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Posted: 10/7/2016 8:40:21 PM EDT
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Just bought a Ruger Super Blackhawk. I have already bought my dies.
What is the best powder/bullet combination. Looking at just shooting lead, can't see spending a lot of money on high end bullets just for plinking. Thanks in advance. |
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I see many who download 44 Magnum using Unique powder. I think it's a waste having a 44 Mag though and not letting it roar since it is not a plinking gun. There's some good jacketed and plated 44 Mag bullets not too
expensive. For full power loads the 4 most mentioned powders are Win 296/ H110 (same powder), AA#9, 2400, and IMR 4227. |
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Quoted:
I see many who download 44 Magnum using Unique powder. I think it's a waste having a 44 Mag though and not letting it roar since it is not a plinking gun. There's some good jacketed and plated 44 Mag bullets not too expensive. For full power loads the 4 most mentioned powders are Win 296/ H110 (same powder), AA#9, 2400, and IMR 4227. Bullets you recomend? |
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Bullets you recomend? Quoted:
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I see many who download 44 Magnum using Unique powder. I think it's a waste having a 44 Mag though and not letting it roar since it is not a plinking gun. There's some good jacketed and plated 44 Mag bullets not too expensive. For full power loads the 4 most mentioned powders are Win 296/ H110 (same powder), AA#9, 2400, and IMR 4227. Bullets you recomend? I used unique for years in my red hawk, dirty stuff. When I got a ruger auto loader it didn't generate enough gas pressure to operate the action. W296 is what is in factory loads (or that other powder,H110) but I ended up using hodgdon Lil' gun. It works my auto loader just fine, burns cleaner than unique by a long shot. There are other options out there but this is what I use. As for bullets a friend gave me a partial box of 5000 remington JHPs a few years ago, still working my way through them.  but before he gave me those I had been using Berry's plated bullets for my general plinking loads, just don't drive then too fast.
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Part of the fun is high powered loads and jacketed bullets. I would also try some loads using Hornady or other 240 gr JHP and Win 296, excellent accuracy and thrill to shoot, follow instructions, magnum powder not for reduced loads.
Otherwise, for lead and coated bullet loads, I second Unique as an excellent choice in powder. Coated bullets should work well, but I've never used em in .44 Mag. |
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Quoted: Are coated bullets worth it or will hard cast work just as good? Depends on what you want your load to do. My home cast powder coated bullets, I can push them to jacketed bullet velocity. This with no leading and lube mess covering the pistol. I can also load them light, still with no mess and leading. |
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Jacketed hollow points and a stiff load of 2400 is a recipe for lots of blast and flash - and I love it. I don't shoot the magnum very often, but when I do, I want it to be spectacular and this combination pleases.
S&W 629 4" BOOOOM! Ironically though, I've relegated this gun to my wife's nightstand drawer. I bought a box of 44spl jacketed hollow points, and that big heavy thing is a real pussycat for the wife. |
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240gr hardcast coated, from sns, bayou, or missouri bullet
10gr UNIQUE 
great mid-range load, between bunny fart and full house magnums coated are wonderful less smoke, less mess, no leading, even at full H110/win296 magnum velocity win231/Hp-38 for bunny farts H110/win296 for max velocity hunting loads . |
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I've been loading .44 Mag since the late '80s. Favorite target/range/plinking load is a hard cast 240 or 250 gr SWC over 8.0 gr of Unique. Heavier than a special, but easy to shoot and accurate.
My heavier loads usually use Blue Dot, but the other magnum powders mentioned are good too. Rob |
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When loading a plinker for a magnum, I never quite saw the benefit in making loads that were so light they resembled 38 specials in performance. You might as well just shoot the .38. In addition, point of impact changes are often pretty bad with very light loads...
Personally, I like to load what I'd consider to be a midrange magnum. With 44 Special pushing a 240 to about 800 fps, and full 44 mag going about 1300 or more with a 240, I like to opt for a 240 at about 1000 fps... It plenty of speed so you know you are shooting a 44, but recoil isn't offensive, and it doesnt use a ton of powder. Essentailly, its pretty much a +P 45 ACP at this point. or more correctly, it's likely an unofficial 44 Special +P loaded in a 44 Mag case You can get this mid range performance one of two ways.... Take a .44 special load, and bump it a bit (in a 44 mag case). I've done about 8.5-9.0 grains unique in the mag case and it works well enough. Powerpistol works well too. Or its possible you can download a 44 mag load. However, you need to be careful here. I've seen, but never experienced, warnings that lower-than-published start loads with some powders (H110 W296?) can get really wonky. Reducing loads lower than published is apparently NOT recommended. Read your manual carefully. |
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Just backing up what dryflash3 posted. A cast bullet with a hardness of at least 15 BHN and powder coating can be pushed pretty hard. And this is without a gas check.
Since I started powder coating I'd never go back to lube. With powder coating there is no smoke, no sticky mess in dies or ammo boxes or on and in your firearm. Plus I have found I can use softer alloy which makes my supply of Linotype go much further. Motor |
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ff to find my best price on some H110. I will try to find some small batches of different bullets to try. Thanks for every ones help. I am going to keep this tagged for reference. if you try H110/win296, get some magnum primers,....and use a FIRM ROLL CRIMP 
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First , I agree that jacketed is not needed for 44 magnum . For plinking and target work lead is way cheaper and works fine. For hunting where you would be stoking the fire as long as you use 240gr and above (to keep velocity reasonable) a good quality cast bullet works very well also.
I pretty much use two basic loads . Unique for basic loads with 200,220 and 240 bullets . Some folks groan about it being dirty but it's just a bit of carbon and easily cleans off. I go up to about 1000fps with Unique. For full power loads some use 110 and it is good but I favor 2400 . I use Winchester large pistol primers , no standard and magnum for Winchester in the large pistol size , just the one primer that works for all loads. I have one medium warm load (work it up yourself) that I use for both flat point round nose 240's for my marlin lever gun and a semi wadcutter 240 that goes in my pistols. My original load that a buddy and I worked up before a hog hunt was getting close to 1200fps but we backed it down to about 1150 (in a 6 1/2" S&W) , still very accurate and it ejects a bit smoother in some guns. The same load is very good in my Marlin Cowboy lever gun at nearly 1800fps (with Ballard cut rifling instead of micro groove) The hogs didn't notice the missing 50fps , they fell over dead! Safety note . 2400 has been changed a bit over the years . The loads in some of the older books and that Elmer Keith pushed are going to be too hot , stick with the standard practise and start low and work up . For consistency and good accuracy 2400 and most other powders used for full power 44 mag loads will want a firm crimp . Unlike most pistol reloading with 44mag you will likely be doing some case trimming to get good even crimps. Reloading for 44mag is easy and simple , even a single stage will keep a revolver well supplied and the cost difference between factory and reloads is large |
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Quoted:
First , I agree that jacketed is not needed for 44 magnum . For plinking and target work lead is way cheaper and works fine. For hunting where you would be stoking the fire as long as you use 240gr and above (to keep velocity reasonable) a good quality cast bullet works very well also. I pretty much use two basic loads . Unique for basic loads with 200,220 and 240 bullets . Some folks groan about it being dirty but it's just a bit of carbon and easily cleans off. I go up to about 1000fps with Unique. For full power loads some use 110 and it is good but I favor 2400 . I use Winchester large pistol primers , no standard and magnum for Winchester in the large pistol size , just the one primer that works for all loads. I have one medium warm load (work it up yourself) that I use for both flat point round nose 240's for my marlin lever gun and a semi wadcutter 240 that goes in my pistols. My original load that a buddy and I worked up before a hog hunt was getting close to 1200fps but we backed it down to about 1150 (in a 6 1/2" S&W) , still very accurate and it ejects a bit smoother in some guns. The same load is very good in my Marlin Cowboy lever gun at nearly 1800fps (with Ballard cut rifling instead of micro groove) The hogs didn't notice the missing 50fps , they fell over dead! Safety note . 2400 has been changed a bit over the years . The loads in some of the older books and that Elmer Keith pushed are going to be too hot , stick with the standard practise and start low and work up . For consistency and good accuracy 2400 and most other powders used for full power 44 mag loads will want a firm crimp . Unlike most pistol reloading with 44mag you will likely be doing some case trimming to get good even crimps. Reloading for 44mag is easy and simple , even a single stage will keep a revolver well supplied and the cost difference between factory and reloads is large How "firm" of a crimp? |
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if you try H110/win296, get some magnum primers,....and use a FIRM ROLL CRIMP
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ff to find my best price on some H110. I will try to find some small batches of different bullets to try. Thanks for every ones help. I am going to keep this tagged for reference. if you try H110/win296, get some magnum primers,....and use a FIRM ROLL CRIMP
Bought 1000 Federal GM155M when I bought my dies and stuff. "Magnum primers" are not always required? Can someone explain please |
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Quoted:
Bought 1000 Federal GM155M when I bought my dies and stuff. "Magnum primers" are not always required? Can someone explain please Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
ff to find my best price on some H110. I will try to find some small batches of different bullets to try. Thanks for every ones help. I am going to keep this tagged for reference. if you try H110/win296, get some magnum primers,....and use a FIRM ROLL CRIMP
Bought 1000 Federal GM155M when I bought my dies and stuff. "Magnum primers" are not always required? Can someone explain please Most of the primer brands have both a standard primer and a Magnum primer . Some powders list the requirement for the hotter magnum primer . In large pistol size Winchester only offers on type of primer Quoted from the box "Large pistol for Standard or Magnum pistol loads" I have always used the winchester and they have been good for me . I try not to complicate things when offered a simple solution that works well. Smart reloading requires one to recheck any load when changing primer types or brands . Sometimes the change of primer seems to make little difference , sometimes a pretty big adjustment is required |
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My usual plinker load was a 240gr. RN cast in a LEE 6 cav mold with plain old RCBS green lube sitting on 8gr Unique.
Using store bought 240gr hardcast semi wad I would use 10gr Unique for a bit less drop. Both loads used Winchester LP primers. We had some old 15" steel rims hanging out at 400yrds - with the 7 3/8" barrel you could ring the gong 5/6 times on the first cylinder full. Once you knew where to hold it was and easy shot even with some cross breeze. Shooting that pistol at a pile of expired phone books at 100yrds with 240gr JSP at max load was like setting off a Tannerite confetti bomb. Sold it back to its original owner when he started having a problem with Bears. Nowdays when time permits I want to work up a powder coated & gas checked load for use in my series XIX Desert Eagle 44mag. That thing may be Hell on wheels with a 2x optic on top. 
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24.0 gr Win 296 and 240 XTP
22.0 gr Win 296 and 265 Hornady SP 19.5 gr Win 296 and 300 XTP 265 gr Ranch dog cast bullet powder coated and gas checked with 22.0 gr Win 296 265gr Ranch dog plain base and 10 gr Unique The above loads are very accurate in a Henry Big Boy rifle and Smith 629 |
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Quoted:
Jacketed hollow points and a stiff load of 2400 is a recipe for lots of blast and flash - and I love it. I don't shoot the magnum very often, but when I do, I want it to be spectacular and this combination pleases. S&W 629 4" BOOOOM! Ironically though, I've relegated this gun to my wife's nightstand drawer. I bought a box of 44spl jacketed hollow points, and that big heavy thing is a real pussycat for the wife. I did the same. Years ago I used to run nuclear loads of 2400 powder through my first S&W 29 6". It would literally sting and numb the palm of my hand. Flattened primers were common. It's a good thing I didn't run hundreds of rounds like that through it. A trip back to S&W for rehab would have been in order! |
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