An old target load, suggested to me was 5.0 grains Red Dot with a 240 L, it was accurate. Five grains of Bullseye also produced excellent accuracy. However you cannot push bullets much faster with these powders and that is a limitation.
Unique is without a doubt the most versatile powder I have used in the 44 Special. Shoots well with 180’s, 200 L, 240 lead and jacketed. Winchester W231 was excellent, hard to say which is better or more flexible. I am not interesting in bullets heavier than the Keith 429421 245 to 250 gr LSWC. And, I really don’t know what the advantage is with heavier bullets; you should not push pressures to magnum levels in 44 Specials, and the only way to get respectable speeds with the 290’s and 300s, is by being at magnum pressures.
7.5 grains Unique is a very powerful load, pushes a 240 L at 1000 fps, is only appropriate for N frame revolvers and the Ruger Blackhawk. Much too powerful for a Charter Arms Bulldog. In fact factory velocity loads are a surprise in the Bulldog, surprising recoil that is!
Unique gives excellent accuracy from 6 ¼ grains all the way up. When I get tired of recoil I download to 6 ¼ to 6.5 grains. Shoots well.
I tried Universal, supposed to be a copy of Unique, and it did not cluster on target as well. After all the hoopla in the in print press, I was disappointed on what I saw on target with Universal. Can't believe everything you read. Accurate Arms #5 worked well, but I stopped fooling around with other powders and am using Unique.
I shoot outside and am not bothered by powder residue in the air. I shot Unique once in an inside range, in a 45 LC, under bright lights I could see lots of residue. I tried a super low velocity load with Bullseye, and it was inaccurate. Stay at or above 700 fps, the closer to 750 fps the better.
I have posted similar data for two different pistols, one with a 4” barrel the other a 5.5” barrel.
Code:
4" M624
240 LSWC 5.0 grs Red Dot thrown, Mixed Brass CCI300
T = 64 °F 3-Mar-07
Ave Vel = 714.8
Std Dev = 24.35
ES = 95.28
High 778.4
Low = 683.1
Number rds= 19
Accurate
240 LSWC 5.0 grs Bullseye Lot 6/20/05 Mixed Brass WLP
T = 64 °F 3-Mar-07
Ave Vel = 763.9
Std Dev = 16.18
ES = 60.94
High = 794.7
Low = 733.7
N = 28
very accurate, little powder residue
240 LSWC 6.25 grs Unique thrown, lot UN387(6-21-1993) Mixed Brass WLP
T = 62 °F 25-Feb-07
Ave Vel = 795.1
Std Dev = 23.13
ES = 65.05
Low = 821
High = 756.5
N = 12
Accurate
240 LSWC 6.6 grs Unique thrown, lot UN364 3/9/92 Mixed cases, Brass WLP
T = 70 °F 4-Apr-09
Ave Vel = 859.6
Std Dev = 21.7
ES = 77.85
High = 878.4
Low= 800
N = 10
Reloading manual factory equivalent, shoots great, mild recoil
240 LSWC 7.0 grains Unique, Midway cases, WLP (brass)
T= 45-50 °F 15 Dec 2002
Ave Vel = 902.8
Std Dev = 21.49
ES = 81.76
Low = 859.8
High = 941.6
N = 33
240 LSWC 7.5 grs Unique thrown, lot UN364 3/9/92 Mixed cases, Brass WLP
T = 70 °F 4-Apr-09
Ave Vel = 965.8
Std Dev = 23.15
ES = 65.28
High = 986.3
Low= 921
N = 12
Powerful, accurate
240 JHP 6.5 grs Unique thrown, Midway Brass WLP
T = 64 °F 25-Feb-07
Ave Vel = 791.4
Std Dev = 34.78
ES = 114.5
Low = 845.6
High = 731.1
N = 9
240 LSWC Valiant 8.5 grs AA#5 Lot 35 590 Mixed Brass WLP T = 64 °F 3-Mar-07
Ave Vel = 790
Std Dev = 31
ES = 134
High = 846
Low = 712
N = 32
Accurate
240 LSWC Valiant 9.0 grs AA#5 Lot 35 590 Mixed Brass WLP T = 64 °F 3-Mar-07
Ave Vel = 846
Std Dev = 17
ES = 52
High = 870
Low = 818
N = 10
Very Accurate
240 LSWC Valiant 9.5 grs AA#5 Lot 35 590 Mixed Brass WLP
T = 64 °F 3-Mar-07
Ave Vel = 901
Std Dev = 14
ES = 42
High = 923
Low = 881
N = 8
Very Accurate, barrel leading
240 LSWC 10.0 grs AA#5 thrown Lot DM Midway cases WLP
T = 58 ° F 30-Dec-15
Ave Vel = 998
Std Dev = 25
ES = 73
High = 1028
Low= 956
N= 8
Accurate
View attachment 1041002
Code:
44 Spl Ruger Blackhawk 5.5"
240 LSWC 6.25 grs Unique thrown, lot 6/21/-98/92 Midway cases, Brass WLP
T ≈ 60-65 ° F 19-Apr-09
Ave Vel = 835.4
Std Dev = 26.83
ES = 74.52
High = 877.5
Low= 803
N = 24
240 LSWC 6.6 grs Unique thrown, lot UN364 3/9/92 Midway cases, Brass WLP
T ≈ 60-65 ° F 19-Apr-09
Ave Vel = 875.4
Std Dev = 25.94
ES = 109.6
High = 914.8
Low= 805.2
N = 25
240 LSWC 7.5 grs Unique thrown, lot UN364 3/9/92 Midway cases, Brass WLP
T ≈ 60-65 ° F 19-Apr-09
Ave Vel = 1001
Std Dev = 17.32
ES = 64.32
High = 1027
Low= 963
N = 27
View attachment 1041003
View attachment 1041004
View attachment 1041005
The 44 Special is an old cartridge. I did a bit of research on the 44 Russian which was a very early blackpowder round. The Russian came out in 1871 which is before just before the 45 Colt arrived on the market. Without the Russian military we would never have had the 44 Special. Anyway the 44 Russian was a 240 Lead bullet at 750 fps, a bullet weight that was less than the 45 Colt and a velocity less than the 45 Colt. It was however what the Russians wanted and S&W was able to sell 130,000 of them to Russia, I don't know how many to other countries, but the Japanese Navy bought some, so even though the 44 Russian was less powerful than the 45 Colt, sales were good enough. It took Colt till 1900 to make 190,000 Colt SAA's, so in terms of sales, the 44 Russian and the S&W revolver did well for S&W.
In the civilian market, what characteristics S&W emphasized in their sales literature for the 44 Russian were "penetration in wood" and accuracy. If S&W tried to sell the 44 Russian on velocity and bullet weight, it would have been obvious that it was less powerful than the 45 Colt, so the sales department ignored that. Whether that power difference makes any difference in lethality will bring out a lot of pseudo science arguments but no firm resolution one way or another. Something that was measurable was the incredibly good scores target shooters were making with their 44 Russian S&W revolvers. The round was very accurate and S&W stressed that in their mass marketing advertisements.
S&W should have bumped up the pressures and velocities for the 44 Special, maybe they did not want to have to strengthen their current revolver designs, but the smokeless 44 Special pushed the same weight bullet at the same velocity as the 44 Russian. Since bullet weight and velocity are hard numbers, and more means more, I would say the low velocity of the factory 44 Special has always handicapped the round in terms of sales appeal. However, once you start pushing the 240 grain bullet up to 1000 fps, because the round is so close in performance to a 45 Colt, it would be very hard to prove that it is less lethal.
