Heavy bullets in 44 mag revolvers

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Stats Shooter

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Anyone run the heavier bullets in their .44 mag?
I'm gonna try some H110 and 270 grn and 300 gr jacketed bullets in my Dan Wesson w/ 6 & 8" Barrels
 
The only jacketed bullet I load for revolver and carbine is the Hornady 265gr FP...

Designed for 444 Marlin's velocities there is almost no expansion at .44 mag speeds...

Bone smashing and/or deep penetration is what I want...
 
I have run heavy bullets in the past, but since have found no reason to go any heavier than 240 gr in the revolvers. I do shoot a few 270/300s in the carbines tho.
 
That used to be my thing: 300 grain cast bullets in .44 Super Blackhawk and 300 grain bullets in the .45 Colt Blackhawk. I shot thousands and thousands of them. Then I totally lost interest in that and moved on to something else. The only thing I have done with them lately is, I have a Ruger 77/44 rifle that is suppressed and the little shooting I have done with it was all with 300 grain bullets.

Years went by and I started wondering what I was going to do with all this powder I had: H110, Accurate #9, 2400....................... Then I bought a .300 Blackout and the first thing I realized is that I already have every commonly used powder for the .300 Blackout: it is the same powders I was using for heavy loads in the .44 Mag and .45 Colt.
 
My friend and I loaded 180gr JHPs for our .44 Mags for years, then I got a .454 Casull and now shoot 300gr JHP and cast bullets with that. I've loaded some 240gr and 300gr for the .44 mag, but my friend, however, seems to have gotten that disease or whatever it is that occurs when you start shooting bigger things. It wasn't enough to shoot a 240gr or 300gr out of a .44 and .454; he moved to both .460 and .500!!!
 
Hmmm....
It appears that the internet ate my homework. I replied earlier. Yet, it does not appear in the thread. (Perhaps it decided to show up elsewhere...)

Anyway...
I've loaded 300s, 310s, and 325s. I have a few 335s on hand for load development, but haven't tried them yet.

The "heavies" are much more tame and comfortable that most shooters expect. I'd rather shoot hot loads with 'heavies' than hot loads with 240s. Much easier on the hands and wrist(s).
 
I learned a lesson some 40 years ago. I was shooting my .44 Super Blackhawk, 7-1/2" barrel at a can of lousy chili with a Speer 180gr bullet. I was surprised that the shot went 3 or 4 feet to the left until I looked down at the split barrel!! One could see a small bulge about 1/3 of the way up, then it split like a piece of bamboo. I sent it back to Ruger and long story short, it seems the thin jacket on the Speer bullet formed a ring of copper in the barrel and provided the obstruction. Lesson: shoot heavy jacketed bullets in large calibers.
 
I have loaded a 265gr Cast Performance load using N110, not H110. I've also loaded a 300gr plated bullet over that same VV powder.

They get about 1200 and 1100fps respectively out of my 4" RH.
 
Nearly all of the bullets I have fired through my SBH have been cast.

I started with a 240 gr + Lyman Keith SWC mold.The darn ogive on those was a touch too long or the meplat too big,I forget. They would tie up a levergun with a nasty jam.

There was a zippy H-110load for a 215 gr Keith SWC in the old black Hogdon book.8 in test barrel claim(no cyl gap) was over 1800 fps.
We shot a lot of those. Nice load,and they fed in lever guns.

I cut my SBH bbl to 5 in. I could then sit in a pickup without tipping over.

I saw Lazercast 300 gr truncated cone bullets and tried them. :) !.

Like flinging hammers! I can't say for sure,but I vaguely remember 1300 fps.(With a grain of salt.Its not written down)

I liked shooting them,and they worked fine in my Browning 92.
 
Mississippi said:
I have loaded mostly 240's for a while....I just wanted to try something different.
Click to expand...

Something most of us reloaders do. I've stuck with 240 jacketed in my revolvers basically because of cost. 240s are much more readily available and on sale(read as cheaper) more often than the 270s and 300s. If one casts their own projectiles, this would not be a concern. I've also come to realize that for deer and or targets, 240s are all I really need for terminal performance and 240s give me the ballistics, accuracy and trajectory I desire. Your experience may vary, and the only way to find that out is to try 'em.
 
The only heavy bullet I've worked with in the 44 mag is the 270 Speer Deep Curl. If I want more bullet weight I go with the 45 Colt (up to 345s). I get 1275 ft/sec out of my 6½" 629 Classic over 18.5 gr of Accurate 4100 and WLP primers. I've shot 3½" 5-shot groups at 100 yds with it topped with a red dot scope, and this 2.17" 4-shot group at 75 yds.

M629_75yd_Group_zps634a0b40.jpg~original
 
I ran 48 Nosler 300gr JHPs through my SRH at 1350pfs once. Just once. Number 49 went off and my whole front sight assembly whizzed by my head. Came completely off as one piece. Now, in all fairness the gun was made in 1998 and had the front site on with a single post and silver solder. That's how they made em back then apparently.

Called Ruger and for $30 dollar for a shipping label (I'm the 4th owner of the gun) they took it in, ended up re barreling it and replaced 4 or 5 internal parts. I pretty much got back a new gun. Shoots great again. I've stuck with 240 gr bullets since then.

I started loading those loads in federal cases and was pancaking the exposed lead on the top. I knew it wasn't good so I switched to Winchester cases and it was much better. I wasn't even at the top of the load chart! All my loads were below max. Fun adventure with a good story to boot and my gun is just fine. The other 300 grain bullets are sitting on my shelf. Glaring at me. The analogy of "throwing hammers" is apt....
 
I hunted with 300 grain XTP hollow points in my hunting pistol, pushed them a little hard because it eventually stretched the frame, but they would lay a bore out flat! Made for good pork on the table!
 
It is a 7.5" barreled SRH Mr. Pond. I only know how fast they were going because I was giving them a first run chrono test at the time.
 
I routinely shoot 240-300 grain XTP's through my 9.5" Super Redhawk.

Through my 7.5" Super Blackhawk, I stick with the 240's because they seem to shoot best through this gun.
 
Well, we shall see how it goes. My Dan Wesson has a very hefty frame and ported barrels. It can handle anything a colt anaconda can handle,or super red hawk.

I think a 300 gr xtp would make a fine hog stopper
 
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