Light Load for .44

R

rsmith99

Retired
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Aug 4, 2012
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Edmond, Oklahoma
I need to know a good light load for .44mag pistol.
Bullet size, powder, etc...

I shot factory .44 mag load today and decided it was WAY too hot for me!

Thanks!
 
I shoot a lot of 240 grain bullets over 9 grains of Unique. I also use 9 grains of Unique for 250's for my 45Colt. Both are pleasant to shoot all day.
 
One of my favorite very light handloads for the .44 Magnum has used a 240 gr. JHP bullet over 10.0 grs. HS-6. Very accurate and mild shooting.

Also 240 gr. cast with 8.0 grs. Winchester 231. Very accurate:

000_62521.jpg


Bob Wright
 
Remington sells or used to sell a medium load L44MG4.

Like Bountyhunter I shoot a lot of 240gr SWC w/gas check with 9 grs of Unique.
But if I can only get 240gr SWC w/o gas checks I use either 6.7grs of Unique or 5.7grs of Bullseye, great plinkers.
 
I shoot mostly Cowboy Action shooting loads in several 44 Magnum Original Size VAQUEROS/BISLEY VAQUEROS with 5.5 inch barrels...also a 7.5 inch gun...long time Richard Boone fan...Paladin in HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL tv show 'way back when. BUT I also use the same loads in a MARLIN Cowboy rifle.

I like various bullet weights. Full wadcutters in 200, 230 and 250 grain; semi wadcutters in 250 grain; round nose flat point...feed better in the rifles....from 240 to 275. Almost all of them are plain base designs. Gas checks are an un-necessary expense for mid range/low end loads. Get the HODGDON Cowboy Action pamphlet for the lighter loads and fine tune a bit. Powders I like are TITEGROUP, HP38, RED DOT/PROMO, UNIQUE and HERCO...all of them in the 5.0-to-7.0 range for starting loads, depending on your recoil sensitivity. ALSO they deliver over 1000 loads per pound of powder.

I size anywhere from .430 to .432 in my STAR lubricator sizer, depending on as cast bullet size, since I am loading for a bunch of 44 pistols and rifles for myself, step kids and grand kids. The .432 seems to work well in most of them, but an individual gun may not like them. A set of LEE push through dies to reduce sizes would be a good investment before buying a sizing die. AND LEE LIQUID ALOX is a good system to get you started with lubricating and sizing your first home cast bullets. A little time consuming and messy, but a CHEAP way to get started and it does produce good results. Go over to castboolits web site and do some reading. The lasc.us site has some great articles by Glenn Fryxell and his book, FROM INGOT TO TARGET, will educate you to the level of guys who learned everything the hard way in years past.

REMEMBER: Just because the casing says MAGNUM doesn't mean you have to load it hot.
 
Before I completely "outgrew" the 44s the standard load was 240 gr LRNFP pushed by 8.3 Unique. My son referred to it as a whimp load but I could shoot painlessly with the 4 5/8 new model blackhawk. Plus it was very accurate.
 
I buy 240 hard cast bullets lubed and ready to go. 8.5 grains of Unique under that bullet in my SS .44 Special FT w/4 5/8" barrel is dead on at about 40 yards and I did not even have to move the factory sight setting. Another half grain in magnum cases works well in the Super for fun shooting. .
 
Here is a link to some data from Load Date:
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_detail.cfm?metallicid=2607&caliber=.44&caliberid=25&header=.44%20Caliber%20Reloading%20Data

Some time back Alliant had some low recoil loads for 180 gr cast bullets and the Laser Cast manual may
have some light loads in it for these. The Alliant loads used Red Dot and Green Dot as I recall but the
current online manual does not list these. They were in the Cowboy Load section.
 
The following loads are easy on the hands. Non leading, no gas checks required.

.44Mag loads
10.0g of Unique under 240g SWC. 1136fps. My favorite non-magnum load.
_8.5g of Unique under 240g SWC. 1053fps. Close to the Skeeter .44Spec Load.
_6.5g of Red Dot under 240g SWC. 947fps. Another good load

Looking through my tables I don't have any sub 900fps loads except for Trail Boss and the only entry there that was marked accurate was:

_8.0g of Trail Boss under 240g SWC. 919fps.
 
Light load of exceptional accuracy in .44 magnum brass: Cast 240 Semi Wad Cutter seated over 5.5 grains Win 231 or Hodgdon HP-38 (HP-38 is 231); standard LP primer. Seat bullet deep in case so that front band is .040"-.050" below mouth. Roll crimp very lightly, as there is little pull with this load. COL=1.500". A further advantage for those who do not load on a progressive with separate seat and crimp dies, this deep seating allows you to seat & crimp in one pass.

This load is capable of grouping 5-shots in about 4-inches at 100 yards from a very good revolver. Velocity 750-850 fps. Commercial cast bevel base 240 SWCs shoot accurately with this light charge of fast powder. Whereas, a bevel base SWC pushed harder by a heavier dose of slower powder, say Unique, often produces miserable accuracy around 1000 fps, as the bullet tips between 15 and 25 yards, and keyholes pretty soon. Commercial cast flat base bullets are hard to find.

The same technique produces very accurate .45 Colt rounds with cast 255 SWC deep seated over 6.7 gr./231 (or HP-38). Likewise in .38 Special, with cast 158 SWC deep seated over 3.5 gr./231 (or HP-38).
David Bradshaw
 
I use 13 gr of BLUE DOT and a 250 SWC. I have used this load for 50 years.
I have shot 250 rounds of this in one day.

RICHGCOOP
 
rsmith99 said:
I need to know a good light load for .44mag pistol.
Bullet size, powder, etc...
Click to expand...
Hehehe, this is like asking 10 people what they like on their pizza. You will get 10 different answers. :)

Anyway, my favorite light load for my Super Redhawk is a 255g LSWC (but a standard 240g jacketed will do well also) with 8.7g American Select. American Select is like Red Dot in that it is a bulky flake powder. Both an 8.7g charge of American Select and an 8 to 9 grain charge of Red Dot is bulky enough not to really allow a double charge like what can happen with Titegroup or Bullseye. My aforementioned load with AmSel shoots like a nice warm 44 Special (such as the Skeeter Load) in my SRH.

I shot factory .44 mag load today and decided it was WAY too hot for me!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
How long have you been shooting factory 44 Mag? For me, I felt it was a bit overrated, to be honest. When I bought my SRH in Nov 2010, I had never fired 44Mag before. Granted the SRH is no lightweight. It will have less kick than, say, a 4.6" barreled Super Blackhawk.
 
This was the first time I had shot any pistol in .44 mag. I fired about 7 rounds total. It appears they were all in one ragged hole at 20'. But the recoil was something else. I think my problem is I have been shooting autos for years and I just can't get a good grip on the Blackhawk. To top this, I had the gun tuned by Longhunter shooter Supply. They have always done a great job, but this one had a trigger pull of about 1.5#. I fired the last good round, then cocked the hammer. The next thing I remember is a face full of Blackhawk. Right between the eyes! My glasses took the impact, but I had blood running down my nose and bent glasses. That was five days ago and I still have a black eye and wounds healing. Sure took the fun out of shooting!

I probably still had my finger touching the trigger when I cocked the gun. I did not have a firm grip since I had just cocked the trigger. Anyway,it was my fault, but factory .44 is still to hot for for me!
 
rsmith99 said:
This was the first time I had shot any pistol in .44 mag. I fired about 7 rounds total. It appears they were all in one ragged hole at 20'. But the recoil was something else. I think my problem is I have been shooting autos for years and I just can't get a good grip on the Blackhawk. To top this, I had the gun tuned by Longhunter shooter Supply. They have always done a great job, but this one had a trigger pull of about 1.5#. I fired the last good round, then cocked the hammer. The next thing I remember is a face full of Blackhawk. Right between the eyes! My glasses took the impact, but I had blood running down my nose and bent glasses. That was five days ago and I still have a black eye and wounds healing. Sure took the fun out of shooting!
Click to expand...
Once with my SRH, I had a case of "hammer head" when I was too close to my rested gun and was too light on the grip. I had the hammer hit my forehead and give me a small cut. Funny thing was I had the SRH for nearly 5 months! :)

I probably still had my finger touching the trigger when I cocked the gun. I did not have a firm grip since I had just cocked the trigger. Anyway,it was my fault, but factory .44 is still to hot for for me!
Click to expand...
You will get used to it in time. Eventually it will seem like a 357 to you. :) With my S&W 500, it is nothing for me to put 30+ rounds down the tube as I have become quite used to the recoil of that monster. :)
 
rsmith99 said:
This was the first time I had shot any pistol in .44 mag. I fired about 7 rounds total. It appears they were all in one ragged hole at 20'. But the recoil was something else. I think my problem is I have been shooting autos for years and I just can't get a good grip on the Blackhawk. To top this, I had the gun tuned by Longhunter shooter Supply. They have always done a great job, but this one had a trigger pull of about 1.5#. I fired the last good round, then cocked the hammer. The next thing I remember is a face full of Blackhawk. Right between the eyes! My glasses took the impact, but I had blood running down my nose and bent glasses. That was five days ago and I still have a black eye and wounds healing. Sure took the fun out of shooting!

I probably still had my finger touching the trigger when I cocked the gun. I did not have a firm grip since I had just cocked the trigger. Anyway,it was my fault, but factory .44 is still to hot for for me!
Click to expand...

I still have a little scar just above my eye brows from 1979. A buddy needed $50 cash fast; he sold me a his Blackhawk. Since I was an Air Force cop at the time and we used 38s. I wasn't really worried, plus I’ve shot a 357 before. The very first shot I got a face full of Blackhawk. I was getting ready to fire started to put my finger on the trigger and it went off. I wasn't expecting a super light trigger pull just over a pound and a half. It took me by surprise.

Don’t give up on the factory loads. When I bought my Super Blackhawk I really started thinking I made a mistake. One-I traded my Colt Trooper MKIII for it plus lots of cash and two-it was punishing.

I wasn’t reloading 44 then so I would by the medium loads if I could find them then regular loads when I couldn’t. It took a while getting used to shooting ‘hot’ loads; like wearing ear plugs and a headset and ensuring a good stance.

Have fun!
 
Howdy!
Take it back to Longhunter Shooter Supply and tell them to up the trigger pull to atleast 3 or 4 lbs, with no creep. You're not shooting feather weight cowboy action loads, looking for the fastest time on super close targets (Longhunter does a lot of cowboy action guns). Then load up some light 44mag, or 44 special loads and get to know your new plow-handle side-kick.

PS: I lasted 3 rounds of factory 44mag out of a Ruger Vaquero 5 1/2inch in 44 mag, then went to 44 special loads in either 44 spec or 44 mag brass...
 
My wrist can not take the abuse it did 30 years ago with 20+ grains of 2400 and a 240 gr. bullet so I load 6.5 gr. of Universal with the 240gr.
 
I loaded up some TrailBoss 6.3-6.9 over a 240gr round nose lead bullet. It shot about like a .357. Much more manageable.

Question though.
Do heavier bullets mean more recoil?

And

If I load x grns of brand A, and y grns of brand B powder, which both have the same charted muzzle velosity, will the recoil be the same?
Or do faster powders cause more recoil?
 
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