Got my ear twisted to use RL7 in 44 mag?

wheelgun28 · Feb 1, 2010

The other day I was shooting some of my home cast 215g over little better then 20g of 2400 in my 44 mag. A older gentle man comes over to see what I am shooting. I tell him exactly what I have, he tells me the Reloader 7 rifle powder is the thing to use! I ask how much he was using, what bullet and gun, (I was thinking may be contender)? He doesnt recall exactly but swears its great and so on. OK, I check the manuals I have, no listing, I check the internet, a few folks putting it in LC 45. maybe... No other listing that I can find. I am not a reloading pioneer nor a trailblazer and I dont like for maximum heavy loads. So I wound not try this out, but has anyone seen or heard this done? As for the guy that told me, I am guessing he was told this by his, aunts sisters friends babysitters uncles friend than knows a guy that said this was great and he has a porcelain Glock

505Gibbs · Feb 1, 2010

Re7 is great in a 222 Rem or 221 Fireball but I've NEVER heard of it for the 44 mag. The fact that you can't seem to find a load suggested in a reloading handbook is a good clue!

Check this burn rate chart : RE7 is no where even close to H110 or 296 - its much slower!
http://www.reloadbench.com/burn.html

buck460XVR · Feb 1, 2010

LOL.......free advice is always worth every penny of what you paid for it. 505Gibbs is correct, Not that RL7 wouldn't work, but if there is no published data for this powder in .44, odds are there's good reason.....and odds are, that reason is, there's many other better options available.

VAdoublegunner · Feb 2, 2010

I have heard of it being used for the heavies, 300 grains and up and mostly in Contenders or Rugers. Some silhouette shooters used it. You may have found folks in big bear country or hunters using it for heavy weight penetrator loads. It gave lower pressure and reduced muzzle blast than the H110/WW296 standards but with equivalent or better velocities. I tried it with 300gr Hornady HP/XTPs in my old 7.5" Redhawk, but decided that heavy weight bullets were not what I needed for most applications. And I didn't get great accuracy either. It was pretty much an advanced handloader idea, i.e. if you knew enough about powder properties and developing loads, then you knew how to develop it on your own or got the info from someone you trusted as a starting point to experiment.

Another, more likely, scenario is that the "older gentleman" confused Reloader 7 with HS-7, a completely different powder and one that is often used with 44 Mag cast bullet loads.

MMA10mm · Feb 2, 2010

Yes, it can be done. RL-7 has particularly good burning characteristics for cast bullets in large-expansion ratio cases (like 45-70 or 444 Marlin).

The 44 Magnum is also a large-expansion ratio cartridge, so it will work well in it as well. The only problem is that with RL-7's burning speed being so slow (compared to all the pistol powders) you will get lower velocities. You mention that you don't like full-max loads, so it could actually work fine for you.

My only concern is that for that slow of a powder, I have doubts with the light bullet you are using. RL-7 would be a better match in the 44 Mag with something in the 265gr or heavier area of bullets. This higher weight gives greater resistance, which causes the powder to burn more completely and cleanly. With the super-slow speed of RL-7 for that application, I think you'd NEED that.

Nothing unsafe about using it. You WOULD be in somewhat uncharted territory, although I've read about doing this exact thing somewhere. (Just can't remember where right at this minute.)

Got my ear twisted to use RL7 in 44 mag?

wheelgun28

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505Gibbs

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buck460XVR

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VAdoublegunner

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MMA10mm

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