The Good,The Bad,The Silvertip

[Barry the Bear]

Went to the range with my brother, he took out his kimber 1911 and glock 26 while I took out my model 29 and superblackhawk. Being a .44 mag/spl fan I took some cowboy loads and some hunting loads.I also took some 200 gr .44 spl winchester silvertips as that was my defense ammo of choice. Having never fired it before I loaded a cylinder on the smith and ruger and out of both I have to say the end result was anemic to say the least.I was told to expect 900 fps but our chrono read around 755 fps. Anyone have any experience with this round and a better alternative ?

 

[Sam1911]

I had EXACTLY that result, except worse. 705 fps, IIRC. They're really pretty darned pathetic. Especially at like $1 a shot!

Horribly disappointing.

DoubleTap and Buffalo Bore have some pretty stomping .44Spc. loads if you like factory stuff. I roll my own.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Thanks Sam, Ive been thinking about the speer gold dot as well as hornady critical defense .Cant find buffalo bore or doubletap around here

 

[Barry the Bear]

I dont reload yet

 

[sidheshooter]

The hot 'affordable' SD load is actually the aluminum-cased blazer 200gr GDHP. Kicks all sorts of silvertip ass.

Now, make it a .357 and 145gr, and we've really got something in silvertips. In .44spec? Not so much...

 

[Barry the Bear]

I used to see the blazer gold dot at 33.99 at academy now its 39.99 what gives?

 

[Sam1911]

Up $6? That's it? Count your blessings. If you were looking for .22 LR ammo the price would be up 200% or more!

No worries, the panic is subsiding.

 

[Barry the Bear]

I never thought .44 would be a problem in the panic

 

[Sam1911]

A rising tide floats all boats, you know.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Well the current boat sucks

 

[Drail]

Silvertips have always been REALLY wimpy. They are the "cowboy hollowpoint". On a good day with a tailwind they might actually make it all the way to the target. There are a great many better hollowpoint loads out there now. Try some CCI/Blazer Gold Dot 200 gr. loads. If you really want good .44 Spl. ammo you must make it yourself.

 

[sidheshooter]

Well the current boat sucks

Heh... it's been a while since I laughed at a THR thread--you and Sam just gave the situation some levity, thanks guys.

 

[Jaymo]

I load, and .44 Special was the first round I ever loaded. Back in 1990, I had a Charter Bulldog, but was on a tech school student budget.
Couldn't afford store bought practice ammo.
My buddy had a reloading press, priming tool, powder scale, etc.
I bought Lee Dies and some powder, primers, brass, and cast boolits. (these things were cheap then)
And, I loaded a bunch of starting loads from my buddy's Speer manual.
Come to think of it, I've loaded more .44 Spl, .44 Mag, and .45 ACP than any other calibers.
I've burned a helluva lot of powder with my .44 Spl reloads.

That said, you don't HAVE to reload, to get damned good .44 Spl ammo.
Buffalo Bore has some fantastic loads in this chambering.

Reloading is definitely a lot cheaper.

 

[InkEd]

Get some Buffalo Bore 340 grain Hard Cast Lead Flat Nose +P+ for the Ruger. My wife got me a box for Xmas. They are insanely powerful. Do NOT shoot them in the Smith and Wesson!

 

[asia331]

No luck with silvertips either; ave up on 'em years ago after similar observed performance.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Inked I was talking about self defense rounds not bear literally #@*$%*@! in the woods rounds. But I did find some federal semi-wadcutter hollowpoint rounds for 22.95. Ill see how those do.

 

[Jaymo]

I wish I could find the Fed SWCHP ammo.

 

[aarondhgraham]

A tiny bit off the main subject,,,

I remember when I was a kid,,,
I inherited a nice 8mm K-98 Mauser,,,
It came with about 60 rounds of 180 grain silvertip.

I was so disappointed to find out it wasn't real silver,,,
There went my fantasy of hunting werewolves with that rifle.

Aarond

.

 

[Barry the Bear]

aaorond your kidding right? I thought they were pure silver

 

[JERRY]

the win sthp .44spl is one of the most anemic loads available.

as stated above, the aluminum case cci gold dot 200gr. .44spl is a great defense round

of course the boutique companies make some pretty stout .44spl loads, look at BB 190gr. LHP "fbi" .44spl.

 

[buck460XVR]

I always thought of 750 FPS kinda middle of the road for a .44 special. I personally would expect most factory ammo to shoot "middle of the road" and to not perform to the velocity printed on the box. My concern would be more about it's accuracy and terminal performance as opposed to the velocity it produced.

 

[JERRY]

150 fps less than the 900 fps claimed is an awful lot away from middle of the road.

750 fps. maybe for a 240gr. target load.....

 

[Sam1911]

My epiphany moment was when I considered that I could carry a big, bulky wheelgun with only six rounds of ammo in it. But at least that ammo was...wait, 200 gr only going 705 fps???

In a gun that was harder to carry than a 1911, which would hold 33% more rounds of 230 gr. 900fps+ JHPs?

Not for me. If I'm going to carry the wheelgun, there's got to be an UP-side to the trade off.


(My usual .44 carry ammo runs 240 gr. XTPs at 1,250 fps.)

 

[JERRY]

since the C.A. bulldog has been the dominant ccw .44spl out there for so long makers of this ammo have to make it to the lowest denominator which is the bulldog.

many makers of stout but still spec .44spl ammo warn against standard use of it in the bulldog..... and though the big makers claim a good velocity from their defensive load line, they often fall quite a bit short....

you want to carry .44spl? get some Buffalo Bore, or Cor-bon, or Underwood....

 

[Barry the Bear]

Did winchester ever make their pdx1 series in .44 mag/spl?