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How do you get to the actual article? Thanks. |
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Pretty sure you have to order the back issue. One of my favorite magazines.
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Have not loaded any .44 Magnum for a while but that is the next project as I bought a 5" Classic and a 4" Mountain Gun and happen to a have a few boxes of the 300 grain CP bullets on hand.
That being said I have had extensive reloading experience with the .41 Magnum and cast bullets from 255 to 305 grains and have done a lot of .44 Magnum loading in the past. With H110 the best loads in terms of pressure, velocity and accuracy seem to be be when the powder is just slightly compressed under the bullet base. In .41 Magnum the 305 grain WFN bullets that I used to buy from Forum Member Magnum Mike and 305 grain JDJ design bullets from Penn Bullet have been shot with 19 grains of H110 at velocity of 1275 fps from a 5.5" barrel. This is a book load from the Lee Reloading Manual that was taken from the Hogden Manual. I have shot this load from Marlins, Smiths, Rugers and FAs revolvers (including a 357 AirLite)and the empties fall out of the chambers. Am using 22 grain of H110 with the 255 and 265 grain CP bullets. When the base of the bullet is in contact with H110, all the unburned powder of lesser loads seem to disappear. If you are worried about bullt pull under recoil, get a Lee Factory Crimp Die. It not only puts on a superior roll crimp but sizes the body of the case to the full length of the bullet. Bob Makowski |
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SuperMan,
The experiences you've related about loading with H110 and +300g bullets seems to fit with what I'm seeing here as I work up this load. I have been taking careful notes based on the helpful direction I've been getting from several of our forum members on this thread and have been gleaning information from those hand loading books that I do own. I noticed that Hornady publishes a load for their 300g HP-XTP up to a Max load of 21.5g of H110 and using a COL of 1.600. I'm fairly certain that the pressures are a bit higher for a jacketed bullet than for these CP WFNGC. I also noted that Hodgden publishes loads for 325g and 330g BTB LFN GC that run well beyond 19.0g of H110. For this reason I'm going ahead with the next two batches at 19.0g and 19.2g. At a COL of 1.596 this is approaching that semi-compressed sweet spot you and the others have mentioned. BTW - the semi-compressed loads that I've built for the Marlin 1895S have been quite nice. Again, I'm not trying to attain anything outrageous. I'm looking for a manageable, reasonably accurate load between 1100 and 1150fps. This would hit fairly hard for a short barreled gun and have decent penetration against a target with a heavy hide and large bones. This would please me well with the Mountain Gun. Incidentally, I got close up views of 3 more brown bears this last weekend on the Kenai River. All three were intent on looking for stringers of salmon and discarded fisherman's packs (and coolers). It is currently a $120 fine to leave equipment unattended on the Kenai and Russian rivers for that reason. All 3 bears moved on when no easy pickings could be found. On the other hand, closer to home (6 miles north of my house) things were a little grimmer: http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/attacks/story/451700.html I doubt the girl even saw it coming. It's enough to give you a healthy respect for something that large and that wild. ...Back to working on those loads... |
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You know I had read about that the day after it happened, I just reread it and find the comments about the article disturbing. When I lived in the Interior, I knew Anchorage leaned a bit to the left, but I had no idea that it was this bad, most of the commentators could care less about the poor girl, they just seem to be interested in pushing their viewpoints agenda, very sad. Anyhow, good luck with the load development, I am trying to dial in a load for my Mtn Gun as well, mine is in 45 Colt.
Dave |
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I could not help but jump in here on this post. I recently picked up the 305-gr WFN GC bullet that is produced for Buffalo Bore Ammo that is made by Rim Rock Bullets in Ronan, Mt.
 I finally got out with my new Chrony F1 to run some test on my loads which also include the 430-gr WFN GC for my 1895 Guide Gun.  Date of test: June 30, 2008 Wind: 3 mph Distance to F1 Chrono: 8 feet Firearm used: Ruger SBH 4 5/8ths .44 Magnum Table Top Bench Rest was used for support. Test: 6 rounds were tested of each loading, the F1 Chrony sheet calls for 10 to get the over all average but I only shot 6 of each getting the lowest, and then the highest FPS of each of the loads, I still need to figure the average FPS of these loads tested. Each load had been digitally weighed on the Frankford Arsenal 700 gr scale. 305-gr WFN GC, CCI #300 LPP with positive crimp 20.0 gr of H110 1) 1239 fps 2) 1214 fps L 3) 1239 fps 4) 1222 fps 5) 1234 fps 6) 1250 fps H 20.5 gr of H110 1) 1292 fps H 2) 1233 fps 3) 1260 fps 4) 1229 fps L 5) 1254 fps 6) 1232 fps 21.0 gr of H110 1) 1298 fps H 2) 1273 fps L 3) 1288 fps 4) 1282 fps 5) 1297 fps 6) 1290 fps Firearm Used: Marlin 1895G I also shot 4 rounds of 45-70 using a 430-gr WFN GC, Federal LMRP with positive crimp. 46.0 gr of IMR 3031 1) 1700 fps L 2) 1703 fps 3) 1714 fps 4) 1725 fps H As you can see one or two extra curnals of powder can cause deviation even using a digital scale. With the .44 Magnum loadings I believe that 20.0 gr of H110 is plenty, and showed pretty much what I expected with lower FPS. 21.0 gr of H110 powder gives good FPS behind that 305-gr WFN GC Rim Rock Bullet, and with the 430-gr WFN GC for the 45-70 the FPS obtained is plenty to take down the biggest of our Montana critters. Further math on settled loads: For the .44mag: SD: .24 Load: 20.0 gr H110 Avg FPS: 1233 TKV: 23.05 ME: 1029.42 Ft/Lbs The 45-70: SD: .29 Load: 46.0 gr IMR 3031 Avg FPS: 1710.5 TKV: 48.12 ME: 2793.08 Ft/Lbs Looks like I can kill anything MT throws at me! More testing will follow at another date and time. J_B |
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borealis, I was doing a search on MG loads when I found this thread. I have been loading the Speer 300gr FP Plated Uni Core over 22.5gr of 296 which is a bear to shoot (excuse the pun). I want to switch over to a hard cast load and was wondering if you ever settled on a good 300 cast load for your MG. My 629-5 is primarily carried in Colorado when I go fly fishing where black bears are the main concern. Thanks
Join the NRA |
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High Desert Hunter,
Yup. I know how you feel. These days I just flat out don't read comments posted with online news articles. J_B, That is the sort of data I wish I was presently collecting. Between tanks of gas, I'm trying to budget for a chronograph. In the meantime, I'm just moving slowly and carefully. I was especially interested in the loads you've been working on with your 45-70. I've got a target load I enjoy that uses a 405g WLNGC (.459) over a dose of IMR3031 at 46.3 grains. The load is quite accurate at 100yds and fun to shoot. Which .44 Mag load are you favoring for the Ruger SBH? myanof, I played with Sierra's 300g JSP bullets but found them progressively less manageable to shoot as I moved toward my goal of pushing the bullet to the 1100fps - 1150fps range. The OAL was also a concern with the bullets just shy of the ends of the cylinder at 1.735. I didn't want to risk binding up my cylinder at a critical moment. Bullet cost was another factor. Like yourself, I decided to move to a hard cast load of equivalent weight. The other members of the forum have been quite helpful at figuring out some of the problems that I've encountered along the way. So far, the hard cast loads have been pleasantly more manageable in a 39.5 ounce gun and the OAL seems perfect for the Mountain Gun at around 1.595. I think I'm getting closer to something I can carry with confidence. I have yet to try out the loads I've built at 19.0g and 19.2g, but hope to do so this weekend. I'll report on the results when I do. |
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borealis, not to change the subject too far, but while I an anxiously waiting to see what load you decide is the best for our 629 MGs, I do have one question. If you are like me you shoot 44 specials out of you MG most of the time. I'm wondering how you sight your gun. In other words do you sight for the 44 specials or 300gr bear busters. I personally have my MG sighted for 240gr hard cast over 7.5gr of Unique. With my full house 300gr bear busters I am still on out to about 15 yards. Your thoughts. Join the NRA |
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myanof,
I do occasionally shoot .44 Special through my Mountain Gun but not as frequently as I used to. Shooting .44 Special is plenty of fun and you can produce impressive groupings with the right load. The problem is the work involved in cleaning out the powder ring left in the cylinder after shooting them. When I do shoot them I shoot them *after* I've shot the .44 magnum loads so that the powder ring doesn't make extraction more difficult on the magnum loads. Having said all of that, I have my gun sighted in on some 240g magnum loads that run in the 1150-1200fps range. I am simply used to aiming a little high with the .44 Special loads and a couple inches low with the "bear buster" loads. It is second nature for me now. |
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Makes sense, thanks Join the NRA |
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Another very windy and cloudy day at the range. Makes for some real fun waiting for the target stands to stop moving. Anyhow, I liked the grouping I got with the batch using the 300g WFNGC and 19.0g of H110. The batch using 19.2g of H110 didn't group to my liking, though I'll concede that it could have been my fault on some of those shots. I didn't see any signs of over-pressure with either load. I'm going to budge the load up to 19.4g/19.5g and see if I can still get a consistent group. I think I'm close to having a load that will work well with the Mountain Gun.
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Caveat : The loads that I've been working up in this thread have been developed cautiously, but without benefit of proper equipment to measure (CUP or PSI). I also do not have the benefit of a chronograph at this time. Presently, I am operating within the rough guidelines of Hornady's published load for their 300g HP-XTP bullet and H110 powder. Understand that I am using a hard cast 300g, gas-checked bullet and magnum primers. This will mean the resulting pressures and velocities will differ from the Hornady load. The result in your own gun may be radically different. Use the data in this thread at your own risk.
OK. If I'm not there then I'm close. To date, my best results were using 19.7g of the H110. The recoil in my Mountain Gun is stout but manageable. I was able to place a full cylinder of this load inside of a 1.75 inch group at 15 yds. Of this batch, I had one cartridge that showed more flattening than the rest, but there was no cratering. The last cylinder full was a little more snug on extraction, but not difficult. This may have been due to the single round with the more flattened primer. I could not find other evidence of high pressures. I will try this load again a 19.7g of H110 and will also test a separate batch, dropping it by 0.1 grains of H110 to see if the accuracy improves. Either way, this load has my attention. It is printing slightly higher on the paper than the 300g Federal Cast-Core factory loads but is (so far) more accurate for me. I hope to find the opportunity to chronograph this load in the near future. Now for the fine tuning  |
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Good job borealis. After you report your final results I am going to duplicate your load in my MG using W296, because I have a bunch of it on hand. I think W296 and H110 should get comparable results. You got some good accuracy considering a 4 inch barrel with a very heavy load. Nice job of sighting in the little beast. Most shooters don't realize what an accomplisment that is unless they have actaully sighted in a big recoiling small handgun like ours. It ain't fun, but well worth the trouble. Join the NRA |
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