44 Spcl shooting high from Blackhawk

M

MoKirk

Inactive
I recently purchased a 44 mgn Ruger Blackhawk. When shooting 44 Spcls (Speer 200 grn Hollowpoints) the gun shoots about 4-5 inches higher at 15 yards than 230 grn 44 Mgns. In fact, it shoots so high that even with the rear sight all the way down, the gun still shoots about 3 inches over POA. I expected some differance, but have never seen such a wide difference between POA and shoot placement on a handgun at such a short range.

Has anyone else experienced this? I plan on trying some other types of ammo next time out, but is there anything I should check on the gun?


Thanks
 
The difference between 180's and 240's in my Interarms Dragoon exceeds the sight adjustment also. The relationship of barrel jump to impact for various loads was a real education for this rifle shooter.

After the loads, the second biggest factor was slight changes in the grip. Adjusting your grip up or down slightly greatly effects the rotation of the gun during bullet acceleration. As heavy as the gun is, the weight of five in the cylinder makes the first and sixth hit differently also.
 
Not surprising at all.

The .44mag BH is designed around the idea of a 240 gr slug doing 1300 to 1500 fps.

Specials are doing roughly about half of that.

Find something in the 1000 fps range and it should work out Ok.

Tom ,
Nice to see another Dragoon owner.
 
Gents,

Thanks for responding. So the combination of a slow bullet and long barrel (7.5) is causing the muzzle flip to impact the bullets flight ? (Sorry, I'm a bit slow)

I am getting good patterns with 44 Mgns, but after about 20 rounds at one setting, I start to ponder taking up tennis. Any recommendations on 1,000 fps round.

Regards
 
MoKirk,

Handloading was my answer to finding a good load.

It may or may not be for you.

The idea is to get the bullets down the barrel a little quicker so they exit the barrel before it has a chance to climb. The faster magnum loads get out of the end of the barrel before the recoil moves the barrel up. The slower ones come out of the end of the barrel after the recoil has started to make the barrel rise.
 
.44 spl

I have noticed through reading, not experience, that .44 special vs. .44 mag is the strengh of factory ammo. It seems that factory ammo for .44 spl is anemic since they dont want old guns blowin up. This is not a forseeable problem if you reload, which is what I would do if I "had" to have a .44 spl. On the legal realm, shooting factory ammo is easier to alabi in court, as you are not maliciouly loading a round to be dangerous. I know it sounds funny, but why do you think cops have to use factory ammo? :rolleyes:
 
slow bullets shoot high, fast bullets shoot low

You've got the right idea Mokirk. In a rifle, fast bullets usually strike the target higher and slow bullets strike lower. It is just the opposite on handguns. The gun actually starts to move back in recoil as soon as the cartridge goes off. Since the barrel is higher than your hand, the leverage rocks the barrel up. A slower bullet takes longer to get out of the barrel and the gun has moved more. That's why a 180 grain bullet will usually hit lower in a 44 magnum than a 240 assuming they are both full power loads.

This is not as noticiable with semi-autos because the barrel axis is lower in your hand.

Some relatively lower powered loads for 44 magnum are the Corbon 165 grain load and the Winchester Silvertip 210 grain load. You might also try some 200 grain 44 Special loads. That lighter bullet might go just enough faster to get within your sight adjustment capability. You might also try some 44 magnum "cowboy" loads. They should be very mild but may have the same problem as the specials.

If you decided you wanted to always use the lower powered loads, you might be able to get a taller front sight.

You can always just use a 6 o'clock hold at normal range and be dead on at about 75 yards. Just remember that your gun is sighted in at 25 yards when loaded with magnums and 75 yards when loaded with specials.
 
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