44mag / 454 casull
 

This forum has been moving a little slow lately so I figured I try to spark a conversation on reloading the 44 mag or 454 Casull. I just started reloading each, so I'm sure there's a lot of useful info out there like the importance of case trimming, bullet selection, powders, seating depth. Can you load the 44 mag with blackpowder? Who makes the best dies? How exact do you measure your powder? How much life do you get out of your brass? Does anyone have a hunting story about using their reloads on game?

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

It is important to have all your cases the exact same length so you only have to adjust your crimping die one time during a reloading session. Yes, you CAN shoot black powder in either the .44 Mag. or .454 Casull. IF you don't mind cleaning ALL the BP crud out of your gun after shooting, and likewise don't mind scrubbing the fouling out of each fired case, assuming you plan to use the case again!! I weigh each charge when using Unique, because it does not meter uniformly through my Redding powder measure. HS6, HS7, 2400, H110 and WW296 seem to meter very accurately. I do check my powder measure setting with a scale every 25 rounds to ensure the setting has not changed while throwing charges. I use the cast SWC 255-grain Keith bullet from Lyman (452424?) for my .45 Colt and .454 Casull loads. Also use the Cast Performance LBT 265-grain gas check in .452 diameter. In the .44 Mag., I use the Lyman-Keith .429421 SWC. I seat them all so the crimp is applied at the crimping groove. These bullets are generally superior to any jacketed bullet in heavy handgun loads!! RCBS dies are excellent, as are Redding and Forster. Other brands are also good, but these are the ones I have the most experience with. I have never worn out any pistol brass!!

Keep yore powder dry!!

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

Thanks for the info EL. I didn't realize pistol brass doesn't wear out.

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

I have used Oregon Trail cast bullets in my 454 Casull, 255gr SWC and they did a very good job. I had very little lead fouling. My hands seem to shake a lot more now than they did so I won't try to tell anyone if they are accurate or not. I was pleased with them. I use RCBS dies, Star brass, CCI 350s and 296 powder. Isn't life grand. I have the Raging Bull with 8 3/8 inch barrel.

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

recoiljunky, I suppose pistol brass will wear out, but I haven't reloaded any of mine enough yet to wear any of it out!!

Keep yore powder dry!!

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

I just got through shooting 50 rounds of Hornady xtp 300 gns pushed by 31 gn H-110 through my FA .454. I guess I should have checked the bore after every few rounds, probably should have cleaned it after every few rounds. I didn' t do either and the Hornadys made a mess. I' ve never seen so much copper in a barrel. The Hornady tech rep said that I could load the bullet up to 31.5 gn H-110. After 3 days of scrubbing and soaking the barrel now looks ok. Oh yeah, the Hornadys are .452 in diameter. Any thoughts on this?

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

eldeguello, have you had problems with brass streching enough to be trimmed?
i havent seen any that presented a problem to me. but i only reload a large number of 38spl and the loads may be too light to do it.

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

recoiljunky just wanted to let you know that when you load the hornady xtp' s you should load the xtp mags as they were intended for the use of the 454 in mind. the standard ones regular xtp are or can' t stand up to that kind of speed. THat is if you are going over the 1600 fps. I don' t know but that might be why you are having copper fouling.

Brian

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

Just checked the Hornadys, they' re regular xtp. The recipe I got from tech help was for xtp mags. I' m glad to know that they didn' t give me bum info. Thanks for the help!

Jake

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

i use my taurus raging bull with a 4x 32 scope on it i use the winchester260 grain partition load and it groups well out to 150 yds , after that i' ll use one of my rifles

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

recoiljunky, what a great topic idea! As eldeguello said it is very important have your cases trimmed to the same legth otherwise you adjust the crimping die every other case or some cases are over crimped or under crimped. I have a ruger bisley in 44mag and a super red hawk in 454 casull. The 44 I' ve had for years and have shot it quite a bit. The 454 I' ve had for about a year but haven' t shot it a lot. (dang work keeps me busy!!!!)

With the 44 I' ve had great success both with accuracy and terminal ballistics (deer) with Hornaday' s 240gr xtp bullets. I use H110 & H4227, the 4227 seems to be a bit easier in felt recoil, for full power loads. For plinking I use a 250 gr Keith style (lyman) cast bullet and clays. I have not worked up a hunting load for these yet but will this year.

With the 454 I' ve shot 250gr Hornady xpt and a 300 gr cast bullet so far both seem to do fine in accuracy but I have not really gave either a really good testing.

In reloading I use a RCBS rockcucker press, Hornday dies, RCBS powder measure, a 5-10 scale, & electronic scale. To trim brass I use a small drill press, and lyman tools. (setting the drill press up to trim brass was fun, but that' s another story.) The 44 brass is midway brand and the 454 is starline, so far both have held up well, but I don' t shoot a lot of full power loads. When setting up the powder measure I try to stay within .1 of a grain and check it every 10 throws there after.

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

propmahn, yes., I have had cases stretch, or something, so they had to be trimmed. Interestingly, this hasn' t happened uniformly throughout a lot of cases. Some have had to be trimmed, and some haven' t, even starting with a bunch of cases from the same bag of new brass, and fired with the same exact load, for the same number of shots!!

RE: 44mag / 454 casull
 

Made a trip to the range yesterday. Shot 50 rounds of .452 Hornady xtp mag 240gn pushed by 36gn H110 with Federal primers. Not too bad. They shot " minute of milkjug" at 50 yards.:D Recoil wasn' t too bad either. I shot 50 rounds of .429 remington hollowpoints 180gn pushed by 18gn Blue Dot with Winchester primers out of my 6.5" S&W 44 mag. Not too impressive. The accuracy just wasn' t there. I brought some factory loaded 180gn 44 mags with me and they shot better. That kinda hurts one' s feelings. Maybe the soreness in my hands will go away before next Saturday!