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.44 Special Hollow-Point Testing: Speer Gold Dots the clear winner
I haven't been able to find a Smith .44 Special I can afford, but I did manage to find a .44 snubby I could buy, a used Charter 2000 Bulldog Pug stainless with 2.5" barrel taken in by the gunshop where I work. It looked virtually unfired and locks up tight, so it will have to do until I can find a used Model 24.
In the first outing with my new-to-me Bulldog Pug .44 Special snubby, I discovered the good folks at Charter set up the iron sights for full-house-load 240-grain bullets.
I had a box of Cowboy Load 240-gr. ammo which is certainly no wimp at 760 FPS, classic numbers for .45 ACP .230-gr. FMJs.
But the Charter's iron sights placed the Cowboy Loads about 2-3" low on the target. Then I tried some full-house-load 240 gr. SWCs and they were exactly what the iron sights liked, right on the bull.
So the next step in using the Bulldog for a carry pistol is to find a jacketed hollowpoint load that will line up with the iron sights.
I never did find a JHP load that lined up with the iron sights of my Charter Patriot .327 Magnum (bottom pistol in 2nd photo), so I had to get a set of Crimson Trace Laser Grips to enable it to hit where I'm aiming.
I suspected that might be the case with JHPs for the Bulldog Pug. I had four JHP loads to test. Top left on the target board, standing two-handed at 25 feet, are some 200-grain Georgia Arms Gold-Dot JHPs. Printing low and with a lot of muzzle blast and recoil. Not pleasant. The three clustered at 6 o'clock about 3" low are mine, the other holes are by the sergeant at the Armory, whose rounds drifted even lower and to the left. All the rest of the holes in the other targets are mine. Three of the GA Gold Dots were all the sergeant wanted to try. Can't imagine why.
Top right target are some CCI steel-case JHPs, probably 200-grain but they were some loose rounds we had at the gun shop with no box, so that's just a guess. Even hotter and more unpleasant to shoot than the GA Gold Dots and though still low, closer to the bull by a bit.
Then bottom left are five holes with Winchester Silvertip 200-gr. JHPs, much more pleasant to shoot and getting pretty close to the bull.
Finally, bottom right is the clear winner, five rounds with Speer Gold Dot 200-gr. JHPs, right on the money and also fairly pleasant to shoot. I am delighted to find a carry load so easily and not to have to add CT Lasergrips for the Bulldog. I may still add some grips later, but not right now when I've got other pistols to buy hopefully in my near future, like maybe that elusive Model 24.
I haven't been able to find a Smith .44 Special I can afford, but I did manage to find a .44 snubby I could buy, a used Charter 2000 Bulldog Pug stainless with 2.5" barrel taken in by the gunshop where I work. It looked virtually unfired and locks up tight, so it will have to do until I can find a used Model 24.
In the first outing with my new-to-me Bulldog Pug .44 Special snubby, I discovered the good folks at Charter set up the iron sights for full-house-load 240-grain bullets.
I had a box of Cowboy Load 240-gr. ammo which is certainly no wimp at 760 FPS, classic numbers for .45 ACP .230-gr. FMJs.
But the Charter's iron sights placed the Cowboy Loads about 2-3" low on the target. Then I tried some full-house-load 240 gr. SWCs and they were exactly what the iron sights liked, right on the bull.
So the next step in using the Bulldog for a carry pistol is to find a jacketed hollowpoint load that will line up with the iron sights.
I never did find a JHP load that lined up with the iron sights of my Charter Patriot .327 Magnum (bottom pistol in 2nd photo), so I had to get a set of Crimson Trace Laser Grips to enable it to hit where I'm aiming.
I suspected that might be the case with JHPs for the Bulldog Pug. I had four JHP loads to test. Top left on the target board, standing two-handed at 25 feet, are some 200-grain Georgia Arms Gold-Dot JHPs. Printing low and with a lot of muzzle blast and recoil. Not pleasant. The three clustered at 6 o'clock about 3" low are mine, the other holes are by the sergeant at the Armory, whose rounds drifted even lower and to the left. All the rest of the holes in the other targets are mine. Three of the GA Gold Dots were all the sergeant wanted to try. Can't imagine why.
Top right target are some CCI steel-case JHPs, probably 200-grain but they were some loose rounds we had at the gun shop with no box, so that's just a guess. Even hotter and more unpleasant to shoot than the GA Gold Dots and though still low, closer to the bull by a bit.
Then bottom left are five holes with Winchester Silvertip 200-gr. JHPs, much more pleasant to shoot and getting pretty close to the bull.
Finally, bottom right is the clear winner, five rounds with Speer Gold Dot 200-gr. JHPs, right on the money and also fairly pleasant to shoot. I am delighted to find a carry load so easily and not to have to add CT Lasergrips for the Bulldog. I may still add some grips later, but not right now when I've got other pistols to buy hopefully in my near future, like maybe that elusive Model 24.
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or a shrouded third type pre war .44.... )
