Have been wanting to find a load that will duplicate the velocity and recoil of the Speer .44 Magnum 200 grain Gold Dot HP Short Barrel load at a listed velocity of 1080 fps. After reviewing several loading manuals I settled on two loads...10 grain of Winchester 231 or 11 grains of Unique with a 200 grain Berry's plated bullet.

Loaded up 50 of the 10 grains of 231 load last night and tried them out... At 10 yards DA from a S&W 629 Mountain Gun and a 629 5" Classic it was just a large ragged hole.

Recoil was modest with little muzzle flash, outdoors at least.

When I have the time will chronograph these and some of the Gold Got HPs to see if they are close... The GDHP should make a GREAT personal defense load as they use the 200 grain .44 Special DEEP HP bullet at a velocity that just about guaranties expansion without all the recoil of a full .44 Magnum loading.

Bob

It is funny that you posted this. Just last night I was doing the same thing.
I loaded some 210 cast RN over 10.8 unique as a starting point, I haven’t shot them yet but like you I think the 200 gold dot should do well for a carry round.

The 44mag 200 GDSB comes out of my 3” 629 at 983fps with a bit of recoil.
The 44 spl 200 GD comes out at 759.
I wouldn’t want to stand in front of either one but for the bit more recoil I’ll be using the magnums.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

Seems to not be a lot of published load data for a fast powder like W-231 for the 44Mag. Perhaps some data from Hodgdon #26 will provide something to compare your loads to. These loads are for a generic 200gr. JHP bullet loaded with W-231:

Start: 7.5gr Velocity= 1034 16,000 cup
Max: 9.5gr. Velocity=1225 25,000 cup

Test barrel was 7"

It appears that these W-231 loads are fairly low pressure. Perhaps something in the middle will be right on target for your objective. Keep in mind that these loads are not for your specific bullet. Have you chronoed this factory load you are trying to duplicate in your gun? Sometimes the manufacturers velocity figures are a bit optimistic.

I use 9.5 grains of Unique and magnum primers to get 1050 fps with a 200 grain GDHP bullet in a 4" barrel. This makes a very nice load for use in my 329PD. My goal was also to emulate the Speer Short Barrel 200 grain GDHP loading.

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Hook686

Win case, Fed 150 primer, Speer 200 gn GD and 9.0 231 gets 1050 fps from 4 in Mt Gun. Excellent accuracy.

Same case and primer, but 200 LRNFP over 8.0 hp-38 gets 997 fps. Very close to same POI as the GDHP load.

Speer's newer Manual # 14 has a specific section on short barrel 44 mag loads, using the 200 GDHP (part # 4427) and faster powders. The max 231 load is 10.0 grains using a Speer case and CCI 300 primer.

With rare exceptions, have found the 200 grain GDHP to produce excellent accuracy in 44 caliber revolvers.

180 jhps and Rem 210 grainers also offer very good opportunitys for mild to mid level power in the 44 mag.