I have a pound of Alliant 2400 laying around, and I want to load up some .44 mag. I know it's a great powder, typically for heavy-hitting loads.
My problem is that I'm shooting pretty lightweight pistols, a 4 inch 629 and a 329, so I wanted to load up some light loads, ~1000 fps with a cast 240 grain bullet. I also want to go slow to avoid leading my barrels. Looking at the Lyman data in the .44 mag loadbook, they show a starting load (for a 245 gr cast bullet) of 18.2 grains of 2400 that will push the bullet 915 fps. Perfect.
However, the speer data in the same book shows the 250 gr LSWC over 18.0 gr of 2400 travelling 1290 fps, close to full power. I really don't want to touch one of those off in my scandium 329!
So what's the right answer? What kind of velocity will 18.0 gr of 2400 behind a 240 cast lead bullet will I get? Is 2400 the wrong powder to try and load light loads with? If so, I have other powders to use. No sense in trying to use a porshe to pull a horse trailer.
Thanks,
-John
My problem is that I'm shooting pretty lightweight pistols, a 4 inch 629 and a 329, so I wanted to load up some light loads, ~1000 fps with a cast 240 grain bullet. I also want to go slow to avoid leading my barrels. Looking at the Lyman data in the .44 mag loadbook, they show a starting load (for a 245 gr cast bullet) of 18.2 grains of 2400 that will push the bullet 915 fps. Perfect.
However, the speer data in the same book shows the 250 gr LSWC over 18.0 gr of 2400 travelling 1290 fps, close to full power. I really don't want to touch one of those off in my scandium 329!
So what's the right answer? What kind of velocity will 18.0 gr of 2400 behind a 240 cast lead bullet will I get? Is 2400 the wrong powder to try and load light loads with? If so, I have other powders to use. No sense in trying to use a porshe to pull a horse trailer.
Thanks,
-John