Since you are loading your own for a model 69, I would not fuss around with 44 Special loads. Simply load some reduced power 44 Mag loads. If you continually shoot 44 Special in a revolver chambered for 44 Mag, you will get a carbon build up in your chambers that may prevent chambering 44 Mag rounds unless you constantly keep that crud cleaned out. Since you appear to be looking for optimal accuracy, go out and get some 429421 Keith bullets. That bullet and the 44 Mag go together like peas and carrots. I guarantee you that bullet will produce much tighter groups than those 200 gr. rnfp "cowboy " bullets.
Suggestions on 44 special please....
- Thread starter toad67
- Start date
carelesslove
Member
Beginning the Process - Reloading for the .44
toad67, carelesslove, here !
I have been following your thread - it's a good one !
You have been offered a lot of good experience and advice. I have been reloading for over 50 years - and I have taken & ignored a lot of advice.
The post (from Forum member "tdan"), before me, was a really good one! He has offered to save you a lot of fruitless experimentation (and grief).
1. Don't spend too much time, shooting .44 Special brass, in your .44 Magnum revolvers. It will shoot - sometimes very well - but, the 1/8" of exposed cylinder definitely collects a lot of crud and it gets "burned on". The time you waste will be scrubbing it out, hopefully, before you fire full-length brass and "pound" this crud into the cylinder. Some good folks will tell you to keep your guns clean - anyway - but, I am lazy because I don't want to work that hard !
2. The original 429421 bullet was - and still may be - way ahead of its' time. I have a bunch of excellent .44 molds (different shapes & sizes) and still (regularly) cast the 429421 in a couple of versions - old & new - all with excellent results. If you buy, or cast & size it to properly fit your cylinder throats, the only way to "perfect" your selection is to pick / use the right bullet lube.
3. The "Cowboy 200 gr. RNFP" is - perhaps - a mainstay of SASS-type shooting and I have hundreds loaded, and have many bullets, stocked in bulk. I am regularly trying to wear out the gongs & plate racks, at my range, with these 200 gr. bullets, but have yet to get them to produce the true target-style accuracy that the 429421 bullet does at velocities ranging from 750 to 1400 fps.
So, if you are just starting, start out the best way you can. Seek out good advice, do your homework, and make good decisions about your 1st choices in equipment and you won't end up with a bunch of unused stuff, waste a lot of powder and expensive primers - like me !
I do not profess to be an "Expert" because an "Expert" is just a person that has made every conceivable mistake - in a very narrow field of study !
Thanks, Tom "carelesslove" Love
toad67, carelesslove, here !
I have been following your thread - it's a good one !
You have been offered a lot of good experience and advice. I have been reloading for over 50 years - and I have taken & ignored a lot of advice.
The post (from Forum member "tdan"), before me, was a really good one! He has offered to save you a lot of fruitless experimentation (and grief).
1. Don't spend too much time, shooting .44 Special brass, in your .44 Magnum revolvers. It will shoot - sometimes very well - but, the 1/8" of exposed cylinder definitely collects a lot of crud and it gets "burned on". The time you waste will be scrubbing it out, hopefully, before you fire full-length brass and "pound" this crud into the cylinder. Some good folks will tell you to keep your guns clean - anyway - but, I am lazy because I don't want to work that hard !
2. The original 429421 bullet was - and still may be - way ahead of its' time. I have a bunch of excellent .44 molds (different shapes & sizes) and still (regularly) cast the 429421 in a couple of versions - old & new - all with excellent results. If you buy, or cast & size it to properly fit your cylinder throats, the only way to "perfect" your selection is to pick / use the right bullet lube.
3. The "Cowboy 200 gr. RNFP" is - perhaps - a mainstay of SASS-type shooting and I have hundreds loaded, and have many bullets, stocked in bulk. I am regularly trying to wear out the gongs & plate racks, at my range, with these 200 gr. bullets, but have yet to get them to produce the true target-style accuracy that the 429421 bullet does at velocities ranging from 750 to 1400 fps.
So, if you are just starting, start out the best way you can. Seek out good advice, do your homework, and make good decisions about your 1st choices in equipment and you won't end up with a bunch of unused stuff, waste a lot of powder and expensive primers - like me !
I do not profess to be an "Expert" because an "Expert" is just a person that has made every conceivable mistake - in a very narrow field of study !
Thanks, Tom "carelesslove" Love
Great Thread!
I concur on the "NOT" of shooting special brass in magnum revolvers.
I have been very pleased with "Iosso Bore Cleaner" and elbow grease.
Back in the day...(sigh)...we all thought the proper way was to shoot practice ammo for two hours and then end the range session with a cylinder or two of premium hollow points. One fine day, after a couple or three boxes of 38 specials, I put in some magnum silvertips in my Model 28 Highway Patrolman and ran the cylinder. Then I performed a speed reload,
or ...I tried to.
I did not successfully reload the revolver because when I brought the web of my hand down hard on the ejection rod, the rod did not move.
The cases did not eject.
I did, however, succeed in putting a bloody hole in my palm.
Even now, decades later...,
I can still feel it.
There was no lasting scar...(sigh)
...except one on my soul which, alas, will never heal.
If I ever must prove my courage to the mafia by slamming my hand down on an office paper spike, at least I will always know I CAN do it.
Nowadays, we think the proper way is to run your self-defense drills, using your carry loads, FIRST. Only score your first cold run; that is the only one that counts in real life anyway.
Kind Regards,
Thanks for a great thread!
BrianD
I concur on the "NOT" of shooting special brass in magnum revolvers.
I have been very pleased with "Iosso Bore Cleaner" and elbow grease.
Back in the day...(sigh)...we all thought the proper way was to shoot practice ammo for two hours and then end the range session with a cylinder or two of premium hollow points. One fine day, after a couple or three boxes of 38 specials, I put in some magnum silvertips in my Model 28 Highway Patrolman and ran the cylinder. Then I performed a speed reload,
or ...I tried to.
I did not successfully reload the revolver because when I brought the web of my hand down hard on the ejection rod, the rod did not move.
The cases did not eject.
I did, however, succeed in putting a bloody hole in my palm.
Even now, decades later...,
I can still feel it.
There was no lasting scar...(sigh)
...except one on my soul which, alas, will never heal.
If I ever must prove my courage to the mafia by slamming my hand down on an office paper spike, at least I will always know I CAN do it.
Nowadays, we think the proper way is to run your self-defense drills, using your carry loads, FIRST. Only score your first cold run; that is the only one that counts in real life anyway.
Kind Regards,
Thanks for a great thread!
BrianD
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- Aug 9, 2005
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I've never encountered this problem and I shoot .38 Specials in a variety of Colt and S&W .357 revolvers and have been for more than fifty years. I do the same by shooting .44 Specials in my Colt and S&W .44 Magnum
revolvers. I seldom shoot jacketed bullets in any handgun, only cast.
I don't do self-defense drills, only target shoot Bullseye-style, but shoot quite a few rounds during one session, at least once, sometimes two or three times a week. I clean my guns using a brush in both barrel and chamber regardless of how many rounds I've fired. Brushes vary in diameter and so do cylinder chambers.
Often a good bronze bore brush fits well enough to remove all fouling. Just as often it doesn't. An oversize .375" rifle bore brush works very well in a .357 Magnum cylinder, or you can buy a handgun chamber brush from Brownells. I suspect these might be the .375" rifle brush, though I haven't measured to verify this. This works very well, all fouling will be removed, even what you can't see. I do the same using oversized brushes in .44 Magnum cylinders. Often a good .45 bronze brush will work quite well.
I use Hoppe's #9 or Ed's Red on a patch before brushing, but other solvents may do just as good a job.
For you folks that shoot 44 Special in your 44 Mags or 38 Special in your 357 Mag chambers, you can make a tool to clean crud out of your chamber throats more quickly than a brass brush alone. For 44 cal. cylinders: Take an empty 44 Mag case and set it into your press and use your expander die to just slightly flare the case mouth. You only want enough flare so that the case mouth will fit into the chamber and contact the carbon crud buildup in the throat. You essentially have made yourself a scraping tool. Making sure that the case is de-capped, drill out the primer pocket to accept a small screw. Use a screw that has the same threads as your standard brush handle. Drop the screw through the drill hole and then screw on your handle. Voila........you just made yourself an effective chamber throat scraper. I use nickel cases as they do not dull as quickly as yellow brass. You will still occasionally have to re-flare the mouth of the case as it wears down.
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I still have #2 lYMAN that i cast 240 gr KSWC for my .44 Spls.
There for target shooting at 25 Yds with 7.5 gr of Unique
There for target shooting at 25 Yds with 7.5 gr of Unique
7gr of HP 38 and 240 is my load for Mod 29. 4"
