This round will be coming out of a 329PD (4inch). I am looking for one that will consistently break the 1500fps barrier. What do you think? Thanks.

This round will be coming out of a 329PD (4inch). I am looking for one that will consistently break the 1500fps barrier. What do you think? Thanks.

Remington or Federal both loads are 1600fps from a vented 4" test barrel. They should be a real handful out of a 329 though.

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Sie vis pacem parabellum

The Remington is discontinued and the Federal may, or may not break 1500 fps. from a 4" gun. Hornady and Corbon have 180 gr. loads that might be of interest to you. While I have no experience with the Corbon load, I would use the Hornady if I were going to use the gun for hunting and the Federal for defense (not that I really would, that load would be uncontrollable for, I would think, any mortal man from a 329).

Remington still has the 180gr sjhp listed at 1610 from a 4" barrel. R44MG5

here

I think it will hurt.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby

If it's any help, I clocked that Remington load at ~1550 from my 4 inch 629 and 1650 from my 6 inch 29.

Out of a 329, that's going to be a HANDFUL. My Keith loads of maximum amounts of 2400 and a 250 grain LSWC still don't have as much recoil as those 180 Rems.

Well damn. Good thing I asked you guys before I jumped the gun (no pun intended) and bought the 180grn. I thought it would reduce the recoil do to a lighter round. What grain should I be looking into for manageable recoil out of the 329PD?

It's not only a question of bullet weight when it comes to recoil.

What's your intended purpose for the weapon?

My intended purpose is to have it for self defense and to carry when hunting bore and other ornery creatures.

I just ordered some Buffalo Bore reduced recoil 44 magnum that was designed for the 329pd.

For practice I will most likely run 44 specials through the gun and find a magnum caliber.

For defense, I would look at Silvertips.

I think running 44 specials for sd will be superb.

For hogs, use a solid swc or lbt design and it doesn't have to sizzle at 1600 for it to be an asswhopingly good round. Last spring I took a 2003 sow at 50 yards with a .357 185gr LBT style boolit. Just have to deliver it to the right spot.

Corbon's .44 mag. 165 gr. JHP, which is a medium power load might work well for defense if you can handle the recoil, and that's a big if. 329 owners generally say it is a great .44 spl. gun and too much with magnums. I would recommend finding a good .44 spl. JHP defensive load and use a SWC, or even wadcutter of the same weight/point of impact for hunting. If you handload, the hunting cartridge could also be your range load and designed to have the same recoil/velocity as what you use for defense.

You will likely discover that the reduced-load magnums or serious .44 Special loads will be all you want -- and, in fact, all you'll need in all but the most unusual circumstances. But, then, who knows? You may thrive on more abusive stuff, some folks do.

I will say, though, that the most abusive load to me has always been the 180 grainers. I'd much rather fire heavy-loaded 300 gr. bullets than a fullhouse 180. The blast and super-sharp recoil impulse are something that must be experienced to be appreciated.

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Pisgah

Badly

I carry and often shoot the federal load out of my 3 inch 29. Got to love the fireball!! Recoil is not a problem at all for me.

I thought Remington 240 gr. SJHPs were worser than Federal 180s, but some people percieve recoil differently. I know that when I switched my wife's ammo from lightly loaded 125 grainers to 148 gr. wadcutters, both of us felt that the heavier bullet gave more of a push type impulse. It's counterintuitive, but sometimes the heavier bullet is milder.

Going down from the 40 - 41 ounces of a 29 to the 25 - 28 ounces of a 329 brings recoil to a completely new dimension by several orders of magnitude.

You might want to try going the other way in terms of bullet weight. Garrett has a 300gr offering at about 1000fps that was designed for the 329 and other light weight .44s. That should suffice to kill most anything on two legs or four I'd think.

Shoot, I got my friend's girlfriend shooting those Remington 240's out of my 5.5'' Super Blackhawk with no trouble at all. Couldn't get her near the 180's!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpJ1zCcK_fU

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"I have to return some video tapes"

My $.02 - Take a look at Federal's .44 Special 200 grain LSWC-HP. With a pistol as light as the 329, controlability will be at a premiem.

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Big bang, much smash'em.

I carried the Remington 180 gr. JHP load in my 6 inch Model 629 on duty for about a month once. The gun wore Pachmayr Grippers. I had been shooting bowling pin matches with it, and felt it to be controllable in the 6 inch gun. I thought recoil was sharper/faster but less than factory 240 grainers.

I think I'd carry a hot .44 Special in my M-329, too. Good advice.

+1

Add Hornady 180 grain XTP and Speer 200 grain Gold Dot to the .44 Special list.

Remington UMC 180gr semijacketed softpoint .44 mag is what I chose for my 629 PowerPort; for whatever reason, when I am shooting out to 50 yards (offhand, single action, open sights) I get smaller and more consistent groups than with stuff like Federal American Eagle 240gr sjhp and Hornady XTP 240gr jhp; it is readily available at WalMart, Bass Pro Shop, Gander Mountain, and a few mom-n-pop shops in my area

I use MasterCast remanufactured 240gr lead semiwadcutter .44 mag for volume practice since it is downloaded and costs less than factory new stuff; I like Hornady XTP 300gr jhp, but they aren't stocked in my area on a regular basis; I have shot Ultramax new manufatured 240gr lead semiwadcutter with consistency, but again they aren't stocked in my area on a regular basis;

Groo here
I would go with a heaver bullet at a lower
speed.
The problem with the 180's is that the
kick is very quick, a heaver bullet at a
reduced speed will push more that snap.
A 240 to 250 gr swc and between 1000 to 1200fps
from a 4in will handle most problems we
will have [except a big bear,mad moose etc]
and will be lower on the kick scale.
Note this is what Keith [hats off please]
wanted when he got the 44mag from Rem.

While I have not shot the 180s in that light of a pistol I have shot more of them than I can count out of my Super Redhawk. I don't mind the sharp kick of the Remington factory loads . I have shot a bunch of the 240 grain factory loads and agree the recoil may even be more than the 180s but it is percieved more as a push the the sharp crack you feel with the lighter bullet. Once again shot placement is king and if you can not place more than one shot into your target where it counts when it counts all the power in the world doesn't mean a whole lot. I just finished up loading a couple hundred rounds with the Honady 180 xtps, time to have some fun.

My .02.
I use Speer 200gr 44mag gold dot short bbl in my3 inch 629. It is very controllable at 975 fps and I think 200,000 power factor will do everything I want/need. I have some 44 spl 200gr gold dot also, they crono at 750 fps. That is a real pussy cat in the 629.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren