Accuracy Load for .44 Special?

[keppelj]

I'm getting started working up an accurate load for a new Model 629 (6") and I'd appreciate some tips on what to test. The rounds are 240 gr SWCBB. Emphasis is on a target type load. I've started with Herco using a ransom rest at 25 yards. Other favorite powders and weights?

 

[keppelj]

I'm getting started working up an accurate load for a new Model 629 (6") and I'd appreciate some tips on what to test. The rounds are 240 gr SWCBB. Emphasis is on a target type load. I've started with Herco using a ransom rest at 25 yards. Other favorite powders and weights?

 

[ChuckS1]

Are you using .44 Special or .44 Magnum brass? I've found that I got better accuracy in my 6" 29-2 with magnum brass.

But, to answer your question, here are .44 Special loads my pre-24 likes. All use a cast Lyman 429241, mixed brass and a Wolf LP primer:

4.0 grains of Clays,
6.8 grains of AA No.5
6.9 grains of Unique
7.1 grains of Unique
7.8 grains of SR-4756
8.2 grains of SR-4756
4.0 grains of Bullseye
5.0 grains of Bullseye

All of these loads will group inside the 10 ring of an NRA B8 target at 25 yards off a rest, so you're looking at 2.5"-3" groups.

 

[Gatofeo]

Well, I was going to offer some of my own, but ChuckS1 beat me to it. I have long used Unique and Bullseye under the Speer 240 gr. SWC for target loads in .44 Special cases.
These shoot well in my Model 29-2 and 1970s era Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special.
A medium to heavy crimp ensures good ignition and clean burning.

 

[keppelj]

Thanks, ChuckS1. You've given me a ballpark for several powders, and some specifics That's useful. I'm tempted by Unique because I don't know it and it has such a history with .44 accuracy. I've had good luck with Bullseye in .38. My cases are .44 Special. If it's a significant difference I could find some Magnum brass, I'm sure. Thanks again for your help. Gatfeo, thanks for the advice on crimp. Does the Unique meter Ok with a Dillon 550B, do you know?

 

[Gatofeo]

I have a Dillon 550B progressive press.
Unique is not noted for easy metering with any powder measure. So, no, it won't meter precisely down to 1/10th of a grain in the Dillon.
But that's okay. I can live (safely) with it.
Let's say I want to charge for 6.9 grains of Unique. I'll set my powder measure to as close as I can get to that, but not over.
So, by throwing 10 measures I find the highest is 6.9 grains and the lowest is 6.7 grains. I'll leave it at that.
But if I'm getting more than 6.9 grains, say 7.0 or even 7.1, I'll back it down.
I'm happy at throwing 6.8 and 6.9 grains.

If I were shooting targets for big money, I'd weigh each and every charge. But I'm an "Advanced Plinker" so there is probably more variance in my eyeballs, hand position and how much caffeine is in my system than in one or two Tenths of a grain, especially at 25 yards.

I used to agonize over such tiny variances. Now, at 54 years of age, I use such variances as alibis when I throw a bullet out of the group.
"Darn Dillon. Darn Unique. Darn Earth rotation," I mutter.

Whether such precision matters must remain your own decision.
To me, such precision for plinking and informal target practice at 25 yards is akin to buying Premium gas, and triple-filtering it, for use in the lawnmower.

 

[BUFF]

With carefully selected and weighed home-cast Lyman 429421 SWC's, I have consistently gotten better groups using Bullseye than I did from Unique, at traditional factory ammo velocities (750 fps or less). Good, firm roll crimp helps.

My notes showed 4.0 grains of Bullseye, which about duplicates the old 246 gr. RNL factory load but with a much better bullet.

 

[keppelj]

Gatofeo,I like your rational for letting some ease into your measuring w/ Unique. I'm pretty new to reloading, but it has made my obsessiveness evident. I don't mind in principle but it's eating up time. What matters to me, it seems, is to have a bullet for each of my guns which groups so well from a rest that when I shoot w/o the rest I know that the error was mine. Else why try for accuracy if it's not there to be had? But I wouldn't argue this and i find you point better put and likely easier to live with!
Buff, Thanks so much for the specifics on BE. I began loading sets of ten rounds last night starting from 5.2 and going down. I don't cast though so I must buy what's on the market. The coolest cast bullets I've seen were made by a friend from this forum and sound just like yours from the Lyman mold.

 

[H Richard]

Be careful using the "average" method in throwing charges of Unique. I have had Unique "bridge" and drop a short load in one case then a one & a half charge in the next. I caught it, but loading on a Dillon you may not. I only use ball or very fine powders when loading on my Dillon.

 

[keppelj]

H Richard, interesting point and one I wouldn't have thought of. Don't know off hand what powders qualify as "ball or very fine", but I notice that among the ones I'm using Herco is hard to meter consistently with the Dillon. I don't have the patience any longer to measure every load so I'll think twice about Unique.

 

[ChuckS1]

AA No. 5 is a ball powder that meters very well. I went to that after having metering issues with Unique in my Dillon SDB. SR-4756 also meters well, as does Bulleye. I use Bullseye in my SDB setup for .45 ACP.

 

[Paul5388]

H. Richard brings up a very valid point that's an example of the invalid nature of averaging weights. If one really wants to know how well a powder meters, there should be a series of weights taken and recorded. They can then be scrutinized for any fluctuations that would be outside the parameters you have for weight.

I was using Winchester WSF (a ball powder) out of a small screw RCBS Uniflo the other night and found something on the order of .2 gr variation in the 6.0 gr range. With the criteria I use, that's unacceptable.

 

[Spotteddog]

Don't disagree with one word written by the gents above.

 

[perrazi]

with ball powders, i have had good luck with 231 and titegroup too. check the hodgdon site for specific loads. with 44spl, stay in 750-800 fps range.

 

[Dan Cash]

Well, fellows, this will get me flamed but after about 200 thousand .45 acp loads with 6.1 grain Unique I have had no problem nor failure. Spread of drop will be from 5.9 to 6.2. I would not use such a method if I were pushing the edge of amazement with the load but this load and method with a Dillon has worked well for me.

 

[keppelj]

Well, this is going over my head a bit. What's "spread of drop"? Are you saying a given metering can be .3 off one round to another? That sounds like enough to effect a group size, no?

 

[Paul5388]

.3 gr variation in a 6.0 gr load is 5% variation. With better sensitivity in your scale, it may be even higher than that. I normally try for +/- .05 gr (a total of .1 gr variation), even on handgun loads.

When I miss the target, I want to know it wasn't the ammunition that was at fault.

 

[Mule88]

Ive been getting one inch groups at 25 yds on a regular basis with 7.5 gn of universal clays

 

[tbury]

The problem with unique is the variation in size and shape of the flakes makes it tend to clump. The beauty of it is that it is a darn accurate powder in large capacity cases. I tend to be tight-butted about the accuracy of my loads, so I weight each on an RCBS dispensing scale. I have 5-10 overweights per 50 loads weighed. Usually it is about .1 grain over weight due to a clump dropping at the last second. I am sure that the temp and humidity play a factor in this clumping. I have also had Unique "bridge" in my Lee through the expander die when I pour from the scale to a funnel. The way you pour can make this more or less of a problem. Usually I find out this has happened when I lower the arm and powder spill out on the bench. In spite of this I still think the benefits still out weigh the problems with Unique, you just have to be aware of possible problems.

 

[keppelj]

Going back to the beginning of this thread I'm reporting on today's trip to the range looking for an accurate load for my new 629 shooting 240 gr SWCBB. In even number tenths I shot Herco (6.4-7.6), HP-38 (4.2-5.4), and Bullseye (4.4-5.2). At 25 yards my best groups were with BE (1 3/4") using 5.2 grs of powder. Second was HP-38 (2 1/4") also at 5.2 gr. I had hoped for tighter groups at that distance. I'd have thought these were stellar at 50 yards but 25? So I think I'll sort the cases by brand and trim them and shoot all the tenths on either side of my 5.2s as well as those again. Thanks for your advice, guys. Obviously I stayed away from Unique. I found that even with the easier to meter powders, if you watch weights carefully with the Dillon, you've got to weigh frequently.