I have 3 44mags... s&w 629-4, ruger bisley blackhawk and ruger redhawk. I want to reload for hunting big game and have hornady 180g xtp. I have bluedot and winchester primers. Would love to know if I can use it or should I consider a different powder? The bullets were free when I bought the press and I dont want to waste them on inferior powder. Any thoughts?

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Will Blue Dot "work"? yes, is it the best powder for the .44mag? no. For that you will want W296/H110 or 2400 which is the other camp.

While we are at it, 180gr projectiles are probably not the best either unless you only want them to penetrate 10-12" but I guess if you go with the Blue Dot, they might go a little deeper since you won't get as much velocity. At lower velocities a lot of hollow points tend not to expand at all.

Blue Dot, Winchester 296, H-110, 2400, 4227, and AA-9 all work great for Magnum loads in the 44 Mag.
Try to find some SP bullets for deer, hollow point pistol bullets just explode in deer.

I'm sure there are others, but these were just off the top of my head.

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John

What are you hunting? Choice of bullet is of vital importance.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Going for elk and deer

Cabellas has 296 and I chickened out.

180 xtp is what I have but I cam get a diff bullet and powder. Just looking for an all around round for deer and elk in 44mag.

"Big game" and 180 gr. XTP's don't compute.

My choice for "Medium" big game (Whitetail deer and hogs) is a 250 gr. + KTSWC or WFNGC (wide flat nose gas check) for adequate penetration.
For true "Big Game" (Elk, Bison, Bear) I would want a 300 gr. cast bullet.

Powder I use include AA9, H110 and have used 2400 as well.
Although Accurate Arms recommends standard primers for AA9, I've had much better performance with magnum primers.

your talking about the magnum 44 here.
any answer is at best 20% right due to the cartridges versatility, which lends to many different philosophies as to how to load it.
Blue Dot in the 44 is no joke despite not being capable of pushing it all the way there like H110/296, lilgun, AA#9, 300MP, and a good couple more, that I am sure to be forgetting.

the 180G XTP IME, is a little superficial for the task, though it is a good bullet for situations where you want to try to keep it from being the gift that keeps on giving.
The 200G XTP is a far better field bullet and the 240G might be the ideal mid ground for most game.

truth be told, of all the JHP's Ive played with over the years, the only one that still has a solid place on my bench is the 200G XTP. All else has been replaced by cast lead

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it just needs more voltage

oops .. you said the E word ....
go straight to a cast lead 300G flat point for that critter.

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it just needs more voltage

So I guess I should use the 180g for home defense and get bigger for hunting?

yep ... thats the long and short of it

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it just needs more voltage

So should I buy some 296 if its still available?

They have h110 also.

Hornady 240gr XTP from a 4", 300gr XTP from a longer tube. AA#9, 2400, Enforcer (AA4100?), H110/W296, LilGun.

296 or H110 (same powder under different names) is some excellent powder for 44 Mag. And from somewhat limited experience due to the powder shortages, the Power Pro 300 MP looks to be in the same class as those 2. Accurate #9 is also a good 44 Mag powder, but gives a little less velocity than the three already mentioned. It does give less flash out of my Desert Eagle than 296, so it would be a little better in low light situations. I've no experience with 2400 in 44 Mag, but it should also work well. And finally, your Blue Dot is an excellent lighter bullet 44 Mag powder, especially with the 180 XTP bullets in my experience.

As for hunting bullets, for deer or elk, I would think a heavy jacketed soft point or gas check lead type would be a much better choice than the 180 XTP. The 180's would make a devastating round to drop coyotes or wolves or maybe even a mountain lion I would think though.

Ok going to buy some 296 now.

Ok just bought 5lbs of 296 yay

My birthday present to me.

You won't be disappointed with W296, it meters very well plus you can use it in .357magnum and .30 Carbine loads to.

Now all you need are some heavier bullets and you are set.

I use mag primers with 296, I don't think there called for, but I use them anyway, work up from a starting load with your bullet, and go from there. You'll like 296 in the 44.
Also most loads with 296 are a do not reduce from starting loads.

Edited to add: use a heavy crimp to prevent bullet pull.

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John

The big game loads I worked up use W296 and 300Gr jacketed SPs. I don't find them much fun to shoot though. If I was going to use this type of load steadily and had the choice like you do, I'd use them in that Redhawk instead of the 629 since it is a stronger piece.

Good luck.

I like 296/110 for magnum loads and a heavy cast bullet with a big metplat.

Shot a hog with a 265g (lyman429244) over 22g W296 and the bullet never even knew it hit anything, just went off to China somewhere. Hog was anchored DRT.

Blue dot is the only powder I will not use. It goes tapioca near max, IOW it goes critical too easily and it does strange things in cold temperatures. Pressures spike.

There are those that prefer it, but I am not one of them.

XTP is a decent hunting bullet, but you may want to pick up some 240 grain bullets. For powder, I'm using HP-38 and find it quite adequate. You wont get the velocities that some other powders will give you, but you'll get accuracy and a 240 moving at 1200+ fps will expand nicely.

A standard full charge hunting load that is hard to beat is a cast 240-
250 gr SWC over 24.0 grs of 296 and a magnum primer. Not an
absolute maximum load but hot enough. With a heavy roll crimp and
good case neck tension I get 1400+ fps out of my three screw Ruger
Super Blackhawk and great accuracy with 250 gr SWCs. I put one
completely through a small Whitetail buck lengthwise from about
20 yds out of a treestand. Certain well known gun writers that have a
lot of handgun hunting experience claim that load will penetrate an
Elk broadside at 100 yds. What more do you you need?

The 300 gr bullets are good but be aware that you may need a higher front sight. Shouldnt be a problem with your S&W and the Redhawk but the Ruger Bisley would need some work. The 300 and above loads also have a bit of recoil.

296/H110 is what I use for heavy 44 Magnum loads.

I would check with Hornady on using the 180 gr 44 cal XTP on elk. I was told by a tech that it is their 44 Special bullet and will start expanding at 750 fps. Might be too light construction for heavy game.

Thanks for the heads up. Just lifted 5lbs of it and 3000 primers....got to spread out that hazmat cost . They also have free shipping on orders over $49 right now. RMR has 1000 357 jacketed soft point pull down slugs for 109 and free shopping. Let the fire breathing 357 loading begin!

...would have bought 44 jsp heads but they were out.

And don't even attempt it unless you can shoot the gun AND load like you should - all six on a paper plate at your maximum hunting range. Then stick to your maximum, or 10 yards less. It's not an easy job, but you owe it to the animal. Forget the 180s.

I've killed a lot of big midwestern deer with a 240gr speer Gold-Dot or hornady XTP with a max load of H-110/W-296

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NRA Life
USPSA/IPSC

180gr xtp makes a great varmint bullet or smaller big game, say under 150#, but for larger game, go 240gr & up for the Penetration. For max loads, 2400 & slower for powders.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Sierra JHC
Speer Deepcurl

These are bullets that are made for hunting. If penetration is the key I don't know why a hard cast SWC or something wouldn't do just as well. But then, I'm not a hunter anymore.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Many do exactly that.
Hard cast works.

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it just needs more voltage

Be sure to get magnum primers for the 110, or 296 instead of standard primers.

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Hook686

The winchester site only states magnum primers for 357 and not 44. Are mag primers a must for 44 even though winchester doesn't recommend it?

Only for H110/W296. If you only hunt in the hot summer, then you can get by with a std primer. Think about it; your lighting ff maybe 15gr of powder in a 357mag, over 22gr in a 44mag. If a mag primer is needed for the smaller amount, certainly needed for the larger amount in a larger bore.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

So your saying go against what the manufacturer recommends and risk higher pressures? Everyone here says go with what the manufacturer recommends. Am I playing with fire by using mag primers even though winchester tested 296 with standard primers in 44mag?

Winchester primers in lp size say on the box for std. or mag. loads. if you use anything else, a magnum primer is needed for proper ignition. I have used many thouands of the Winchester primers with no problems using 296/h110.

You should be working your loads up anyway. If you are all about trusting everything in print from a manual or powder site, be my guest. Just giving you my exp opinion. Look at 4-5 diff manuals, tell me what they say about H110/W296 in the 44mag.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

The "Winchester" data you see on the Hodgdon website is not
necessarily actual Winchester data. Winchester has always
stated that magnum primers should be used with 296 and a
high load density is best; no reduced loads. They go on to
state that a heavy crimp and good case neck tension is
needed for best ignition with 296. Their LP primer is for reg.
or mag. loads.

Don't overlook the Hornady 265 gr. soft points or Speer 270 Deep Curls. With 296 or Lil Gun you can get decent velocities with both and they shoot very accurately in our 3 629's.