44 mag. and 7.5 gr.unique

[jack44]

Sat. I was firing my super black hawk, my load was 7.5 gr. unique & 240 cast SWC. I was standing about 30 feet away one of my shots was a high hit my target frame and the cast bullet didnt go thru the 2x2 furing strip !!.

It's a ok load mild but no power behind it! next time I'l try 8gr.

 

[rcmodel]

Thats pretty odd right there.

7.5 Unique / 240 in the .44 Spl is the old standard Skeeter Skelton load.
It will get awful close to 1,000 FPS in a longer barrel.

And I can GayRonTee ya it will shoot through several 2"x2"'s stacked prison lover style.

I wouldn't have thought the greater case capacity of the .44 Mag would slow it down that much.

rc

 

[jack44]

Yeah RC that is weird!

 

[Hogpauls]

Umm....... Not to question your shooting ability or loading prowess. But did you hit the target and if you did could it have been a lighter charge than you thought? Just sayin' cause 7.5 grns of Unique out of my 4" is going about 870 fps and at 30' would have plenty 'O punch to go through that.

 

[JLDickmon]

the old standard Skeeter Skelton load

now THERE'S a name you don't here every day.. and used to..

 

[jack44]

Well like I said I was sighting in and that shot was high but maybe it was a light round maybe not anyway I should try it again.

 

[mohican]

I had shot Unique plinking loads in 44 mag for years, but 7.5 grains seems light. I found that I like Trail Boss for mild loads in 44mag and 454 casull

 

[JoeDaddy]

My guess is that the OP is shooting .429 hard cast through a barrel that is a bit oversized. Poor obturation, coupled with the longer case of the magnum may be the culprits.

I've chronied 7.5 grains of power pistol in magnum cases from my 4" SW model 29 with 240 MBC brinell 18 at 800fps. The unique load should be close to that.

 

[jack44]

Your wrong JD 430 dia. barrel 431 dia.

 

[JoeDaddy]

Hmm, I'm no cast expert, but I would think if your barrel is .430 you should be shooting .431 bullets. I'm not sure which of your measurements are for each.

One other possible explanation would be your powder measure "bridged" a load of unique, giving you less than a full 7.5 grains. FWIW metering issues are why I got away from unique. I liked it as a powder, but my chrony results were crazy bad with extreme spreads of 100 fps or more.

 

[Walkalong]

Thats pretty odd right there.

Impossible IMHO, assuming there was 7.5 Grs of Unique in the case, and it was anywhere near the primer.

 

[Curator]

7.5 grs. of Unique and the Lee .430/240TL bullet is my standard .44RemMag load when plinking or training new shooters. I get 850fps from my Rugeer SBH 7 1/2" barrel. Nice mild, accurate load with almost no recoil. Something went wrong if it couldn't penetrate more than that!

 

[rcmodel]

I'm thinking if 7.5 grains Unique was inside the case?
It was near enough to the primer to shoot a 240 SWC through a 2" board at 10 yards!!

That right there is what I have been thinking all along!

rc

 

[joed]

I've shot that load for years, it's no wimp even in a mag case. I'm going with a bad charge of unique.

 

[56hawk]

Sounds like a really wimpy load to me. Lyman lists the starting load as 10 grains of unique for a 240 grain lead bullet. And even that is doing less than 950 fps. I wouldn't be surprised if your load was only doing 750 fps. Depending on barrel length of course.

 

[Walkalong]

A .32 cal 83 Gr plated WC bullet will punch through a 2X4 with ease at 700 FPS, much less a heavy bullet at that speed, despite the larger frontal area. Mathematically, there is virtually no difference. A 125 Gr .38 cal bullet will punch through easily. My .44 Spl loads, that range from lighter to heavier than the OP's, all punch through easily. If I miss my steel plate (hit low) they do all kinds of damage to the 2X4.

 

[floydster]

My plinking load for my Super Blackhawk Bisley 44 mag.
Lee 240 gr. SWC pushed by 10.7 grs. unique, tumble lubed, Alox two coats, no leading.

 

[CraigC]

Sounds like a really wimpy load to me. Lyman lists the starting load as 10 grains of unique for a 240 grain lead bullet. And even that is doing less than 950 fps.

10.0gr should reach 1200fps in a 7½" barrel!

 

[56hawk]

10.0gr should reach 1200fps in a 7½" barrel!

That I don't know. Lyman uses a 4" barrel for their data. I don't see anywhere what barrel length we are actually talking about here.

 

[rcmodel]

Well he said it's a Super Blackhawk, so almost sure to be 6 1/2".

But regardless of that, 7.5 grains Unique/240 SWC in my 4 1/2" S&W .44 Spl will give a 2"x2" board all it can stand and then some!

rc

 

[James2]

7.7 gr Unique under a 250 gr SWC was my go to load for 44 Spl for many years. Yes, that was a hot load. Yes, that would easily go through a 2x4.

I would think that even in a mag casing it would easily go through a 2x4. Is there a chance you could have had a light load? Somehow didn't get all the powder in that one?

 

[jack44]

Well I guess next time I'l stick some T.P in the case to make sure the powder near the primer.

the barrel leanth is 5.5 on my SBH

 

[rcmodel]

I started shooting Unique in 1962.
In about everything that will go bang.

And I'm here to tell you it don't need toilet paper stuffing to get it to light off in anything.

I'd be looking at your reloading equipment, and your load safety checks after dropping powder.

If it bridged in your powder measure and only dropped a partial charge, say 4.0?
Not enough stuff to shoot through a 2" board perhaps.
If the extra 3.5 grains of powder got in the next case, I doubt you would notice it in a Super Blackhawk.

7.5 + 3.5 is still 2.0 under max with a 240 Keith SWC in a .44 Mag.

I'd use loading blocks, charge 50 cases at a time, and look at all of them to compare powder charges before seating bullets.

rc

 

[4895]

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/recipedetail.aspx?gtypeid=1&weight=240&shellid=33&bulletid=52

 

[CraigC]

Something is wrong with the 4" sixgun that only gets 950fps out of 10.0gr Unique. I've clocked 4"-4 5/8" guns at 1050-1100fps. Hell, it'll run 950fps out of your average .45Colt with one full grain less powder.

Well he said it's a Super Blackhawk, so almost sure to be 6 1/2".

Except for a rare handful of guns that shipped with flat-top barrels, Supers were never offered as 6½". They've been catalogued in 4 5/8", 5½", 7½" and 10½" lengths for quite a few years. Although 7½" is surely the most common.