Favorite mild 44mag loads.

Starline brass.. CCI 300.. Xtreme 240 Gr. Plated.. 7.0 gr Red Dot.

Sweet plinker load from my RSR

Starline Brass.. CCI 300.. Xtreme 240 Gr. Plated.. 10.0 Gr. W231.

Hotter but still a nice round.

Starline Brass.. CCI 300... Xterme 240 Gr. Plated... 16.0 AA#7

Accurate load.. But getting to a kickin load.


I have others.. but these are MY sweet spot loads.
My AA#9 load is a scorcher.
 
I ended up my shotgun reloading with a lot of 800X powder. I found it makes pretty good mid level 44 mag loads with either 200 JHP or 240 cast SWC.
 
44 mag 240's

240gr is a weight I don't shoot that often but I was at one time loading 8grs of Unique under a swagged lead bullet.This load would give me 1000 fps out of either of my 44 mags and recoil was very manageable.The sporting goods store I bought them from has gone out of business so I shoot more of what I cast.A Lee 200gr RNFP mold that drops at 212grs over 13.5 grs of HS-6 is just wickedly accurate out of my SuperBlack Hawk.
 
Mild .44mag Loads

Several that I've personally tried are:
1. 6.5 gr. Trail Boss under a 200 gr. LRNFP. Easy shooting, accurate.
2. 5 gr. Red Dot under a 215 LSWC. Good accuracy, a bit of "pop" but okay.
3. 7.8-8.7 gr. AA#2 under a 200 gr. LRNFP. Accuracy get better as the charge goes up. Like this combo.

If you want mild loads, stick with the faster powders, and carefully watch for primer flattening (but you know this, right?) The powder companies just don't have the time to test and publish every possible bullet and powder combination, but if you ask them for a particular combo, they can offer a suggestion. Good luck.
 
7.8 grains for about 1000 fps from an 8.25" silhouette barrel. 8.7 grains for about 1100 fps. 9.5 for about 1200 fps. Hodgdon's maximum for 240 grain LSWC is 10.2 grains, so you are below that all the way through the range.
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I have been looking for a light load like this. But roughly how much higher are theses velocity's with a 10" barrel? I have to stay under 1250 with Berry's 240 grain FP.
 
Actually you probably don't need to worry about it. It's really pressure that affects a bullet and how badly it fouls a bore, so the velocity limits have a barrel length assumption built into them that often isn't mentioned. Note that most commercial 44 Mag velocities are stated for the 4" revolver barrel, for which it takes higher pressure to get to 1250 fps than it does for the 8.25" barrel. SAAMI actually has three standard test barrel lengths for this cartridge. 4" with a 0.008" gap at the end to simulate a barrel/cylinder gap. 8.25" without barrel/cylinder gap to simulated single-shot silhouette barrels, and 20" barrel to simulated a carbine rifle. Because the 4" barrel length is figured from the gap forward, while the other two are figured from their breech ends, the 4" is comparable to a 5.618" barrel figured as the others are. I gave data based on Hodgdon's measurements, and they are with the 8.25" barrel.

Your 10", if that is figured from the breech, should gain about 40-50 fps.
 
Try Herco powder. Not sure of the exact amount (kinda depends how warm you want them) but probably about 11 or 12 grains. It's a very nice powder to work with in large cases, and it plays well with lead bullets.
 
Im with mavracer i used 10gr of Unique for soft shooters. Right in between max 44 special and start 44 mag load. Its more like a 44 special +p.
 
I bought some vihatouri 3N37 just to try in my 44 Mag. I believe the amount was 12 or 12.5 gr. With 240 gr. Xtp. It is by far the best metering pistol powder I have ever used. Even through my cheap lee powder measure it drops within .1- .2 grain of my charge weight. It measures 1240 fps out of my 8 3/8" barrel, and is very accurate and clean burning. Unique or universal is probably still king of the true mild loads, but neither go through my powder measure worth a crap.
 
Try HP-38 (or Win231), 8 grains in magnum cases under a 240 grain plated bullet (I use berry's). I get 1100 fps from a 4" barrel. Nice to shoot, easy on the brass, the cases drop out clean as new and the gun stays extremely clean. It's my favorite target load.
 
It's really pressure that affects a bullet and how badly it fouls a bore
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Yet the stated limitation on lead bullets is in terms of velocity. I'm thinking the friction from the velocity melts the lead at some point, enough to smear the bore. I think we lube bullets to deal with the friction that is a function of velocity.
 
Yet the stated limitation on lead bullets is in terms of velocity.
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Not many reloaders can measure pressure, so they throw out a "typical" velocity, for a "typical" use of a given round in the guestimated pressure range they are looking for.

Unclenick brings up the example of a 44 magnum which is no more prone to fouling a carbine than a revolver as a result of its increased velocity, yet a bullet maker is mostly likely to issue a bullet velocity rating spec based on a 44 magnum revolver.
 
I load 240 gr Cowboy #13 from Missouri Bul. Co. over 7.0 gr of Universal for a very easy shooting load. I can run it up to 9.5 gr for a bit more punch but would rather use a 240 gr. jacketed bullet at that speed. Universal powder is nice stuff.
 
My favorite load is, 21 gr, 2400, 240 gr, JHP, CCI primer.

Here is one load you DO NOT want to try.

27 gr, 2400, 240 JHP, CCI mag primer.

It is a compressed load and it will sting your hands, trust me I know ;)

I got this info back in the 70's from a magazine stating it was one of Elmer Keith's load.

Tried it and my Ruger Black Hawk took them but my had gave out before the gun did.

Funny thing was after abut a box full my gun seemed to rattle a little louder :eek:

Haven't tried that load since, in fact my old lyman and speer rreloading books from the 70's don't go that much.
 
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Smith 29 8-3/8" bbl.
200 grain X-Treme Plated bullet (RNFP)
10 grains of HP38= 1164 FPS Chronoed today
8.6 grains of Red Dot= 1132 chronoed today

Pleasant to shoot. Data average of 6 shots
 
I load a small amount of titegroup under a 255 grain keith style (all I have) cast bullet for nice plinkers. Ill look in my notes tomorrow for the amount but it works well. Nice little pop. Easy to shoot.

As stated above even 4.5 grains in a special case, which seems so wrong at the time of throwing the charge, works very well. I tested those specifically with the gun pointed way down, squib rod ready to go, no issue what so ever.
 
AA has published a range of 44 special loads with 240 gr and AA#9. 19.7 grains [misprint] to 10.7 grains
AA has published a range of 44 magnum loads with 240 gr and AA#9. 18.3 grains to 20.3 grains
The two ranges do not overlap, but I worked up in the range in between [10.7 grains to 18.3 grains] to find a load that my brother could handle the recoil.

This work up was not while reading the brass, but reading my brother's face and asking, "Does that kick too much?"
 
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