Tell me about .44 magnum loads

SIGWolf · Oct 2, 2008

I've shot little .44 magnum and no .44 special.

Can you educate me on .44 magnum commercial loads and grain weights? What do you shoot?

I'm looking for a relatively mild .44 magnum commercial load as I do not currently reload.

SIGWolf · Oct 2, 2008

I've shot little .44 magnum and no .44 special.

Can you educate me on .44 magnum commercial loads and grain weights? What do you shoot?

I'm looking for a relatively mild .44 magnum commercial load as I do not currently reload.

44forever · Oct 2, 2008

Commercial loads run from 165 grain (Corbon, warm) to 300+ grains (Buffalo Bore, hot). 240 grain is the more or less standard bullet weight. Winchester Silvertip (210 grains) are about halfway between full magnum and .44 specials but are expensive (like all other ammo these days).

In .44 special, I like Federal's 200 grain lead SWCHP. Easy to control with good expansion and limited penetration make it an excellent self defense round.

GeorgiaArms is a good source for reduced loads in magnum cases since you don't reload.

claygrazer · Oct 2, 2008

MagTech 240 grainers are economical and shoot very well out of my 44's. They aren't loaded extremely hot either.

cmort666 · Oct 2, 2008

I shoot almost no .44 Magnums out of my 4" and 6" 29-2s, mostly .44 Specials, mostly light 240gr. handloads.

What I've mostly shot for factory loads is 240gr. Winchester White Box from Walmart. It's comparatively inexpensive, accurate and VERY powerful. It isn't fun to shoot, but I imagine it's even less fun for the deer it'd be hit by. Haven't had a chance for a responsible shot at one yet. Maybe this year or next.

Hawgleg44 · Oct 2, 2008

I rarey shoot magnum loads in my .44 mags. I load, so that's not a problem. The heaviest load I shoot any amount of is 10gr of Unique over a 245gr 429421 Lyman bullet. I'm probably going to drop that down to about 8.5gr next time I load a batch though. It's just more pleasant to shoot. I don't find it any fun hammering myself.

For a commercial reduced load, I haven't bought any in a very long time. But I do remember a Remington load Wal Mart used to sell (in their generic yellow box) that was advertised as a "Mid Load". It felt a little lighter than my reduced load of 10gr of Unique. I don't know if they make it anymore, but if they do, that's what I would recommend.

powerkicker · Oct 2, 2008

I've shot alot of maximum loads with 240 grain JHP's. My 629-4 took seven years to go out of time. An oversized brownells hand was a drop-in fit and brought it back to perfect timing.

I also like 240 grain lead semi-wadcutters over 10 grains of Unique. I've loaded and shot hundreds of those too and it's a great general purpose load I think.

Stainz · Oct 2, 2008

Wally World did carry the UMC 180gr SJHP .44 Magnums. In a word, they are miserable! To me, they are more recoil producers than the aforementioned 240gr commercial loads. Never try the low production hot 'Ruger/TC-only' loads (Usually only available at gunstores.), of course - but anything in a box marked .44 Magnum should be fine.

I have had great results with everything I have ever bought from Georgia Arms. Besides from detuned .44 Magnum ammo to SAAMI-dpec'd hunting loads, they also have .44 Special loads from lead plinkers to the 200gr Speer Gold Dot rounds, containing the same bullet and at the same ballistic level as the CCI Blazer rounds - but in nice fresh Starline brass. Nice folks, too.

I quit using the Al-cased Blazers after one split in my 696, making ejection difficult. That's another reason to use the GA Arms brass-cased version.

Stainz

Wyatt Earp · Oct 2, 2008

Fiocchi's Shooting Dynamics 44 Magnum is fearsome.

july1952 · Oct 2, 2008

TenMan,
Check this out:
http://www.handloads.org/

Dusty Miller · Oct 3, 2008

That previously mentioned 165 gr. Cor Bon HP leaves the 4" barrel on my 629 at 1300 fps and is a manageable round. My guess is it'd be a great stopper and penetration should be good but not overpenetrative to the point of endangering innocents.

Tell me about .44 magnum loads

SIGWolf

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SIGWolf

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44forever

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claygrazer

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cmort666

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Hawgleg44

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powerkicker

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Stainz

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Wyatt Earp

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july1952

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Dusty Miller

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