.44Spl. loads in .44mag brass?

[km101]

I’m having trouble finding “moderate “ .44mag loads for 255 grain “Keith” lswc bullets. I don’t want to go below the starting loads listed but most of the data I have starts at ~ 1100 FPS. But I have found several different loads in .44Spl. that I like. Would there be any problems with transferring these loads to .44mag brass? I know there would be some loss of velocity, but would there be any other possible problems?

I also want to avoid the carbon ring buildup from shooting.44spl in a.44mag cylinder.

Thanks

 

[santacruzdave]

I load "Skeeter" loads in 44 Mag brass. Accurate out of my Smith M69:

Created: 09-19-2017 12:04:50 PM
Description: 44 mag 7.5 Unique 240 gr SWC
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono (FT): 0.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight (gr): 240.000
Altitude (FT): 0.0
Temp: 73 °F
BP: 30.06 inHG
Shots
# FPS FT-LBS PF
5 897 428.86 215.28
4 888 420.29 213.12
3 890 422.19 213.60
2 879 411.82 210.96
1 897 428.86 215.28
Average: 890.20
StdDev: 7.46
Min: 879
Max: 897
Spread: 18
True MV: 890.20

 

[Herman B]

I also want to avoid the carbon ring buildup from shooting.44spl in a.44mag cylinder.

Why not clean rings from the Spc loads? Do you clean mag rings?

 

[Slamfire]

Elmer Keith recommended a load of 240 LSWC and 7.5 grs Unique in his book "Sixguns", and I believe that is where Skeeter picked it up. It is a powerful load in the 44 Spl, depending on the day, it will average 1000 fps. This data is slightly below 1000 fps. It is not a plinking load, it is just on the edge of hurting.

44 Special Ruger Blackhawk 5.5" barrel

240 LSWC 7.5 grs Unique thrown, lot UN331 8-89 Brass WLP
T = 68 ° F 14-Dec-15

Ave Vel = 986
Std Dev = 14
ES = 53
High = 1012
Low= 960
N = 32





One grain more of Unique in 44 Magnum brass just about duplicated the classic Elmer Keith load. It is powerful and accurate.

S&W M629-4 Stainless, 5" Barrel

240 LSWC 8.5 grs Unique thrown, Midway Brass WLP
25-Nov-04 T = 58 °F

Ave Vel = 1023
Std Dev = 25
ES = 99
Low = 958
High = 1057
N = 30

 

[Mowgli Terry]

My experience: I'm still looking for the carbon ring in my Smith's and Ruger. More is made out of this carbon ring business than should be. What ever is in the cylinder can be handled with Hoppe's #9. I have never seen this hateful carbon ring in my guns.

 

[Varminterror]

Seems like we’re doing this particular question every couple weeks lately.

Add 10% powder charge to 44spcl data and you’ll end up with a similar velocity from a 44mag case.

There’s also a consideration of where you are sourcing 44spcl data. Some Spcl data is very near 44mag velocities - there was far lesser gap between these two than, say, 38spcl and 357mag, or 45colt and 454 casull.

 

[JO JO]

240gr and 8.5 gr unique or 9 gr unique and a 200 gr projectile have been my mild fun loads in 44mag if you are looking for a light load and good case fill
Take a look at trailboss

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

7gr or 7.5gr of Unique under a 250gr cast bullet is a nice soft load out of my RSBH 7.5 Barrel

 

[Walkalong]

. But I have found several different loads in .44Spl. that I like. Would there be any problems with transferring these loads to .44mag brass? I know there would be some loss of velocity, but would there be any other possible problems?

Won't be an issue, although I would use the .44 Spl max as a starting place for you midrange .44 Mags. Bump it up a hair as needed.

 

[buck460XVR]

Add 10% powder charge to 44spcl data and you’ll end up with a similar velocity from a 44mag case.

With a 13% increase in capacity in a .44 mag case over a .44 special case, that would be a safe assumption.

The other major difference between .44 special and .44 mag is velocity. Many manuals give .44 mag recipes that will result in .44 special velocities. Lyman for example, has loads starting at 750fps with a Keith style 255g LSWC in .44 mag. For my mild .44 mag loads I prefer the lighter, Acme coated 240g LSWCs over 10 gr Unique. Seems to be a standard "plinking" .44 mag recipe.

 

[joneb]

I would use WSF, VV-n340 or Unique and perhaps Blue Dot. I would also consider F-150 vs WLP in my tests.

 

[Charlie98]

Unique would be my first stop... and probably my last. I suppose there are other powders, but who cares about them, anyway?

 

[joneb]

I suppose there are other powders, but who cares about them, anyway?

I have found that the powders I mentioned in post #11 to be more accurate cleaner burning and meter better than Unique, Blue Dot not included.

 

[Charlie98]

I have found that the powders I mentioned in post #11 to be more accurate cleaner burning and meter better than Unique, Blue Dot not included.

I was joking... I happen to have 11+ #'s of Unique on the bench, of course I'm using that. I will agree with you on Blue Dot, however... I don't have a whole lot of use for BD.

 

[cfullgraf]

Add 10% powder charge to 44spcl data and you’ll end up with a similar velocity from a 44mag case.

There’s also a consideration of where you are sourcing 44spcl data. Some Spcl data is very near 44mag velocities - there was far lesser gap between these two than, say, 38spcl and 357mag, or 45colt and 454 casull.

I prefer to use the longer, 44 Magnum cases in guns chambered for 44 Magnum even though I am shooting a light round. This is good advice for starting out.

The carbon ring build up is not an issue if you clean your gun regularly.

For me, I have both 44 Special and 44 Magnum revolvers so I'd rather keep the Special cases for the Special revolvers and the Magnum cases for the Magnum revolvers.

 

[forrest r]

Any of the "cowboy action" reloading data will give you loads that will give you light/44spl loads in 44mag cases.

When down loading 44mag reloads I've found that it's better to use faster burning powers or powders that are bulkier. They tend to do be less position sensitive. Hodgdon's clays is an excellent powder for light 44mag loads. 6.0gr to 6.5gr of clays and most bullets in the 200gr to 250gr weight range is a good place to start. Awhile back I was looking for plinking loads for a beater 629. Put a scope on it and sighted it in. This is the target I used to sight it in, was aiming at the left target. Shot 3 rounds and moved the poi left & shot 3 more. Move the poi to the left again and shot the 6-shot group @ 25yds using a "keith" clone home cast/coated hp bullet.


Another 25yd 6-shot target from that day

sold the 429303 mold that cast these bullets


A cramer nose pour 200gr wc holds it's own @ 25yds using 6.5gr of clays in 44mag cases. Another target shot that day


All those loads are in the +/- 20,000cup range doing +/- 800fps in that 6" bbl'd 629.

 

[buck460XVR]

I have found that the powders I mentioned in post #11 to be more accurate cleaner burning and meter better than Unique, Blue Dot not included.

Never found WSF to be accurate in heavy bullet for caliber, low velocity loads. Works good in my .45ACP tho. The Vihtavuori powders are notoriously clean burning, but are hard to find and quite expensive around here. Not really what I consider a "plinking" powder. While many don't think Unique meters well, it meters well and consistently to volume and this is where it performs well....... when measured by volume. This is why folks that still use dippers prefer it. While weight may vary +/- a grain or so by throw, that variance doesn't seem to matter as much as volume. At plinking velocities, Unique is very accurate for me, is very affordable(generally under $20 for a pound jug) and works well in a variety of calibers. I really don't find it much dirtier than other powders when used at plinking velocities. You experience appears to differ and I respect that, but when it comes to bang for the buck for most folks, Unique is at the top of the list.

 

[onegunred]

I started using Hodgdon Universal about 8 years ago and really like it. Under a 240 gr MBC #13 Cowboy in a Starline 44 Mag case. Using Hodgdon data I have loaded 6.5 gr thru 10.2 gr. with 7.3 gr. being my load for plinking. 9.3gr is what I load with when I want a bit more noise and snap. 8.5 gr. is a nice load.

 

[joneb]

Never found WSF to be accurate in heavy bullet for caliber,

I have found WSF very accurate in 44spl loaded with 200-212gr cast and coated bullets, as well with VV N-340 these work very well for me in down loaded 44 mag.

 

[mdi]

A lot of good info above. I started reloading 44 Magnum in '88 and after I got over my case of "Magnumitis", I reloaded nearly everything from 123 gr. balls over a dusting of Bullseye to 310 gr ingots over near max loads of WC820. For "potting" loads I quite often used 44 Special data in my Magnum brass, straight outta my manuals, no "formula". Of course the listed velocity was higher than what I achieved, but most of the loads were accurate. Most of my revolvers ran on a steady diet of cast bullets either Ranch Dog design 240 RNFP, Lyman 429421, or Lee 240 SWC TL, and I PCed a bunch of the Lyman bullets. I never had a problem with the dreaded "carbon ring" as I clean my gun soon after shooting...

 

[Typetwelve]

I've kicked around doing this, just moving to 44 magnum cases and loading them down. At the moment, I primarily shoot my S&W 629 and I can say that after quite a bit of special rounds being put through it, I don't have any cylinder carbon buildup that I can see, I just clean it normally.

To be honest, I'd just like to eliminate some of the gap jump from the case to the forcing cone. I'm guessing that I'd get more accuracy using longer magnum brass.

As for load data, that I can see, much of what you find online is really light stuff, in the 13K-15K PSI range (STD 44 special stuff). I'm sure someone will be past safe messing with most listed loads figuring that magnum is over 30K PSI. I'm messing with some special loads in the 20K PSI range to run through that magnum revolver. The 10% over special charges is easily safe given the pressures that a magnum revolver can handle.

 

[gotboostvr]

With that bullet, if you gave Unique... I'd start with 6.5gr and stop at 10gr. Im sure somewhere along that route you'll find what you want.

I run about 8.5gr because that's about where I enjoy the recoil, but can shoot almost indefinitely.

 

[Typetwelve]

With that bullet, if you gave Unique... I'd start with 6.5gr and stop at 10gr. Im sure somewhere along that route you'll find what you want.

I run about 8.5gr because that's about where I enjoy the recoil, but can shoot almost indefinitely.

I'm curious what the loss is when loading like for like. I'm loading 240g lead projectiles in special brass over 7.5g of Unique and got an average of 918 fps from them. In a magnum case, I'm curious what the fps loss would be.

 

[ATLDave]

Another voice for the 7-something or 8-something grains of Unique crowd.

I use ~8.3 under 210 grain bullets in my .41 magnum for loads that are past what you can get out of most service-caliber semi-autos, but not punishing.

Many people misinterpret start data as being "never go below" data. For some hard-to-ignite powders, like H110, that is true. But with appropriate powders, to quote Richard Feynman, "there's plenty of room at the bottom."

 

[.308 Norma]

I'm curious what the loss is when loading like for like. I'm loading 240g lead projectiles in special brass over 7.5g of Unique and got an average of 918 fps from them. In a magnum case, I'm curious what the fps loss would be.

I'm guessing you'd lose about 92fps - that's about 10%.
Remember, I said "guessing." Have you got a chronograph? I'd be interested in finding out for sure. I have a chronograph, but no 44 Special brass left or I'd do the experiment myself.