# .44 Magnum Reloads...3 of them



## The Norseman (Jan 8, 2005)

Good morning everyone,
FYI,

.44 Magnum - field-test with Alliant American Select, the new IMR
Trail Boss, and Winchester W296 powders.
As always, I studied all my reloading references before coming to the conclusion on what to load.

Gun: circa 1992, Smith & Wesson 629 Classic, 6" Bbl, 6 Shot, adjustable sights

Load # 1: 10 cartridges to test.
.44 Caliber, 200 gr Rushmore Cowboy Cast RDN bullet, miked at .432 dia, 
4.6 grs Alliant American Select (on the minimum side), CCI 300 Large Pistol
primer, .44 Rem Mag R-P (Remington) cartridges
Choreographed at an average of 500 fps
The group was 2 inches, all grouped together, right in the black.
Very, Very mild load. Very accurate.
No powder granulars left over. No black spotted primers. Primers were still
nicely rounded (no flat primers). One by one each empty cartridge slipped out
of chambers when unload'n. No split/abused cases.

Load # 2: 10 cartridges to test.
.44 Caliber, 240 gr Lazer Cast SWC, miked at .431 dia,
IMR Trail Boss, 7.0 grs, CCI 300 Large Pistol primer, .44 Rem Mag R-P
(Remington) cartridges
Choreographed at an average of 800 fps
The group was 3 inches high, several inches right, 2 inches grouped together
Stout kicking load, manageable.
No powder granulars left over. No black spotted primers. Primers were still
nicely rounded (no flat primers). One by one each empty cartridge slid out of
chambers when unload'n. No split/abused cases.

Load # 3: 10 cartridges to test.
.44 Caliber, 240 gr JHC Sierra Power Jacket # 8610, .4295 dia, CCI 350 Large
Pistol Magnum primer,
Winchester W296, 23 grs (24 grs is maximum)(DO NOT GO LESS THAN 10
PERCENT), .44 Rem Mag R-P (Remington) cartridges
Choreographed at an average of 1350 fps
The group was 3 inches, all grouped together, right in the black. Probably
starting to flinch. Hard kicking, killer recoils. Very accurate.
A little bit of cylinder ejector helped pull the cartridges out of chambers when
time to unload. Primers were flat. No powder granulars left over. No black
spotted primers. No split/abused cases.

Temperature about 78F, sky clear, sun was out, and breezy.
All shooting done in the kneeling position aimed at a target as seen underneath
the Chronograph shades (this is a must or you will shoot the machine). All in
all, I was very satisfied with these reloads.

Thanks for reading my Field Test.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I'll bet those loads that you choreographed at 1350 feet per second danced in your hand. 
:wink:


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Thanks for the info. I did not catch the range at which you were shooting. Was that at 50 or 100 yards?

I am in the process of working up loads for my model 29 as well.

I get very good results with the 240gr XTPs over 23.0 gr. H110. I do not have any hard data for them yet. I fear them. The are very brutal to shoot.

I am messing around with a "plinking" load. I have been shooting 240 gr lead SWCs at 0.430". I have been messing with Unique as that is what I have on hand. I cannot get better than 3-4 inches at 50 yards off a rest. This is with a Leupold M8-2x scope to boot.

I am getting some unburnt powder even though I am using CCI 350 magnum primers. I have a mess of these bullets so I think I will just burn up the rest of this powder. It is pretty old powder. I have had it for at least 10 years.

So many reloads, so little time.

Robert


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Robert, I have a load for you that will wake you up. In shooting times a few years ago a fellow had an article that he called the 10.91mm mag. What he was talking about was a 44 mag and Hornady's new 300 gr XTP with double cannular. He said that if your cylinder had enough room to move out to the second cannular that you could load as much H110 in that as manuals recommended for the 240 gr.

I'm not going to mention a specific load here, and I wouldn't recommend it, but you know my curiosity. Well to make a long story short I got over 1400 fps in my 8 3/8 inch barrel S&W. I wouldn't recommend shooting that in a Smith because you will loosen it up with to many rounds through it. I tried a cylinder load in the 4 inch Smith. Talk about punishing. It will nearly split the web of your hand. I have shot 454 and Smith 500 that kick less.

Readers better understand that if your revolver is less than perfect this load will remove your hand and perhaps parts of your face. It isn't a recommendation on my part, it's intended only for your entertainment.

My carry load in the mountains is a 300 gr hard cast gas check at 1250 fps out of my 4 inch Smith. That's all the punishment I need to make me believe things will die on the other end.


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## The Norseman (Jan 8, 2005)

Good evening Robert and all,

Say several years ago in got similar perform with a 7.0 grs Unique load, 240 gr lead SWCs (miked .430"). This was shooting in a kneeling position at 50 yards with standard S&W iron sights.

Bumped that load up to about 1000fps, still had groups that were 3 - 4 inches.
I give up on Unique and that's why I tried these other powders.

Other powders tried, H4227 (grains all over), Universal Clays (very clean), Bullseye (sharp kicking).

The loads in my Field Report were at 25 yards.

Thanks for reading my Field Report.


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Thanks for the info Norseman,

I will just burn up the rest of that powder for the sake of shooting then. Then I can move on to that 10 year old can of Blue Dot and see what that gets me.

Robert


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Norseman do you know if W296 and H110 are identical or just burn identical. I know both warn against more than a 10% reduction load. I see they both give nearly identical velocities also.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

H110 and W296 are neighbors on my burn rate chart.

There is a good, free, printable burn rate chart on Ramshot's webpage it covers 150+ powders.


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## The Norseman (Jan 8, 2005)

Guten Morgen,

This is one source that I use, along with what I have collected in hard
copy over the years.

http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

(between main_menu is an underbar)

Auf Wiedersehen


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

The reason I was curious is because a few years ago I got my hands on a manufacture of firearms powder. Many of these companies do not make their own powder, and buy from the same company. They did list a number of companies that although their powders were labeled different were the very same powder. If I remember right W760 and H414 were two of those powders. 
My old Hodgdon Manual lists 231 and HP38 together, HS7 and 571, W296 and H110, IMR4227 and H4227, IMR4198 and H4198, IMR 4895 and H4895 etc. Some of these powders are different, and some are the same so the manual must be followed. I can tell no difference shooting W760 and H414 or W296 or H110 so was just curious about it. Thanks


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

I have used H110 and W296, interchangeably for many years. Although I have never chronographed the results, they cause bullets to group identically from ten to one hundred yards. All shooting was done from an original Super Blackhawk Hunter w/2x Leupold glass. 
Robert, Re: the unburned powder. I saw this same thing, occasionally, but tightening my roll crimp caused the problem to disappear. Perhaps the slight increase in pressure was the cure. It couldn't hurt to try! 
I'm sure that you experienced M29 shooters know better than I, but would caution those that don't know; A steady diet of full house loads may eventually cause your revolver to "shoot loose". A friend tried to get his revolver restored after just such an occurance and found the cost to be close to that of a new gun. Forewarned is forearmed!
As an aside, I've noticed that the newest formulation of Unique is much cleaner burning than the original version. Still a great powder for average power loads in the .44 magnum and .45 Colt. I like 4.5 grains of Unique behind a 230 grain roundnose from the .45 ACP as well. 
Good shooting, Burl


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Burly1, I still shoot a lot of Unique. My favorite load was with BullX 240 gr, now I use Laser Cast and 9 gr of Unique. That gives me 1157 fps out of my 8 3/8 inch. In that long barrel with underlug there is very little recoil. In the 4 inch without underlug it still is very pleasant and about 100 fps slower. Dirty or not from sandbags at 25 yards there is no paper between bullet holes. With that group I don't care if I have to use a shovel to clean.


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Speaking of shooting loose. I've been meaning to ask this for a while.

So I bought my Smith M29 way back when I was 21 (I am 34 now). It is a 29-5. It has the 6.5" barrel and full lug, 29 Classic.

I used to load only hot loads for it because I thought it was cool. The only factory loads I fired were hot too. (Do they make non-hot factory loads/)

Anyhow, I think that has taken its toll on the old Smith. There are burrs on the cylinder along the edges of the groove for the cylinder stop device thingy. So the recess for the cylinder stop have actually widened a bit from the metal being pushed away. (Does that make sense at all?)

So, the cylinder now has some play rotation-wise at lock-up. I know it will have some, but I think it is somewhat excessive.

Is this what one would call shooting lose? If so, what are the cons of this situation? Accelerated wear? Poor performance? Danger?

Can it be fixed? Can the cylinder simply be replaced?

Robert


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

Yes. It seems you have a problem. My understanding is that not only will the cylinder wear, but the lock ups, and the crane area as well. You are mistaken to think that some small degree of play is acceptable when the cylinder is latched into place. It should be solid as a rock. Such slop will cause inaccuracy at the least and lead shaving, when the problem is more pronounced. Again, my personal experience is with single actions. An acquaintance had much the same symptoms you describe with his M29, although, I think, much worse than your gun. Again, maybe more experienced M29 shooters can chime in, and perhaps, give you a more favorable diagnosis.
I may be mistaken, but I believe the dash five designation indicates an adjustable target sight, and fancier target style stocks. 
Just for grins, try shooting, with the gun surrounded by a bottomless cardboard box. That will tell you if you are shaving lead through the barrel/cylinder gap.
Good luck, Burl


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## clampdaddy (Aug 9, 2006)

Robert A. Langager said:


> Speaking of shooting loose. I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
> 
> So I bought my Smith M29 way back when I was 21 (I am 34 now). It is a 29-5. It has the 6.5" barrel and full lug, 29 Classic.
> 
> ...


I had the same thing happen to my 629 CL DX and it eventualy started to shave some of the slugs as they made the transition thru the cylinder gap which in turn started a little "flame notch" in the frame directly above the barrel breach. Get yours fixed before this starts happening. I still kick myself for not fixing mine sooner.
I sent mine back to S&W for an overhaul that I expected to be done for free ( S&Ws supposedly have a lifetime gaurantee ) and they said that the wear was due to "hot loads". I called them and told them that my handgun never digested a single handload and that it lived on a strict diet of 180gr remington and 240gr winchester factory loads with the exeption of only one box each of federal 300gr cast cores and 320gr cor-bons. The guy I was talking to said that the couple boxes of heavy loads weren't a big deal but that the white box winchester 240s were a "hot load" and that the work wouldn't be done for free. Anyways, after some colorfull words, I knew that I couldn't get a gunsmith to do the work that was required as cheaply as S&W would do it for so I paid them sixtey bucks and they fixed 'er up
Basicly they'll smooth out those burrs, install a wider cylinder stop to fill up the widened notch, install a new pawl, set the barrel back one turn, and recut the breach face and forceing cone. It'll come back better than new. At the time you could spend an extra eighty bucks and get a brand new cylinder (fluted or unfluted) but I was already pi$$ed that I was haveing to pay to have a gun with a "lifetime warranty" worked on, so I didn't.


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Thanks for all of the great info guys. If anyone has anything else to add please do so. Sorry about hijacking your thread Norseman.

You sure are right about the Winchester white box, they are darn hot.

So, where does one draw the line as to what is too hot to be fed on a regular basis? Are the other offerings in .44 Magnum more stout than my beloved Smith?

There is a dealer not far from me with an in-house Smith guru. I am going to take it to him and see what he says. I imagine it will have to go to Springfield, MA. But at least $60 seems like a reasonable price to pay.

Thanks again,
Robert


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Burly1 said:


> I may be mistaken, but I believe the dash five designation indicates an adjustable target sight, and fancier target style stocks.


I cannot tell you for sure. This one has an elevation and windage adjustable rear sight with the white outline. The front is the standard orange inlay.

The grips are the rubber with the finger grooves. The barrel is 6.5" with a full lug. She is sexy. Exactly like this one. Mine is a bit more used and has a Leupold M8-2x on it.


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## tinknocker (Apr 7, 2007)

In response to the .44's . You might try to find a Colt Anaconda- Tough revolver. Used to shoot the xtp's240 gr. @ 24 gr. H-110 but that was max and they hammered your elbows but the gun took them well_ better than I.


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