.44 Spl Defense Ammo Picks

[PO2313]

Hi All,

With any luck I may soon be the owner of a Model 29 4". I intend to load it with .44 Spl loads for defense. I do not handload and would not carry handloads anyway for street carry due to legal reasons. Whats seems to have the best track record here lately in this loading for stopping power?

 

[armsmaster270]

I would go with the Gold Dot H.P. it's what I use

 

[moxie]

Ditto on the 200 gr. Gold Dot JHP, available in Blazer or Speer. Either one is just fine.

 

[BreakerDan]

If you can, find the old Federal lead hollowpoint or Winchester
Silvertip. They are good 44 spl loads and do expand.

I have heard a few people tried the CCI blazer version of the
44 spl and it didnt expand. Just what I heard. I tried the name
brand version and it opened some from a 7 1/2" bbl.

 

[Landric]

Factory .44 Special ammunition, for the most part, is pretty anemic. It comes nowhere close to the potential of the cartridge. There are a couple of exceptions of course. Buffalo Bore loads a 255 grain SWCGC that I find pretty appealing. If one like a lighter, expanding bullet, Georgia Arms loads a 200 grain Gold Dot that averaged 940 fps out of my 21-4 4". That is likely enough velocity to expand a Gold Dot.

If I can ever scrape the money together for a 396 Night Guard, I'll probably be carrying a .44 Special. Liking heavy bullets, and not feeling the need for a hollowpoint in .44 Special, I'll probably go with the Buffalo Bore 255 grain SWC for carry (or perhaps a similar handload of my own).

I know a lot of ink and bandwidth has been used up banging the drum of no handloads for defense, but having spent the last 13 years as a police officer and been involved in investigations of homicides, justifiable and otherwise, I've never seen ammunition choices brought up. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but it seems unlikely enough to warrant the risk in order to carry ammunition better than what is available commercially, at least to me.

 

[flop-shank]

I'm going to come at this from a different angle, so if the OP doesn't want to go the route I'm suggesting, that's fine and I understand. That said, I would take a look at the medium power .44 magnum offerings that Corbon and Speer make. I chronoed a single Corbon 165 gr. JHP from my 5" gun (which I think is probably a slow gun) and clocked it at 1250 fps./619 foot pounds. Anything weaker than that and you might as well carry a .357 magnum. It will hit as hard or harder and carry much easier if you pack a K or L frame gun. The downside of the .357 would be increased recoil, flash and blast over the .44 special. Just some food for thought and YMMV.

 

[N_itis]

Factory .44 Special ammunition, for the most part, is pretty anemic. It comes nowhere close to the potential of the cartridge. There are a couple of exceptions of course. Buffalo Bore loads a 255 grain SWCGC that I find pretty appealing. If one like a lighter, expanding bullet, Georgia Arms loads a 200 grain Gold Dot that averaged 940 fps out of my 21-4 4". That is likely enough velocity to expand a Gold Dot.

If I can ever scrape the money together for a 396 Night Guard, I'll probably be carrying a .44 Special. Liking heavy bullets, and not feeling the need for a hollowpoint in .44 Special, I'll probably go with the Buffalo Bore 255 grain SWC for carry (or perhaps a similar handload of my own).

I know a lot of ink and bandwidth has been used up banging the drum of no handloads for defense, but having spent the last 13 years as a police officer and been involved in investigations of homicides, justifiable and otherwise, I've never seen ammunition choices brought up. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but it seems unlikely enough to warrant the risk in order to carry ammunition better than what is available commercially, at least to me.

+1 on "heavy" bullets (or, more accurately, caliber appropriate bullets), especially for the .44 Special (which was all but made to use a SWC type bullet weighing 240 grains or more)...and most other cartridges that "start with a '4.'"

The biggest problem with most of today's factory handgun ammunition loadings is that they largely subscribe to the theories of what works best for a 9mm...lightweight projectiles designed to expand at relatively high velocities.

I prefer non-hollow point 230 to 260 grain bullets in my .44s and .45s...with the exception of the wide variety of quality 230 grain hollow point loads available for the .45 ACP. Sure, the 246 grain round nose "Cowboy loads" are a poor choice but so are the 200 grain hollow points. Even if they expand reliably, what is the point and what have you gained? The point of carrying a big heavy .44 is that you can push a big heavy slug at moderate velocity (and moderate recoil), not a small pill pushed to excessive velocities (at the expense of increased recoil) that you "hope" will expand. If that is what you are after, then carry a 9mm loaded with 115 grain hollow points.

 

[flop-shank]

The biggest problem with most of today's factory handgun ammunition loadings is that they largely subscribe to the theories of what works best for a 9mm...lightweight projectiles designed to expand at relatively high velocities.

Assuming that we're talking about defensive ammo, there are few loadings with a bullet light enough in the .44 magnum, for example, to fully take advantage of what a light bullet can do. Federal's 180 gr. JHP is one and it's a great self defense load for the dedicated few who can handle it. In cartridges like the .44 spl. and .45 ACP "big and slow" is alive and well. Also, ammo makers don't, to my knowledge, make hollow point bullets designed to expand at higher velocities. They make them to perform properly at higher velocities when they've been pushed well past their expansion threshold. A great example of a bullet that does well in that regard would be Remington's 125 gr. SJHP. It will likely expand in .38+P form from a snubby, Yet still work well when subjected to the force of being driven from a 6" .357.

Even if they expand reliably, what is the point and what have you gained?

Controlled penetration, the ability to transfer energy much faster, and a bullet that pushes a wider front.

The point of carrying a big heavy .44 is that you can push a big heavy slug at moderate velocity (and moderate recoil), not a small pill pushed to excessive velocities (at the expense of increased recoil) that you "hope" will expand. If that is what you are after, then carry a 9mm loaded with 115 grain hollow points.

There's more than one reason to carry a big, heavy .44. Pushing a smaller bullet faster oftentimes results in significantly less recoil, yet higher energy. My .44 magnum 165 gr. JHP handload recoils less than Federal's 180 gr. JHP, yet packs more muzzle energy. Rest assured expansion isn't an issue, nor is adequate penetration. My 5" 629 packs 1000+ fpe. no 115 gr. 9mm comes close. The woodchucks I've shot looked like they had been hit by a rifle. In .44 spl. My hunch is that the lighter loads in that caliber recoil less too. I doubt they have expansion problems.

Having said all that, I hope I'm not coming across as being disagreeable. If a man wants to carry a "sweet shooting .44 spl." there's nothing wrong with that. They are formidable and very pleasant to use. All I want to do is point out that there are several ballistic options out there for dedicated carriers of big bore self defense revolvers and it's based on getting them to behave as rifle-like as possible, yet still remain controllable.

 

[44forever]

Federal LSWCHP in .44 special - none better.

In .44 magnum you might look into the Winchester 210 grain Silvertip (1250 fps) - what I usually carry and/or the Georgia Arms 240 grain LSWC midrange (1000 FPS) from my 5" gun. I have tried the CORBON 165 grain HP load but as somebody else already said, if I was going to go that light on the bullet, I'd go .357.

In my misspent youth, I worked up a load with a 180 grain JHP that would do an honest 1800+ fps from an 8" Anaconda. Impressive on both ends but too slow on recovery for a Self Defense load and the muzzle flash was so huge the wound would be self-cauterizing.

 

[mhg2tld]

What does the Gold Dot 44 special 200 gr. GDHP cost where you guys are. I just bought 20 rounds a gun shop today and it was $30 plus tax. I have not shot any yet. It was the only box of 44 specials they had. Was in a different gun shop last week and all they had was one box of semi-wadcutters. This stuff is getting rare around here.

 

[Spotteddog]

The discussions of which bullet may have a mechanical advantage over another, and why, is a fun topic! I do think that everyone talking about it here would agree at least on this? In any loading other than the LRN 246 Remington, the .44 Special will at the very least be the equal of any loading in the .45ACP. In a few loadings, it's superior. I'd feel comfortable using any anti personnel load of full wad cutter, Semi Wad Cutter, LHPSWC. And for me, the heavier the better. The question in JHP bullets, would keep me in the 165-200 grain range. Only because they'd need the added velocity a lighter bullet could deliver, in order to expand. JOMO

 

[flop-shank]

Good points, Spottedbro. The .44 spl. and .45 ACP aren't very ballistically dissimilar. I'm guessing that the .44 spl. has an advantage in case capacity that a handloader could really make use of.

 

[armsmaster270]

What does the Gold Dot 44 special 200 gr. GDHP cost where you guys are. I just bought 20 rounds a gun shop today and it was $30 plus tax. I have not shot any yet. It was the only box of 44 specials they had. Was in a different gun shop last week and all they had was one box of semi-wadcutters. This stuff is getting rare around here.

Last box of 50 Blazer 200gr gold dots cost me 19.99 In a 5 1/2" barrel 920fps, 376ft lbs

 

[Marshall 357]

The best thing to do is start loading your own!

 

[Spotteddog]

Truer words were never spoken!
ESPECIALLY in this caliber!

 

[Nicksterdemus]

Last box of 50 Blazer 200gr gold dots cost me 19.99 In a 5 1/2" barrel 920fps, 376ft lbs

I wonder how those figures would convert to a 3" brl.

The last time I bought 44 spl Blazer they were $20.99 for AL case, 200gr gold dots 50 pack & that was just the other day.

Thanks for figures coz now I know what they'll do in the flattop.

Some folks will look at the figures and say only 300'lbs and some change.

It's going in one side of the thug and out the other so I'll be a happy camper from the giving end.

It's a shame that your heavier loads aren't readily available in SWC, but the masses, for the most part, don't want anything to do w/44 spl.

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

Truer words were never spoken!
ESPECIALLY in this caliber!

...and, so "they" say, the .41 Magnum. Reloading used to be fun. No reason why it still wouldn't be not only fun but frugal.

 

[38-44HD45]

Pro Load offers another option, the .44 mag. "Tactical Light" load: Show Search Results

I think Speer does a nearly identical load now, as well. I've shot quite a bit of the Pro Load round, and other than being a little flashier than I'd like, it's good stuff.

Here's the Speer load: http://www.speer-ammo.com/ballistics/detail.aspx?loadNo=23971

 

[cjw3]

BB:

Heavy 44 Special Pistol & Handgun Ammunition

 

[flop-shank]

Some folks will look at the figures and say only 300'lbs and some change.

Not me. If it was a .357, which works and thrives off of high energy, I would say it's a loser, but the .44 spl. is the classic "hole poker" cartridge. It relys on a large expanded diameter and heavy weight to defeat whatever is in it's way. If it gets good penetration, has a large expanded diameter, and consistently does so, then it's a good load.