Comax

Has anyone loaded 44 special loads using 240 gr bullets and w296 powder. I have used it for the magnum rounds but I can't find info for the 44 special rounds.
Can you even do this? Any help would be appreciated

HighDesertWolf

You dont want to use w296 in a 44 special load, I wouldnt even try experimenting with it and you wont find any load data either. 296 is a very touchy powder all of winchesters load data using 296 states to use the exact powder charge listed, for very good reasons too. You will also noticed when loading 296 it fills almost all the case and when you seat the bullet its practically a compressed load, loads are engineered that way for 296 so there is no chance of the primer blowing through or over shooting the powder which can cause extreme levels of excessive pressure that will blow the gun up.

If you want a good powder for 44 special loads try alliants unique or blue dot or Hodgdon clays or clays universal. all of those powders are great for lower pressured straight wall cartridge loads I use them all in 38 specials, 380 acp and 45 acp and the unique and blue dot I also use in 357 mag and 44 mag loads. Have fun and be "SAFE"

DM

296 is too slow of a powder for the spl. case, so you will need to buy something faster.

Best part of buying a faster powder is, you will get quite a few more loads per pound, so a pound will last a long long time!!

Drilling Man

HighDesertWolf

Exactly, for example with 1 pound of hodgdon clays I can get over 2000 reloads of 38 special, being that a 44 special doesnt use a whole lot more powder then a 38 special I say you could easily get about that many reloads too.

SCbowhntr

Comax,
If you want to go with Winchester powder, try Win 231. I usually use 5.5 grains of 231 for a 240 grain bullet. It is a fairly mild and accurate load out of my 629.

Bob 44 Spl..Roller

I used 7 grains of Unique to poke holes on paper and 16 grains of 2400 for serious social activities IF needed.
All with the Keith 429421 in full weight of 250 grains. The Unique load will give 1000 loaded cartridges @7000
grains per pound..Hard crimp on all.This is for S&W and Colt guns only and preferably made after 1945.
Bob Roller

Olde NE Hunter

I probably shouldn't post since I don't own one...but I'll offer a little support to the previous posters.

My Lyman Manual, 49th edition, suggests Red Dot, 231, Unique, N350, 2400, & IMR-4227 for jacketed 240 gr bullets and adds Titegroup, Bullseye, Universal, N320, SR 4756 for a cast 240 gr bullet.

My Hornady Manual, 11th edition, suggests Bullseye, HS-6 Unique, Universal, Powder Pistol, SR-4756, N-350, Accurate #5, & Blue Dot.

You have probably done all this research already but faster burning powders seem to be the favorites.

hardcastonly

I've generally found blue dot and 2400 both give both consistent and accurate results,
with hard cast ,gas check bullets in the 44 special
but usually at near the upper pressure recommendation loads for the 44 spc
be sure to use mag primers
don.t try to push the pressure limits to anything close to what the 44 mag functions at, but you can certainly improve on what something similar too a 45 acp or most factory 44 spc ammo has to offer in ballistics in a modern revolver
keep in mind the twist rate in many 44 caliber barrels is absurdly slow at something like 1 turn in 30, to produce decent accuracy,
with a 240 or heavier bullet in many cases, youll need a faster twist
until you swap to something like a 200 grain bullet, ideally you want a pistol with a 1-16- or-1-18 twist rate and thats rather rare

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010275654?pid=582790

https://reloadammo.com/44sloads/

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/44-s-w-special-p

http://www.sixguns.com/BookOfThe44/bot44c43.htm

Nomercy448

There do exist a short handful of revolvers on the market which are chambered in 44 special which will swallow impressively powerful loads of H110/W296. Brian Pearce outlines such loads and multiple “Tiers” of revolvers capable of handling them in Handloader Magazine #236. These loads will be on the order of pushing 240grn jacketed bullets to 1100+ feet per second.

The old Keith Load, of a 250grn lead bullet over 2400 trucking around 1200fps is another example of exceptionally high performance achieved with 44spcl.