dan wesson 44 mag accuracy

B

Bert223

New member
Hello Everyone,

Does anyone have a Dan Wesson 44 mag 8" barrel with full underlug? If so what kind of groups do you get with open sights at 25 yards? Just curious what mine might be capable of.
 
barrel in tension

Can / might be superb; DW known for robust performance, stunning accuracy.

(I'd be lookin' for 1" or less from a 25 yd rest.)
(With good ammo, ay?)
 
Wow that's pretty accurate, maybe I'll scope it then and try a new bullet and powder. Now I shoot AA 5 with 240 grain nosler jsp, but if it's possible to get 1" groups I might have to experiment. Thanks for the help.
 
Bert,

Have you tried using H-110 for your .44 Magnum? 23.0 grains is what I've been shooting, under a 240 Hornady JHP. Seems to work great and I've heard a lot of people say the same thing. Go to the Handloading room on this page and do a search for .44 Magnum
 
As WESHOOT2 eluded most DW's will shoot better than most people can shoot them. Expect superb accuracy, and don't be afraid to shoot that gun at some distance.
Only suggestion I can make from experience is to lose the full length shroud and install the partial lug version. That full length shroud is going to be mighty muzzle heavy.
Enjoy your DW
Take Care
 
If you have a known accurate load that is not performing in your DW then play with the B/C gap a little. That's how a lot of their accuracy is wrung out of them.
 
Well tj hands right now I shoot AA#5 and I'm going to switch to something else because it sticks to everything plastic that I have. I might have to give h110 a try. Ive had good luck with hodgden powders in my rifles. I think i'll keep the heavy lug on it for now. The weight doesn't seem to bother me too bad right now. I'll try the barrel gap thing too when I get a chance. Thanks for the advice guys.
 
"Does anyone have a Dan Wesson 44 mag 8" barrel with full underlug? If so what kind of groups do you get with open sights at 25 yards? Just curious what mine might be capable of."

When I was shooting mine at rams at 200 meters I could get 5"-7" groups. The gun was probably more accurate than that with better eyes than mine. DW at one time was the gun to have for long range shooting. Yours should be more accurate than you can hold without a good rest.
 
Hey, I like your nick. :)
Anyway, accuracy has never been a problem with any DW I've had the chance to shoot.
I did have to change the barrel on a 715 I had to the new style barrel.
The old style had 5 or 6 grooves, I think the new style has 8 or 10, anyway, it's more accurate now than it ever was.
The barrel change cost me a whole $40. :)
Gotta love dan wessons.
 
Where did you get the new barrel at caz223? Also does anyone know where to get a new shroud from? Perhaps Ebay or gunbroker?
 
both my 44 and 357 DW could shoot 3 inch or smaller at one hundred yards, i had a hard time doing that but buddy with young eyes and a aversion to caffiene would do that consistently I have a 25 yard target with a bout a 60 cal hole in it from 6 44 240 lead bullets best i ever shot
 
I got my barrel (No shroud) locally from a gunsmith, I'd guess they ordered it from brownell's....(Though I don't find one available on a quick search.)
 
Bert223, If you want near true magnum performance with superb accuracy, there are 2 powders that are a little slower than #5. Good news, they are from the same company, since Western Powder Co. acquired Accurate Powders. #7, not only has a reputation for this, it has an established track record with big bore revolver shooters questing for accuracy with powders faster than #9, H-110 or W296. Both powders are ball type and will meter exceptionally. The other is Ramshot True Blue and it will yield unbelievable consistency even up through the .454 Casull. #7 is slighlty denser than True Blue but at 985 vs 935 grams per liter, there are trade-offs for the minor difference. #7 is denser but True Blue will give better case fill and yield very low single digit standard deviations. Either will still give you factory level velocity if you need it. For a field load in .44 Magnum for game, H-110 may be the king, followed closely by W296 and then AA#9, but for Magnum level target loads required in Silhouette, you can lessen muzzle flash by going to AA#7 or Ramshot True Blue, it is also a little better economically from a standpoint of high volume reloading. I load Magnum defense rounds this way to get rid of the excess muzzle flash and find them more efficient ballistically in barrels of 3-4". Sounds to me like this was the approach you had in mind with AA#5. You will like #7 even better. True Blue may be the best undiscovered powder we have seen in years. If there are any doubts to my claim, Call the Ballisticians at Ramshot, they are more than happy to take your call and that I know firsthand. I've done it, even spent about 30 minutes on the phone with their President who was as eager to talk about reloading as I was about asking questions when Ramshot was relatively a new brand. They RAVE about True Blue and competition shooters are now raving too. You can reach them at 800-497-1007. E-Mail at www.ramshot.com Their powder is from Belgium and in my oppinion may end up as a cost effective alternative to the excellent Vihta Vuori powders. In fact, VV does not have a powder that would rival True Blue although 3N37, 3N38 and N-350 woukld be similar for the same purpose.

Hope it works out! I can see a DW .41 Magnum in my future and I have a heavyweight jacketed project in mind for it and the Ruger Redhawk using Hornady's .411 300 gr. bullet designed for the .405 Winchester and it will most likely sit on True Blue. ;)
 
Wow 3" at 100 yards? 60 cal. hole at 25? that's amazing. I need to try some different stuff if DW's are that capable. To answer Strum's question, I chose aa#5 because with the speer loading book that I had at the time, aa#5 was the highest velocity powder listed for both the 44 mag and 357 mag and I was new to handloading, so I went the economic route. I don't really shoot all that much, maybe like 300-500 rounds a year if i'm lucky, so I went for dual purpose powder. Nothing wrong with that I guess but I think I'll try some different powder next time when I run out of AA#5 :). Thanks for the help guys.
 
What scope mount do you guys recommend for the dan wesson 44 mag 8" barrel? Any thoughts on a decent scope for $200 or less?
 
Ever DW I have ever shot has been a good shooter, dont really think you will be able to out shoot it any time soon. As far as scopes go, what are you going to use it for? If you are looking to hunt with it I would say look into a good dot sight.
 
Mostly I'm going to use it for long range shooting. I just want to see how accurate it can really be so I figure putting a scope on it would be the first step.
 
I used to shoot an 8" DW .44 in IHMSA competition.
My most accurate load was the 200gr Speer JHP over 27.0gr of WW296 with CCI 350s and Federal brass. Velocity was 1357, SD of 33.
This load would shoot 5" groups at 200 meters.
I later went to a 10" barrel which gave me 4 fps LESS velocity and no better accuracy.

John
Cape Canaveral
 
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