OK, I am a relative newbie to reloading. Started with a whack-a-bullet Lee start up kit and quickly determined I like reloading, but not to the extent of whacking every damned round with a hammer. Soooo, went the minimalist route and got a Lee handloader system and really like it. I am NOT reloading for semi-automatic weapons but rather big bore handguns. 44Mag (and special), 454 Casull, and 45 Ruger.

Its literally been a blast. I am currently loading up some 45 Ruger loads. The nice thing about this is that I have a SRH in 454 Casull witch will, of course, also shoot +P loads of 45 Colt and a Blackhawk 45 and an Old Vaquero 45 that are all rated for Ruger (+P) loads. Awesome, light loads or bear protection, I don't have to worry about the gun holding up to the pressure.

So, I did procure some Missouri Bullets in 45 Silhouette, 300 grains. Gonna fix it up with some IMR 4227 (19grains+) and see how all three revolvers react. Should be fun, and I should be ok if the odd grizz meanders down to my PA neighborhood due to global warming. Let me know if any of you have experimented in a like fashion...I'll get to the range later this week and see what results.

I had fun with a similar project about 25 years ago. Once I determined my 29s really wouldn't handle heavy-bullet handloads very well I lost interest. I didn't have any of the re-engineered guns then and was never a Ruger man.

As I got a little older I eventually became a confirmed recoil sissy and rarely shoot anything that kicks more than a .44 Special these days. Back then, my best results were with H110 and a 300+ grain Keith style bullet from an H&G mold - I forget the number, maybe 328? The combination was very accurate but none of my 29s functioned properly with it and I gave the heavy bullet idea up and decided 250-275 grains was enough for me and those guns. The H&G number 326 is where I stopped but it worked very well and seemed to be more agreeable to my S&Ws.

I did not experiment much with .45 caliber as I didn't have a .45 caliber revolver that interested me. Later I did have a Redhawk in .454, which was a "nice" gun, I suppose, but I never liked it. Compared to a Model 29 I thought it about as graceful and handy as walking in diving fins.

Good luck with your project. Be sure to keep us posted of any great discoveries.

my next big bore will be a S&W 460...just a matter of time

I've been reloading the .44 Magnum since 1979, and will concur, yes, this is an interesting hobby!

I just posted this photo in the "Jaguar Gun" thread, but it begs to be shown again here. I've tested these three (the T/C is a .44 Mag also) against each other, with all types of bullets and loads, and I've reached this conclusion: 1. All are capable of better accuracy than I am, and 2. The power threshold of each of them is higher than my own!

I had a Ruger #3 carbine in .45-70 back in the early days, and reached a power level with it (safely!) that was way beyond what I wanted to shoot all the time.

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Save money reloading....nah. But it sure is fun.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

after .44 mag, all else needs to go out of a lever gun barrel. JMO.

I believe it was John Taffin that wrote an article about shooting " heavies " in the 44 magnum . Google something to that effect and might find his article . It's worth your time to read . It seems that John Linebaugh did a comparison in an article " dissolving the myth " 44 mag vs 45 Lc shooting heavies .
You didn't mention barrel length and that will make a difference too . Those heavies need all the velocity you can give them to stabilize them . Otherwise they will be inaccurate and " keyhole " , hit the target on their side instead of nose first . Probably W296 / H110 would be a better choice . I have used IMR 4227 a lot in 357-41-44 mags , it shoots very accurately but leaves about 100 fps slower . In a carbine I would consider lil gun , but in a revolver -No ! Hope I have helped .

Yes that IS helpful, I do have some H110 and will review some loads...from what I remember reading the 110 may require magnum primers, but I have to check that...

As far as gun barrels go, I have the Ruger Alaskan 44Mag in 2.5 inch..****ger Toklat 454 casull in 5 inch, RBH 45 in 4 5/8, an Old Vaquero in 45 5.5inch and a Ruger Old Army in 7.5 inch (I believe) and have a Howell conversion cylinder for 45 cartridges

Although the Alaskan is a snubbie I have not noticed any keyhole issues, but will certainly keep an eye out for it. I did shoot some pretty stout Buffalo Bore GC rounds with it, but, at the time did not notice any odd holes in the target ... I will be sure to keep a close eye on it. Thanks for your feedback.

Like Cowboy4ever said,in .44 Mag,IMR 4227 probably doesn't have the combustion chamber to fully expand.I've started experimenting with it in .45 Colt with 255gr bullets and while at what I consider max charge for my gun,I still find some unburned kernels...but way less than a full charge in .44 Mag.
It probably means that it still needs more room.I guess that the .454 Casull case should be its near perfect match.
Anybody can confirm please?
Qc

that would be interesting had it not been for magnum research turning out the BFR in 45-70
just kinda putting that out there in the event you might be into that sort of thing.

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it just needs more voltage

You are an enabeler!!!

Thank you .... I think.

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it just needs more voltage

flyerdoc , I have shot 296/110 w/ just std large pistol primers but that is in southern Az , where we basically have 2 seasons , hot to warm and then back to hot again .
Those that had a chronograph showed over a 100 fps loss in velocity by using std large pistol primers w/296-110 . I have always used winchester and their large pistol is rated for std and magnum loads . Their chronograph showed in a comparison of std , winchester and magnum primers that the winchester was about right in the middle of velocity difference between std and full magnum primers . Good Luck

I started out with a RCBS Rock Chucker in 1973 loading 300 Winchester Magnums for myself and a friend for practice towards a bear hunt.
A novice pulling the trigger for the first time on a reload like that was, well exciting. Still using the Rock Chucker too.

QC Pistolero . In the 45 LC I have used 20.0 grs under a 255 gr cast bullet in a S&W 25 with a 6.5" barrel with complete satisfaction .
Brian Pierce had a good article sometime back on 3 tiers of loads for the 45LC . He listed a charge of 20 grs max in the " not to exceed " 20,000psi using the rcbs 270gr SAA cast bullet . In tier " 3 " not to exceed 32,000 fps he listed loads from 22-24 grs for a velocity of 1116-1221fps .

When I had my Ruger SRH 454C I also liked exploring the "gray region" between 45 Colt/Ruger (+P) loads & 45 Colt (+P+) loads that run in typical magnum pistol pressure ranges & bordered on starting 454C loads. Never had any problems with the strength of Starline's 45 Colt brass. As their website says, "Our .45 Colt brass has been tested to .44 Magnum pressures in gun systems suitable for such loads."

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Waiting for the break of day

Thank you for the feedback, this is all very interesting...experimentation (and caution) will continue!

I did go to the range today and shot some factory loads and then the 19 grain IRM4227 with 300grain bullets through the New Model Blackhawk and Old Vaquero. The interesting discovery was that both guns shot much more accurately with the custom reloads. The Blackhawk shot both well, but the reloads tightened the circle by an inch. The Old Vaquero was really all over the place with the factory loads, I want to say 10 inch circle at 15 yards. But with the heavy hitters the accuracy increased to a good 4 inches.

Then I shot some home brewed 454 casull (28.2 grains of IRM 4227 and a 300grain Hornady XTP bullet/ and 25grains IRM 4227 and a Missouri 300 grain Silhouette bullet/BHN18) through the SRH Toklat and had, for me, incredible results. At 15 yards I had a good 4 inch circle with a few strays to 6 inches. With that recoil I was pleased. The first two shots were almost on top of one another, then the circle widened as I anticipated the recoil.

All in all I am very pleased. I would reiterate that I will continue to reload "normal" rounds (for the most part) for my 45's but am encouraged by the results of the stouter rounds.

PS I should add that I am now shooting with bicycle gloves on for the Casull rounds. I had absolutely no discomfort or bruising even after shooting 50 rounds. It was actually fun!