44 Mag practice ammo?

[Lost River]

I shoot and reload the .44 mag quite a bit.



Three main loads I have used for years:

Light load: 8.5 grains Unique/ 240 or 250 LSWC Great for plinking, small game, jackrabbits, etc.

Medium load: 10 grains Unique/ 240 or 250 LSWC. Everyday general purpose load, Mule deer, hogs, etc.

Heavy load: 22 grains H110/ 240 or 300-340 LSWC or LBT wide meplat style.

These have served me well for years, all are Smith friendly.

In Rugers you can safely bump up the heavy load 2 grains with no concern.

 

[Lost River]

 

[Lost River]

Did I mention that I liked Smith .44s?

Anyways,

The 8.5 grain Unique load with a good 240 grain cast SWC is as about ideal as you can get for an easy shooting practice bullet for punching paper or punching holes in desert Jacks.

 

[Pond James Pond]

I have a .44 which I found to be a bit of a handful.

I have shot .44 Spl. This will address your needs perfectly, provided you can find/afford it.

I have also bought reloading gear, in transit by courier as I type. I've ordered 200gr bullets and I'll be buying a midium to fast burning powder.
I'll soon find out how that works for me.

Finally, I can very close to selling the gun because of the same jolt you described. That is no longer the case. A set of replacement grips for my Redhawk and the excellent information posted in this thread all helped me enjoy the .44 a great deal.

I suggest reading the linked thread, checking you're doing everything to make your existing loads as comfortable as they can be before deciding whether or not spending a lot on reloading gear is required.

For me, although I'd now be happy to shoot the 240gr factory loads, it is mainly the cost and availability that has made reloading more logical together with the chance to learn something new.