Shooting .44 special ammo in 5 1/2" NM Super Blackhawk

[sharpshooterfl]

Any experience, and results?

 

[Dale53]

Well, I have considerable experience shooting .44 Special. However, I do not shoot .44 Specials in my .44 Magnums as I shoot them in my .44 Specials. I currently have two Ruger Flattop .44 Specials (a SS 4 5/8" barrel and a blued 5½" barrel).

My most used load is the Skeeter load (7.5 grs of Unique behind a 250 gr Keith - a home cast Mihec version of the H&G #503). I also shoot a goodly number of a group buy .44 waductter (200 grs) ahead of 4.0 grs of Red Dot or equivalent for a nice target load. It also works quite well for edible small game. If my .44 Special load won't shoot under 1" at 25 yards off a rest, I am disappointed. I am seldom disappointed with my Smith Model 24, two Smith 624's, a Cimarron single action, and my two Rugers mentioned above. .44 Special is one of the best field loads available.

Just so you know, I have nothing against shooting Specials in a Magnum but as I don't need to, I don't. If I only had one gun, I would certainly not hesitate.

FWIW
Dale53

 

[ADP3]

I've shot both .44 Special reloads and factory ammo in .44 SBH's with 4 5/8" and 7 and 1/2" barrels. They are low recoil and accurate. The downside is the crud ring that you have to scrub out so .44 Magnums will seat easily. If you reload there's really no good reason to bother with .44 Special ammo in a .44 Magnum unless you have other .44 Special only guns. If you don't reload I like .44 Magnum "Cowboy" loads like Ultramax and Georgia Arms produce. They are accurate, light recoil and no crud ring.

Best Regards,
ADP3

 

[wwb]

........... If you reload there's really no good reason to bother with .44 Special ammo in a .44 Magnum unless you have other .44 Special only guns. ...........

+1

If you reload, you can cook up anything from "plinker" loads to 300 grain thumpers, all in .44 Mag brass. If you have both a .44 Mag and a .44 Spl, one set of dies will work for both. As an added bonus, it's WAY cheaper than buying factory stuff (aside from the initial cost of the equipment). If you shoot more than one caliber, all you need to add is another set of dies and you're good to go.

 

[Luckyducker]

I don't have a 44 caliber revolver in either variation but have shot many 38Spec loads in 357Mag revolver and I don't experience any crud ring in the chambers. I reload and won't burn Unique anymore because it is so dirty, and this might be the reason for the crud ring. I do clean my guns after every range session though.

 

[wwb]

......... I do clean my guns after every range session though.

And therein lies the secret of your success. Let that crud sit for just a few days and it will start to harden. The longer it sits, the more scrubbing it takes to get rid of. Cleaning it right away takes no more than a couple quick passes with a wet patch; you don't even need a brush.

 

[Modernhoglegs]

When I first got my SBH I bought a few boxes of specials to get it sighted in before moving to magnums.

I got everything dialed in, and was having a grand time. Then I loaded a cylindef full of 240gr magnums, and the nice tight group I hax been getting moved 3" down and 6" left. I finally figured out that the changd from 200gr bullets in the specials to the 240gr magnums were the issue.

Of course this cost me the price of a box of 200gr Silver tips.
I resighted the gun for the 240gr maggies, and wanted something for social use whole driving cross country. As soon as I touched off the Silver tip the point of iimpact was way off.

Had I read Elmer Keith's book "Sixguns" I would have known the bullet weight was the problem, but I was ignorant at the time. Now I handload all my ammo using 240 gr bullets, and they all land where they should assuming I do my part.

 

[Cape Cod Terry]

I have a NM SBH with the 10 1/2" barrel until last year I had only fired .44 Mags in it. I picked up a Charter Arms Bulldog snubbie in .44 spec for a carry gun. I carry it with hollow point self defense loads but usually practice with the .44 spec Cowboy Loads to save money. One day at the range I decided to try some of the .44 spec Cowboy loads in the SBH. I was pleasantly surprised, good accuracy and light recoil in the heavy SBH, although as posted your point of impact may differ from heavy .44 mag loads but the groups will be tight. Ring around the chamber shouldn't be a problem with regular cleaning.
Cape Cod Terry