New .44 Spl load

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CPLofMARINES

CPLofMARINES

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Hey everyone! I'm working up a new load. All I have is
Power Pistol. I'm referencing Speer's #14 manual. I'm
using Missouri bullets, .430, Keith style, hardness 18,
240 grn. SWC . All the manual lists is the 250 grn. Keith.
Not finding anything in my Lyman, Nosler nor Hornady
manuals. Any thoughts ?? Thank you in advance.
 
You can use the next Higher weight bullet data if you can not find yours. So yes to use the 250 data for a 240.
 
Thank you, but my next question or concern is OAL. What
is listed is I think a big difference. 1.580" 250 grn.
compared to 1.475" 240 grn. ????
 
Start at the minimum charge for a 250gr lead bullet, seat and crimp at the crimp groove. Do your load work up from the start charge and everything should be fine.
 
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Speer & Alliant's max 44 special 250 gr load would be mild in the Smith.
Seat to the crimp groove and don't worry about OAL.
 
Speer & Alliant's max 44 special 250 gr load would be mild in the Smith.
Click to expand...

How does one know that? Ignoring Max seems questionable to say the least.


Seat to the crimp groove and don't worry about OAL.
Click to expand...

Agree. Exceptions would be wadcutters and plated.
 
Quote:
Speer & Alliant's max 44 special 250 gr load would be mild in the Smith.
How does one know that? Ignoring Max seems questionable to say the least.
Click to expand...
It's a 15,500 psi load in a 44 magnum that's good for 36,000 psi.
 
Whose word should one take when loading beyond what the common loading books say? To go beyond that, one could just use .44 Magnum cases and work on the low end of what is published for those. Otherwise, wouldn't it make sense to provide some references for the basis of ones advice re loads?
 
RealGun, you might not realize this, but a S&W 29 is a .44 Magnum gun. Any .44 SPECIAL load is going to be safe in it.

Hope that clears up your confusion.
 
For some reason (I'm old) I read the post as "44 Magnum max load". I am familiar with the model 29 and own both 44 specials and 44 magnum, loading for both. Brainphart, I guess.
 
Thank you everyone. So, I would be good using 8.0
grn. of Power Pistol, 240 grn. LSWC, with a O.A.L
of 1.467" in .44 Spl. even though the above mentioned
load is for a 250 grn. with a O.A.L. of 1.580". BTW,
last nite I loaded some up, but with 7.6 grn. of PP.
Thanks much !
 
CPLofMARINES said:
Thank you everyone. So, I would be good using 8.0
grn. of Power Pistol, 240 grn. LSWC, with a O.A.L
of 1.467" in .44 Spl. even though the above mentioned
load is for a 250 grn. with a O.A.L. of 1.580". BTW,
last nite I loaded some up, but with 7.6 grn. of PP.
Thanks much !
Click to expand...

"Forget" the COL. It is not going to ever be the same unless you trim your brass and use the exact same bullet. Load the bullet to the cannelure and it is what it is. I do not even measure lead bullets.

As a general statement lighter bullets usually have a higher powder charge than the next heavier. (Yes it seems weird) but that is the way it works. If that manual had data for a hard cast 240 gr bullet and PP it would probably be higher.

So as said use the powder charge for the higher weight bullet . What will change is velocity.
 
Thanks Rule3, not talking about case length, I'm talkin
loaded cartridge overall length. Not planning on
trimming my handgun brass, lol. Oops, hope I didn't
offend anyone. : ) If a bullet is seated deeper=less
space for powder=more pressure. Correct ??
Just started reloading, this load we are discussing
is my 5th .44Spl. recipe. Just being cautious I guess.
Thank you to everyone for your help.
 
For the very best level of precision, you'd probably want to trim all cases to exactly the same length. If your bullets do not have a crimping groove, a precisely consistent case length will help you get a consistent crimp.

Many lead bullets thought have a deep and tapered crimping groove, and you'll find that as you crimp them firmly they will pull themselves down into the case until the crimping groove's shoulder is bottomed against the case mouth. Many (most?) of us find that this is perfectly acceptable for our uses and we cannot see any difference in accuracy based on whether the overall length turns out to be 1.467", 1.465", 1.469" etc. from cartridge to cartridge.
 
CPLofMARINES said:
Thanks Rule3, not talking about case length, I'm talkin
loaded cartridge overall length. Not planning on
trimming my handgun brass, lol. Oops, hope I didn't
offend anyone. : ) If a bullet is seated deeper=less
space for powder=more pressure. Correct ??
Just started reloading, this load we are discussing
is my 5th .44Spl. recipe. Just being cautious I guess.
Thank you to everyone for your help.
Click to expand...

COL is Cartridge Overall Length. They are used interchangeably with OAL, but I believe COL is the correct abbreviation

Mag or clip;)

Yes, seating a bullet deeper will tend to increase pressure but as I said if you are not using the exact bullet the COL is a meaningless term.

In this example it will not mean much. In a high pressure round like 9mm or 40 SW it matters more. With revolver calibers and lead bullets that have cannelures then there is not much you can do about it that is what the groove is for.

I don't trim handgun brass either. Some of the straight wall like 44 or 357 even if you do trim them there is more variance in the cannelure than the amount you trim. Find your longest sized case, Set the seating die to crimp for that size anything a hair shorter will still fall within the cannelure and crimp just fine, Your dealing with a few thousandths at most.
Of course trimming will not hurt anything. Other semi autos may actually shrink:)
 
Pardon the vocabulary nahtsy, but COL is an acronym rather than an abbreviation. That's why COAL or OAL is inherently incorrect.
 
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I was once sternly instructed that an acronym is pronounced as though it were a word, that if you sound out the letters, it is an initialism.
So do you say Col as though it were a mountain pass or C. O. L.?
 
Jim Watson said:
I was once sternly instructed that an acronym is pronounced as though it were a word, that if you sound out the letters, it is an initialism.
So do you say Col as though it were a mountain pass or C. O. L.?
Click to expand...

This is correct. ^

Of course some posts are just meant to provoke and have nothing to do with the OP's question. Perhaps Hodgdon should be notified that their online data COL is incorrect:rolleyes:

These are acronyms.
SCUBA
NATO
SAAMI

NRA, RSO are abbreviations or initializations
 
Don't know why so much has to be made of this, except that leading initials for our term [cartridge overall length] has variations which defy the rules of the language. According to my reading of Webster's, initialism and acronym are synonyms.

I don't recall any previous encounter with the word initialism, which interestingly is not recognized by the spell checker used to write this post. I do admire the distinction made between acronyms one can pronounce as a word versus those with scant or no vowels, forcing one to sound out the letters.
 
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