Hello to all. My first post...

[rick300]

This is my first post. My name is Rick, I live in California, and I’m 54 years old. I joined this forum because I want to learn how to reload. I’ve read The ABC’s of Reloading, The Speer Manual, and read everything and watched every video that I could find on the Internet. I’m here because I don’t want to be a Darwin candidate or endanger the guy next to me at the range.
I’m a mechanic, and understand a caliper. I’ve purchased the Rockchucker supreme master kit and Lee dies. I’ve played with the press without powder or primers and I am confident that I’ve got the mechanics down.
I am ready to load my first cartridge. It will be 44 Magnum, I wanted to start with 40 S&W but everything is on backorder (lots of that going around). So, I’m going to go with what I’ve got.
I’ve got 100 Sierra 220 grain FPJ, 1 pound of Alliant Unique, and Remington #2 1/2 primers. I’ve also acquired “The Complete Reloading Manual for the .44 Magnum.” I have two problems. First you should have two references for a load, I can only find the one for the Sierra with Unique, and the second is, there is no specified primer in the recipe in “The complete Reloading Manual for the .44 Magnum.
So, I’m thinking about this for my first load. Sierra 220 grain FPJ over 11.5 grains of Alliant Unique (starting load) with a Remington 2 ½ large pistol primer. Are primers so different that this should be a concern? The only stupid questions are the ones not asked. So what I need here is ten ok’s. Anybody says no and it’s back to the books.
Thanks, Rick

 

[SASS#23149]

differences in prmer by brand only come into play with very precisely done ammo.ie: bench rest shooters.
using magnum or regular primers is usually a matter of the load,and specified in the manuals..hopefully.
If not,the default is standard primers unless it's a full power load ..usually.
If you only have magnums on hand,most folks just use them BUT stay at least 10% UNDER max charge.
What is FPJ ? do u mean FMJ by chance?
The manuals I have,for bullets of APPROXIMATELY your weight,indicate closer to a medium than beginning load.I don't have that exact bullet in my books.
Sometimes manuals come far from agreeing,that is when I do what you are doing..come here for advice.
Remember,our advice is worth what ya paid for it.
I"m sure others will chime in on the load ur looking at doing.
Welcome to the board,and relaoding.
EVERYONE is scared the 1st time they fire their reloads,lol. I was
the powder level is THE most importand step,don't mess it up or KABOOM.

 

[cliffy]

What Kaboom are we speaking of?

If a handload is within the values of any Reloading Manual, it is super-safe because all published loads are weak compared to pressing the envelope of maxi-power. Since Manufacturers can't know how shabby your firearm is, they opt for mundane loads. They want to keep you safe, and not have you sue them. My loads are suited to my firearm, which is not an old piece of cr_p. Handloading is what makes shooting truly fun. cliffy

 

[rick300]

thanks for the reply

FPJ I learned when I bought these bullets is Full Profile Jacket. There are so many that it is hard to match up every thing bullets, powder, primers... Very intimidating for a beginner. I'm not going to screw this up. If I die doing this my wife will kill me. Rick

 

[rg1]

Sierra 5th Edition manual with the 220FPJ bullet lists Unique:
start 11.5--1200fps
12.1--1250
maximum 12.6--1300fps
Overall length listed at 1.600". They used Federal cases and CCI 350 magnum primers in their test. Unique is the second fastest powder used in their chart. Test was in a 7 1/2 Ruger Blackhawk. Sierra is now my favorite manual by the way and I have most all of them.
As far as Remington 2 1/2 versus the CCI 350 Magnum primer, the CCI 350 is much hotter than the Rem 2 1/2. I've tested them with Winchester 296 powder with different charges and the CCI 350 gives 40-75 fps more velocity. Also the magnum primer is recommended with the slower 44 Mag powders such as Win 296, 2400, and H110. With Unique the RP 2 1/2 will work well and probably with better results. For 44 magnum loads though I would'nt choose Unique myself but would rather go with a middle range or slower powder. AA#9 works well and also Win 296, 2400, and H110 although that would be for Magnum velocities. I like a powder that has more than 1.1 grain difference in start and max loads. For instance H110 with your bullet and the CCI 350 primer loads range from 22.7-25.4 and 2400 goes from 20.9-24.7 grains. You'll be ok with your Unique load and RP 2 1/2's though. The RP 2 1/2 is not really a magnum primer. It is also the recommended primer for a lot of other non-magnum pistol calibers.

 

[Mal H]

rick300 - First of all, welcome to THR!

Your posted load should be fine, primer and all. What will you be firing them in?

How many "ok's" is that so far?

 

[rick300]

Mal H

Thanks for the welcome. It will be my Super blackhawk 7 1/2.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

rick,
Welcome to the forum.

Along with printed reloading manuals the powder companies issue free load manuals each year. They also post the most current load data online and so do some of the bullet companies.

Here are some links:
Accurate Arms
Alliant Powders now owned by Western Powders along with Ramshot.
Hodgdon Load Data Site which includes data for all IMR and Winchester powders.
Ramshot Powders
Vihtavuori which is owned by Lapua.

Load data for Nosler Bullets

Hope this helps a little. Have fun and be safe!

 

[RidgwayCO]

Rick, let me add my welcome to the forum.

Speer #14 lists Unique with their 210gr Gold Dot HP bullet. They recommend a starting load of 10.5gr, with a maximum load of 12.5gr.

QuickLOAD software shows your bullet, when loaded to 1.600" COL, to have a maximum load of 11.7gr of Unique. This type of discrepancy isn't all that uncommon. What I do when I encounter a disagreement like this is to use the lowest starting load (in this case 90% of 11.7gr, or 10.5gr of Unique) and then chronograph it to see my actual velocity compared to QuickLOAD's predicted velocity. At least then I'll have some idea where my load is relative to the range of other possible powder amounts.

If you don't have a chronograph, see if you can borrow one. From your description of your detailed preparations to begin reloading, I can see one in your future...

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Slightly OT..

RidgwayCO,
Is QuickLOAD software worth the price? Do you find it useful enough to justify spending the money? Thanks...

 

[dmazur]

Welcome!

I also have a Ruger SBH in .44 Mag. Very versatile cartridge. Also, the SBH is a very strong revolver which requires quite an effort to Kaboom, from what I've read about it.

Sooner or later you're probably going to encounter H110 powder, as this is the path to "no wimps, please" loads. You should be aware that, due to specific problems with this powder, you should not reduce loads more than 3%. This is different than the typical "work up from 10% less" practice.

W296 is the same powder as H110. I understand this isn't true of very many powders, but these two are essentially the same product with different names.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

W296 is the same powder as H110. I understand this isn't true of vary many powders, but these two are essentially the same product with different names.

That is correct and here are some others:
W231 = HP-38
W296 = H110
W540 = HS-6
W571 = HS-7
W760 = H414

There are a few others but I can't remember them right now.

 

[RidgwayCO]

ArchAngelCD, to me QuickLOAD is worth the price ($150 from NECO).

http://www.neconos.com/details3.htm.

I find I waste a lot less time, bullets, and powder zeroing in on good loads. It also gives me a lot of other information, such as how much of the powder loaded in the case actually burns while the bullet is still in the barrel. Slow burning pistol powders can achieve impressive velocities (if needed), but the price is usually a lot of unburned powder. And if you're looking for moderate velocities, the fast or medium burners can save you some money. It doesn't hurt that I've always been the "what if?" type...

As an example, I'm sure I wouldn't have ever discovered what a great powder VihtaVuori N105 is for full-power .44 Special loads if it weren't for QuickLOAD. The numbers just looked so good I had to try some. Now I've got a couple more pounds of it on order with Powder Valley...

Plus Ed in Benicia is a great guy to talk to on the phone!