44 mag/44 special

[Mr. Longbeard]

Just curious if you can load a 44 mag casing down to a 44 special???

I know guys who shoot 8gr of Unique only kicking at 900fps with a 240gr bullet. I wouldn't go that low. My most accurate is at 10 or 11gr. Not much kick at all. It all depends on powder used. If you use titegroup or HP-38 or Unique, you can get down pretty low in recoil.

[RiverRaider]

I reload both. I actually use 4gr of tightgroup with a 200 gr soft cast for my 44 sp for cowboy action shooting. It was the lowest setting in the book i had and it shoots great and I can shoot all day with no prob. It feel like a 22 going off. I use red river bullets.

[Mr. Longbeard]

i'm using H110... How low do you think I could go and still kill a deer out to say 50 yards???

You cannot reduce H110 more than 10%. It will react very unpredictable and actually shoot pressures up or not go off in rare cases. You want to stay between 22-24gr for a 240gr bullet.

[the Razorhead]

best if you want to load 44 Spl rounds to use a 44 Spl case..

you can actually trim your magnum cases back to the specs for a Spl case... and I would do so. Maybe mark them with a magic marker across the headstamp or a file mark in the very lip of the rim..

reason being is case volume.

the extra volume in a magnum case will actually affect the ignition characteristics of lower weight charges of fast powders, and screw with the burn rates, causing at best, inconsistent loads, and at worse, dangerous pressures as already pointed out.

as far as powder goes, Unique gets my vote..

[whiskeysnoot]

ORIGINAL: Mr. Longbeard

i'm using H110... How low do you think I could go and still kill a deer out to say 50 yards???

Hodgdon does not recommend decreasing H-110 more than 3% from Max. A little story from personal experience as to why. 12 yrs ago Ihad a Combat Commander blow up in my face from buying someone else's reloads. That was the final straw to get me into reloading my own. So, first loads I ever worked up were 180gr. XTPs in .44 Mag. Published Max load was 29.0 fr. Of course, I'm a little skittish after the blow up so I back off to 26.0 to start.

First shot produces a three foot muzzle flash, fire shooting out the sides, and hard case extraction. HOLY S$^*. I must be excessive. So I back off to 23.0 gr with the 180gr. bullet. First shot I can practically see the bullet lob to the target with a "PHWOOT" sound. Second shot the same. I go to unload and cases need to be pounded out. HOLY S(*&, again. I find the bore full of unburned powder and the hard case extraction caused by powder blowing back around case and wedging it to the chamber walls.

I go back, do some more reading, see about the 3% reduction, also read that excessive muzzle flash means too light of a load. Loaded up to Max., shoot again, no muzzle flash, easy extraction, and stout satisfying recoil.

Bottom line, H-110 is a Max load powder only. That being said, H-110 is also my favorite powder, period.

ORIGINAL: the Razorhead

best if you want to load 44 Spl rounds to use a 44 Spl case..

you can actually trim your magnum cases back to the specs for a Spl case... and I would do so. Maybe mark them with a magic marker across the headstamp or a file mark in the very lip of the rim..

reason being is case volume.

the extra volume in a magnum case will actually affect the ignition characteristics of lower weight charges of fast powders, and screw with the burn rates, causing at best, inconsistent loads, and at worse, dangerous pressures as already pointed out.

as far as powder goes, Unique gets my vote..

You would litterly wear out trimmer blades even attempting to cut down any number of 44mags to 44 spec. You know how I know? First round ever relaoded for. And first thing I tried is cutting them down. RCBS sent me another set of trimmer blades after i wore them out.

[the Razorhead]

ORIGINAL: bigcountry

You would litterly wear out trimmer blades even attempting to cut down any number of 44mags to 44 spec. You know how I know? First round ever relaoded for. And first thing I tried is cutting them down. RCBS sent me another set of trimmer blades after i wore them out.

that's what trimmer dies and a hacksaw are for... lop the end of the case off, trim it square, deburr it and load it.

[Mr. Longbeard]

After reading all the post. I broke out the bullet puller and reloaded all my bullets over again this time I put 22gr instead of 19gr... Thanks for the heads up