.44 Special Loads???

[brucev]

I've got a new gun! It's a 21-4 Thunder Ranch... nice retro look. Little K-Frame sized round butt grip with very nice non-medallion S&W factory grips. It handles nicely. Wonderful single and double action. It needs to be shot a lot. I have Unique and Red Dot on hand. I will soon have primers. After the first Sunday of February (Church pays on each first Sunday) I will see about dies and bullets. I'm going to either sell some .45 ACP brass or trade it for .44 Special brass. Once I have everything, I want to load up some nice mid-range type loads so that I can enjoy shooting the 21. I tried some Winchester Cowboy Action Loads (240 gr. LFN) in the revolver this past Friday. It shot good groups (under 4 inches for two cylinder loads at 20 yards off-hand). But, what I'd like is something that will shoot a little faster since the Winchester load hit a little higher that I'd like. Any ideas about loads. I also have some Green Dot and, somewhere in my cabinet I may have some AA # 5. Thanks Sincerely. Bruce.

 

[lebomm]

Bruce;
A load that shoots very well for me in all my .44 Specials is the 250 gr. Keith bullet over 7.5 gr. of Unique. It's a bit stronger than the factory load, but still quite manageable in a 4" N frame. Also, any 240 gr. cast or jacketed bullet can be substituted quite safely.
Good shooting!

Larry

 

[max]

Start at about 6 grains of Unique and see how that works. My standard load is 7.0 in a magnum case.

 

[Marksman]

I have reloaded .44 Special for more than 35 yrs. my bullet of choice is a 200gr. RNFP although I also shoot 246gr. RN. I like the "Skeeter load" of 7.5gr. Unique with either bullet. I shoot the 200gr. RNFP in .44 Magnum with 9.0gr. Unique. I've tried many different bullets, powders and loads over the years and always come back to these.

 

[VAdoublegunner]

You have some good powders to choose from. The 44 Special is an easy cartridge to load and you can obtain good results with many different combinations. The Model 21 is also capable of handling loads at the 25kpsi level rather than the black powder era guns limited to 14kpsi SAAMI spec. I recommend Brian Pearce's excellent article in Handloader #236 for some reference information on load levels.

Using Red Dot at a charge of 5.0-5.5 grains should give you in the 825-900fps range, probably a little faster than the cowboy loads. This is in the Cateory 1 low level.

AA#5 is also listed in the Category 1 level at 8.5 to 9.3 grains, topping out ~930fps. Although the data is for a 250gr bullet, it will work fine with a 240.

Folks will suggest many loads using Unique.

I like using WSF to drive 240gr bullets about 1050fps in most of my 44 Specials.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

My standard 44 special load is 7.0 of unique, standard primer, under a 240gr-245gr LSWC. This does 904 fps out of my M-21, for a bit more power bump it up to 7.5 gr of unique, the old Skeeter load.

 

[Culina]

I have been using W231 for my .44 Specials, it burns a lot cleaner and is more accurate than Unique unless load them on the hot side 7.5gr then Unique burns a lot cleaner but I think the W231 still shoots better.

 

[Dave T]

I have several 44 Magnums for when I want to hurt my palm and ears (LOL) so I don't much over do the 44 Special. A load that duplicates the original facotory round is a 245g RN cast bullet over 4.8g of Red Dot. In a 4" barrel it chronographs right around 750 fps. Great load to plink and play with. Works about the same with a 240g SWC which will be easier to find.

My everyday 44 Special load is 6.2g of HP-38 under a Berry's plated 240g FP, seated so the case crimps over the shoulder. That gives me about 825 in my 4" 4th Model HE and 850 fps in my 5" M24-3.

Dave

 

[special44]

.44 Special Loads ???

I've loaded .44 Special for about 40 years, and I find that the best load is either
RCBS #44-250K or Lyman #429421 either of which weight about 250 grs., over
6.5 to 7.0 grs. of Unique powder. Be sure to size the bullets to match your cylinder
throats.

 

[Opie]

I cast another vote for the Skeeter load. I love it in my 21-4.

 

[Kaumheimer]

Try a 200 gr RNFP bullet over 6.6 gn Unique. Incredibly accurate and very little recoil. Fun to shoot.

 

[ChuckS1]

If you're hitting high with that 240 grain load, I'd suggest a 200 grain bullet.

 

[Mule88]

Ive used 7.5 Gn of Universal Clays with great results. Burns clean and get one inch groups at 25 yds.

 

[zeke]

When this newer version 44 special came out, their sights were set for 200 grain bullets. A 200 lrnfp over 6.2 - 6.4 grains hp-38 gets about 800-820 fps and closely matches poi of Speer's 200 gdhp blaser load. Unique also works very well with 200 lrnfp or Speer's 200 gdhp.

 

[yooperpat]

I will also point you to Brian Pearce's excellent articles on 44 spl loads in Handloader magazine over the last few years. A wealth of information.

I favor a 240 gr SWC bullet for everything from CCW to light target loads in my M624. Hard cast for the heavy stuff. Softer compounds for target.

I have used Unique and Power Pistol in the past.
I now used HP-38 or W-231 for light stuff and 2400 for heavy stuff.
My M624 seems to do it's best with these 2 powders.

 

[badbob38]

I have a box of 300gr swc I shoot a S&W 696 44spl. Can I shoot a bullet of that weigh and what kind and how much powder does it take to set this cannon ball off. thanks bob k.

 

[bronco45]

Brian Pearce likes Power Pistol in 44 Spl, but my groups open up quite a bit when using PP over 2400 or Unique. Need to try 231 but I have a keg of Unique and 2400.