What would you guys suggest for a factory self defense load in .44 Special. Not hunting or woods carry, just for two legged threats. The gun would be a S&W Model 624 with 3" barrel. A quick search of Midway shows the following rounds. Should I go with the heavier bullet or the lighter bullet with more velocity?

*Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 44 Special 165 Grain Flex Tip eXpanding
*Hornady Custom Ammunition 44 Special 180 Grain XTP Jacketed Hollow Point
*Speer Gold Dot Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point
*Winchester Super-X Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Silvertip Hollow Point
*Cor-Bon Self-Defense Ammunition 44 Special 165 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point
*Cor-Bon DPX Ammunition 44 Special 200 Grain Barnes XPB Hollow Point Lead-Free
*Grizzly Self-Defense Ammunition 44 Special 220 Grain Xtreme Copper Hollow Point Lead-Free
*Buffalo Bore Ammunition 44 Special 180 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~

Go with the one that you can shoot most accurately in your firearm. Accuracy trumps velocity & bullet wieght IMHO.

BlackSky,

I currently own three .44 Specials and have loaded for this caliber for many years.

Either one of the Hornady loads would be excellent self defense loads; I have loaded thousands of Hornady 180 gr, XTP bullets at around 1000 fps and have tested them on many kinds of mediums with excellent results. I have heard many good things regarding the Critical Defense factory loads in various calibers.

One good thing regarding the lighter bullets is that follow up shots are much easier and cuts down on the over penetration issues. One of my .44 Specials is the same revolver that you own; the S&W 624 with 3” barrel. It is one of my absolute favorite carry guns; completely reliable with surprising accuracy and decisive ability to accomplish any and all self defense needs.

I own several .44 Specials and I opted for Winchester Silvertips. Winchester redesigned the bullet some time back and the new design is a winner. Out of a 2.5" barrel they got these results over on StoppingPower.net in ballistic gelatin covered in 4 layers of denim:

Penetration: 14.00"
Recovered Weight: 187.0 gr.
Expansion: .711 cal.

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Loyalty Above All.. but Honor

I recently bought a 21-4 .44 Special Thunder Ranch revolver. It is outstanding... very well fitted and finished. I found some Blazer aluminum cased .44 Special ammo loaded with Gold Dot 200 gr. JHP. These have worked well for me. POA = POI at 15 yds. Groups run less than 2 inches... one group was barely 1 inch across. Found the Blazer .44 Specials at Academy for $32/50. Good ammo.

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<><

I reload but my factory loads are Speer Gold Dot, Winchester, and Federal . Federal is the most accurate of the 3 in my revolver.

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JIM
NRA Pistol Instr

Ive had excellent results also with the speer 200 gn GD. But as mentioned already, what ever is most accurate in your gun is a good way to go as well.

I have had outstanding results from my Buffalo Bore loads in a variety of 44s, S&W and others. Dave

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Time Wounds All Heels

This:
CCI AMMO 44 SPL 200gr HP BLAZER 50/bx 20/cs
Our Price: $31.79
In Stock
Item #: CCI3556

Graf & Sons - CCI AMMO 44 SPL 200gr HP BLAZER 50/bx 20/cs

$31.79 for a 50 round box, not reloadable but an excellent round that uses the Gold Dot bullet at about the most reasonable price out there, although I liked it even better when I used to find it at $16 a box :-(.

I have some of that, too. The hollow point looks like a shotglass from the front. I load it in my Charter Bulldog for walks in the woods.

Cor-Bon 165 gr HP is what I carry.

All my .44 Spls. like the Federal 200 gr. LSWCHP, but I'm not sure they still make it. Barring that, the Winchester 200 gr Silvertip and the Blazer GDHP are also winners.

Larry

Gold dot blazer 200g HP

Winchester Silvertips

Cor-Bon DPX or the venerable Winchester Silvertip.

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Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

I've shot some of the 200 gr GDHP in the Blazer brand. It was pretty accurate and light in recoil. Midway says it does 900 fps (unspecified barrel length) but I wonder what it would clock it a 3" barrel. If it were me I'd try to see if it expands at the velocity you're getting from your revolver. If it doesn't expand, Bitterroot Valley makes a 240 lead SWC in HP or FP that is advertised @ 800 fps which is even MORE accurate in my .44 Special. These are a good value (inexpensive) and would surely penetrate very well. I got them from Cheaper Than Dirt.

I use 200 grain Hornady XTPs in my handloads. They work like a charm in my S&W 296, still my very favorite carry gun.

The old Silvertips were horribly under powered. The last ones I checked barely made 600 fps over my chronograph. I always liked the Federal 200 grain LSWCHP. I don't see a lot of advantage in the jacketed bullets in a low pressure round like this but, some of the new stuff is probably pretty good.

I use Gold Dot (Georgia Arms) Winchester Silvertip and Semi Jacket HPs. I get the best results out of the SJHPs. If I want something more I go with Buffalo Bores 255gr Keith style bullets.

200 gr. Gold Dots. I've chronoed them through both my 3" 624 and a Charter Arms Bulldog, but I don't recall the exact velocities. I do know they break 800 fps, maybe 850, and expand like crazy in water.

Thought I'd add that I did chrono the 200 grain Blazers today and they averaged about 915 fps out of a 4 5/8" Ruger FlatTop. I was pleasantly surprised. They grouped well --- and about 3" lower than my 240 Grain loads from Bitterroot Valley which clocked about 770 fps. My handloads using 2400 did almost exactly 1000 fps with 240 grain Nosler JHPs.

I just recently purchased a 3rd handgun, which is a Charter Arms 44 SPL, the one made in Stratford, CT. and 50 rounds of 180 grain PMC Hollowpoint JCH cartridges. I have never fired this pistol yet, and looking for practice rounds for it for range practice. I normally carry a Taurus 851 38 Spl or my air weight S&W 642 38 Spl. The 44 Bulldog 3 " has rubber grips, and I want to shoot it enough to get used to the recoil. I figure maybe it is harder to conceal than my 38's, so just plan to have it in my vehicle. I worried about someone's post saying that
some Charter Arms guns shoots high and to the right. I was told to purchase 150 gn cartridges for practice. What is the cheapest round I can get that is okay for this pistol and is it
readily available.

I've never seen a 150 grain factory load. You CAN get 165s in cast bullets for handloading -- probably 150s also. The CHEAPEST 44 Special ammo that I've seen is the Bitterroot Valley ammo from Cheaper Than Dirt. It would be 240 grain and probably WOULD shoot higher than your 180 grain loads.

When I got this Charter Arms 44 I obtained a box of 50 hollow point 180 grn. When I went looking to find rounds for it, checked several places did not have any. Found one gun shop in a nearby town, that had 44 Spl 250 grain rounds, but thats
going to have a lot of recoil. Only plan to fire about 10 or 15
rounds with it this trip, because I am firing a new stainless stell airweight 642 S&W 38 Spl this weekend. On another trip in a month or two maybe I will have plenty of good practice rounds
for the Charter Bulldog 3". This gun certainly has not hardly been fired and is in great condition. If the recoil causes me to
not shoot as accurately, I might not carry it as a primary weapon. My brother who is in LEO has owned one like it before,
and told me it is a "hoss" of a gun with great stopping power.
I am getting the impression that the 45 has more round availability. I was not aware though till reading your post that
different grain rounds would cause a gun to shoot higher or lower. I probably need to shoot a round very close to the
180 grn hollow points I have it loaded with. I was also told by
the man I bought it from that the gun will not fire if the hammer happens to catch, but has to be pulled back to the full cock position or the hammer pulled. The gun shop told me it
has the blocking device in it that keeps it from firing accidentally. So far I have loaded it with 4 rounds leaving it
sitting on an empty chamber. I was hoping to find rounds
available where I live without ordering them over the internet.

From a three-inch barrel, I'd stick with the Blazer 200 grain Gold dot hp. It has the velocity and the accuracy.

I load my own, and carry critical defense stuff, but rarely shoot it. When I load, it is a close copy of Keith's .44 spl load of a LSWC- 240 gr, over 7 to 7 1/2 gr's of Unique. If It was a 624 I was shooting, I would make sure it had passed the recall check on the cylinder, and then respond to that information approprietly. Flapjack

My carry gun is a 1950 44 Military (born in 1955) and I use (handloaded) duplex ball ammo at 900 fps. Two .433 round balls sized to .429. Less penetration - more whack. Lessens the danger of collateral damage in a crowd. Spread at 25 yds varies from gun to gun but averages 6-8". One ball always strikes at point of aim and the other is in "orbit" somewhere around that point. Penetration at 25 yds is roughly that of a .45 WC.

QUOTE:
"I've never seen a 150 grain factory load. You CAN get 165s in cast bullets for handloading -- probably 150s also. The CHEAPEST 44 Special ammo that I've seen is the Bitterroot Valley ammo from Cheaper Than Dirt. It would be 240 grain and probably WOULD shoot higher than your 180 grain loads.
Like "


Well I have place some 165 grain on order, don't know if they will come in my next month. I previously shot Cowboy brand 246 grain, just about 10 rounds when I was at the range last month shooting my S&W 38 Special. This coming month I plan to shoot 50 to 100 rounds of 44SPL in the CA Bulldog 3"
gun, which I now carry primary. Locally I do not have a big problem getting self defense rounds and I have plenty of those, hollowpoints 180 Grain and 200 grain. Just seems hard to get practice rounds.

I will not be able to be picky regarding the practice rounds I get, and will likely have to settle for the range instructor I have been using to help me with my practice at the range.
Last month I fired 237 of 250 so I still have lots of room for improvement. I own 3 Handguns, 2 of those are 38's which are cheaper to practice with and I am rotating the guns every two months.

It is a bit disappointing to keep going back to gun shops and find they still don't have any 44 practice rounds in, as well as 44 Spl speedloaders. (all my guns are revolvers.)

Winchester Silver Tips. Out of a 3" 624 its visable, even in dim light. Plus it shoots really well out of her.

I've been curious about this:

44 Special 220gr Xtreme

TexasArmed,

Tha told PMC tubular bullet round is not good for self defense. Very inaccurate, and typically shoots at least 6" low. Shoot 'em up and save the brass!

These look promising?

Heavy .44 Special Pistol & Handgun Ammunition

I use Bufalo Bore Heavy .44 Special Ammo - 255 gr.S.W.C.(Keith-type)G.C.(1,000fps/M.E.566 ft.lbs.) in my 696 & 624 it comes close to my handloads.
By the way BB says it runs 1155 fps from a 396, it would take a stout lad to shoot much of this stuff from a 396 though.

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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus

As was said, the lighter bullets make for faster follow up shots. Other than that, my advice is to see which cartridge works best in your weapon, and use that one. (Hoping to NEVER need it...)