44 Mag recoil ?

IKE

New member
I'll soon be 67 so maybe it's just the fact that I'm getting old but I went out and ran twelve rounds of my loaded Winch. 240 gr JHP's over 23.5 grs. of H110 through my 5.5" stainless Redhawk yesterday and I really didn't care for it from a recoil standpoint......so much in fact I came home and pulled the remaining 38 rounds from a 50 round box.

A little background info.......April of 2015 during the powder shortage I bought some CFE Pistol and tried it under some 180 gr XTP's. The Hodgdon site shows a min of 12.6 grs. @ 1466 and a max of 14.0 grs. @ 1595 with them using a 8.275" barrel.

Fired single action off bags my load of 13.6 grs. of CFE under the 180's is very accurate at 30 yds and not uncomfortable to shoot through my 5.5" Redhawk......for the lack of a chrony and the difference in barrel lengths I have no idea of the FPS (anyone care to venture a guess ?).

I've got several hundred of the Winch. 240 gr. JHP's that I picked up on a closeout a few years ago and naturally I want to use them up but certainly not with 23.5 grs of H110.

My on hand pistols powders are H110, Unique, IMR 4227, 2400 and W231.

The 240 grainers will be used as a sidearm when deer hunting and punching paper.

Any suggestions for a load using the 240's that will be comfortable to shoot ?

Thanks fellas.
 
.44 Special and Magnum have always been one of my favorites, especially for reloading.
But it's hard to say what will be a comfortable load for anyone else.
A lot of it has to do with individual shooting technique.
All the combinations you mention will no doubt give what you want, but it will require making a lot of different rounds until you find the one you seek.
Part of the fun.
P.S.
You really need a chronograph to know what's what.
Otherwise you will just be guessing.
They are so inexpensive, there's no excuse not to have one.
I wouldn't think of working up loads without one after having it.
67?
Only 67?
You haven't begun to fall apart yet.
 
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From what I hear in general, heavy bullets, with a slow powder, with a slow velocity is generally considered more comfortable. Less snap, more shove. The good thing about the 44 is, it can be loaded down.

I will add, that I am new to reloading, and have not reloaded for a 44 mag(yet) but if you can use a slower powder, and cut down on velocity, physics says the recoil impulse will be longer and smother(more of a shove instead of a snap). I don't know the burn rates of the powders you listed, but since the h110 is good for 454, 45lc and 500 s&w I'd bet it's already on the slow side
 
I have used 8.5 Gr of unique for more rounds of 44 mag then I can count over the last 44 years with a 260 grain bullet. If using a 240 I would probably jump it up to 9 or 9.3 grains. This will give you about 1100 FPS out of most guns + or - some depending on barrel length, rifling depth, cylinder gap and so on.....

I have killed quite a few large animals with handguns and a 44 with a 240 grain bullet works very well at "only" 1100 FPS. Some hollow points will not open up much at that speed, but most will. I used cast bullets which didn't open at all, and I have never needed them to. All game was killed easily. And other than on beef cattle, I have not recovered any bullets either, so penetration was just fine. These loads will exit an elk or a horse, so a deer will not be much of a problem. Some hollow points may open up fast enough to impede such deep penetration, but on a deer that may work to your advantage. For seer, if a bullet will go at least 16" deep it's usually all you'd want or need. More penetration only means the bullet is packing more power as it does into the woods or field after it's exited the deer.
 
Ike,

Velocities should not be remarkably different. SAAMI has three test barrel lengths for 44 Magnum. Only the 4" length is "vented", meaning it has a simulated barrel/cylinder gap of 0.008" and 4" of barrel is measured from that gap forward, same as the way a revolver barrel is measured, and does not include the length of the chamber. The 8.275" barrel is to simulate a single-shot silhouette gun, like a Contender, and the barrel is measured from the breech face, like a rifle, so it does include the length of the chamber. Your Ruger has a 1.75" long cylinder. To compare your gun to to the 8.275" barrel, you need to add the cylinder length to your barrel length (I'm ignoring the barrel/cylinder gap for simplicity here) and you come up with 7.25", so you are talking a 1.025" difference in barrel lengths. Maybe 50 fps difference or so in this range.

For the 240 grain bullets, try 16 to 18 grains of 2400. May burn a little dirty, but should drop you down a couple hundred feet per second and take some of the discomfort our, without becoming seriously less effective. Think of it not as powering down so much as shortening the effective range, as the full power load will drop to those same muzzle velocities after 100 yards anyway. If you are shooting it at 25 yards instead of 100 yards, you're in fine shape.
 
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That almost matches one of my favorite hunting recipes--and that is a pretty warm load--right at the borderline for what I consider "comfortable but effective 44 mag" any more power or heavier bullet and I'm going to sore for at least a day or two.
 
When I started loading/shooting my .44 Magnums I had a bad case of "Magnumitis", I liked the recoil and muzzle blast and the thought of killing those sheets of paper with a 240 gr. bullet going upwards of 1,400 fps. I've since "grown up" and realized that just because it says "Magnum" on the barrel it doesn't mean I gotta load up to the max.

I haven't found much Unique in the last few yeas so I've tried Universal and stay with loads in the 900-1,000 fps range. But often for jes fun I'll use .44 Special data in Magnum brass for light shooting. I've even reloaded some round lead balls (123 gr., .432") over a dusting of Bullseye. This load is like shooting a 22 Short in 4 of my .44 Magnums...

I'd suggest starting loads of Unique with your 240 jacketed bullets and see how that suits your needs...
 
I've been shootin' 44s since I got my first one in 1973.

Loaded all sorts of loads from pussycat to super hot.

My favorites now start with 17.0 gr 2400 and go up depending on circumstances, how I feel, and who will be shooting them.

The 17.0 gr load is good for the grandkids to play with and they like it.

Most of my loads now days are cast lead, but once in a while I will break out some copper.

If you shoot both like I do, clean after the lead and before shooting copper.
 
I am 54 and finding recoil less and less enjoyable.

I have a 5" bbl Smith model 629. And I too used to load 23.5gn of W296/H110 under a 240 grainer. But I recently did a load work up for a similar round that was still stout, but with less recoil.

I came up with 13.0gn of HS-6. The W296 round chronographed at 1220 f/s; while the HS-6 round chronos at 1150 f/s. So I'm giving up 70 f/s, but it's delivering that 1150 with much much less recoil. The two loadings are hardly comparable in recoil, flash, and report - well worth the 70 f/s reduction in velocity.

Since you don't have HS-6, Unique is closest in burn rate (I find Unique to be slightly faster than HS-6 - but they're pretty close). That would be my recommendation: do a work up using Unique. I believe you would find your results to be similar to mine.
 
Similar situation here, looking at 67 in February. My 44 Magnum is a S&W Model 29. There is a big difference shooting that revolver with the original S&W Hogue rubber grip or the standard S&W Model 29 wood grips. The soft rubber hogue grips leave the gun pretty manageable even with the age factor. Same applies with a Ruger Redhawk in 45 Colt, removing the wood and using rubber makes a big difference in felt recoil.

Ron
 
Pachmyer rubber has been on my M29 from the early days ,works well ! One trick to handle recoil is to bend the elbows which when firing bend more [ like a shock absorber ] when you shoot. For multiple shots you don't want the handle to move in the hand !.
For long range shooting [we learned this in metallic silhouette matches ] the handgun bullets slow down quickly . At long range max loads are only slightly faster than than lighter loads .Use 1 or 2 grains lighter than max loads .That even may be more accurate and certainly more reasonable recoil .No deer will complain !
 
Op, I don't think the 21 grs of 2400/240 is what you're looking for. I believe 231 is the powder you want and something less than 900fps. All my 44s are specials and for my Ruger SA and Smith am working up around 900fps with a 265 sec and a240 WC around 700fps in a very light 396. Oh yeah, almost forgot, I'm a geezer too.
 
I really appreciate everyone taking the time to reply......thank you.

From what I think I've learned from everyone's input and based on the powders I have on hand I believe I'll try Unique first and keep the Winch. 240 gr. JHP's around 1100 fps.

I went to my LGS yesterday to pick up a few things and noticed that he had some Xtreme totally plated 240 gr. FP bullets w/ cannelure on hand for a tad over $62.00 for 500 and I picked up a box.

I've never loaded a plated bullet in any caliber but from looking at the Xtreme site they can be loaded to mid jacketed or high end lead bullet velocities, while staying under 1500 FPS, and using a lightish taper crimp to keep from cutting through the plating......I don't believe I'll use these for woods carry but instead use them at the range punching paper.

According to Unclenicks calculations (thank you) I've got the 180 gr. XTP's scooting along at a pretty good clip but they are considerably more comfortable to fire than the 240 gr. Winchesters.

Oh, has anyone ever tried plated bullets in the .44 Mag, or any caliber for that matter, and have any tips or "do's and don'ts" for their use ?

Thanks again fellas.
 
Marlin 1894. 44 Magnum does kick hard. Hey it is a light rifle with a big punch.

It hits harder than a .30-30 under 100 yards.
 
This is the first year for Centre fire rifle in Indiana . My son is a hunter and has 30 plus years hunting deer .

He always has a handgun with him along with the long gun . Saturday he shot a nice doe at 70 plus feet with a 44 Special Ruger Blackhawk 4.5 barrel .
The load was 7.2 gr Unique under a 240 gr hard lead bullet the deer went down and did not get back up . This is the load I have been shooting for a long time it works well out to 50/75 yards and very soft shooting .
 
My favorite load in the .44 Spl. is Skeeter Skelton's pet load of 7.5 gr. of Unique and 240 gr. cast bullet. (Lyman 429241, Elmer Keith's bullet) Very accurate and comfortable in an S&W 624 6". I've never choreographed that load but it's supposed to be in the 900-950 FPS range depending on barrel length.
The point is, why not work up a .44 Mag. load to that level of power. Probably take around 9.0 gr. of Unique, possibly a bit more. More than enough power for most purposes and save the nasty kickers for stuff like hunting or hiking in areas where bear or Mountain lion encounters are a possibility.
Frankly, I'm 78 and while the recoil of a full power .44 Mag. load doesn't bother me all that much, it's the crack of the muzzle blast that bothers me. I already have way too much hearing damage from shooting anyway so why aggravate it even more?
One of the areas where I like to hike has had several encounters with Black Bears and Mountain Lions and some of the bliss ninnies do freak out when it gets close up and personal. My usual carry gun on hiking on that trail is a Ruger Super Blackhawk with 4 5/8" barrel and the smaller Blackhawk grip frame. It does cover well under a light jacket so that the liberal college crowd that use that trail don't see it. My load for that one is 20.0 gr. of 2400 and a 250 gr. cast bullet gas checked SWC. Not too uncomfortable but awfully loud.
Paul B.
 
shooting plated 44 mag bullets loaded to 44 special specs in the right sunlight is beautiful. Was able to watch the gold sail through the air.... :P
 
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