the 44 I expected the exact same thing, 1000, 1100 would be doing good. my starting loads chron'd around 1280 and I actually stopped to cycle power on the chrono thinking it was confused

Thanks again for the feedback - I think I'm going to take advice and stick with this specific setup and add a check to the win column. As mentioned I can't see any overpressure signs and the cases are dropping out of the cylinder cleanly. I guess my particular gun just likes this mix.

Next step, I want to work up a milder load for use this fall on whitetail. I'm having a blast with this gun and now I'm tempted to use it for hunting.

 

I found this while searching for a 300 grain, .44 load for a 4" 629.

The velocity seems a bit much from what I've been reading, any other thoughts on this load and stated velocity?

Anyone?