Howdy folks, first post on THR.
I've found that I really enjoy shooting 44 special. Typically out of 44 magnum guns, as I don't have a dedicated 44 spcl gun.
However, 44 special brass is sure hard to find and not cheap. None of the "once fired" places have it in stock and I've yet to find a better price on any of the auction sites than $19/100 at midway for new starline. 44 mag brass however is much easier to find, not to mention the fact that I already have a pile.
So, my question is: Should I just keep scrounging 44 spl brass and load those loads as they should be loaded? Or should I work up some light 44 mag loads and just use the bigger cases? Yes, I know that I don't want to just blindly use 44 special loads in 44 magnum cases because the pressures will be all different. I'm more talking about starting with some proper light magnum loads if I go that direction rather than trying to modify special loads for the larger case.
My uses for the guns I would be firing these out of are mostly paper punching and range games. There's a slight chance that I would someday carry one of them if I were fishing in "furry" areas. But that sort of thing isn't a concern in 99% of my fishing areas. So it wouldn't be enough of a issue to say flat out "just shoot the 44 magnum cases so that you don't have to worry about fouling up the cylinder with the shorter special cases and then not being able to chamber the 44 magnum cases when you wanted". If I shoot 44 special and then find myself wanting the full house loads for some reason, I will just double down and make sure that the cylinder is properly scrubbed.
Lastly, any thoughts on loads for either special or light magnum? Lots of good info in the archives, but it's always worth checking in to see what people are using.
I've found that I really enjoy shooting 44 special. Typically out of 44 magnum guns, as I don't have a dedicated 44 spcl gun.
However, 44 special brass is sure hard to find and not cheap. None of the "once fired" places have it in stock and I've yet to find a better price on any of the auction sites than $19/100 at midway for new starline. 44 mag brass however is much easier to find, not to mention the fact that I already have a pile.
So, my question is: Should I just keep scrounging 44 spl brass and load those loads as they should be loaded? Or should I work up some light 44 mag loads and just use the bigger cases? Yes, I know that I don't want to just blindly use 44 special loads in 44 magnum cases because the pressures will be all different. I'm more talking about starting with some proper light magnum loads if I go that direction rather than trying to modify special loads for the larger case.
My uses for the guns I would be firing these out of are mostly paper punching and range games. There's a slight chance that I would someday carry one of them if I were fishing in "furry" areas. But that sort of thing isn't a concern in 99% of my fishing areas. So it wouldn't be enough of a issue to say flat out "just shoot the 44 magnum cases so that you don't have to worry about fouling up the cylinder with the shorter special cases and then not being able to chamber the 44 magnum cases when you wanted". If I shoot 44 special and then find myself wanting the full house loads for some reason, I will just double down and make sure that the cylinder is properly scrubbed.
Lastly, any thoughts on loads for either special or light magnum? Lots of good info in the archives, but it's always worth checking in to see what people are using.