Hot 44 spl. in a magnum revolver

I am the quintessential KISS person.:) I use 7.5gr of Unique behind a hard cast bullet for every revolver cartridge I load for that starts with the number "4". I use Winchester Large Pistol standard/magnum primers exclusively for these loads.

These include the 44Special, 44Magnum, 41Magnum and 45Colt. The bullet weights range from 210gr to 250gr. I have yet to find a revolver that wouldn't shoot these loads safely and accurately.

I am also a dinosaur who is very resistant to change. I have used these same loads for over thirty years.
 
Hey, if something works, don't change it.

I use 8.0./Unique/250 RNFP in .45 Colt, for most things. It's probably the equivalent of the Skelton Load.
 
Detonation

Do a search and you will find a few isolated instances in handguns...IIRC, it it usually associated with light H110/W296 loads. Hence the recommendation to go no lower than 3% below published loads....again, working from memory, and my memory ain't what it once was.
 
I for one rarely shoot (or need) 'magnum' level loads (who needs blast, recoil, noise when not needed?) . So most all my .44Mag loads are 1200fps or less. I consider 1200fps out of a 5 1/2" barrel, the 'bottom' edge of Magnum loads. For example, my goto load for .44Mag is 10g of Unique under 240g bullet for around 1100fps. To duplicated the Skeeter load you load 8.5g of Unique under 240g bullet which will get you around 1000fps. Load up some Trail Boss for mouse loads. When you reload you have the tiger by the tail so to speak. Load low to high. Your call.

In my .44 Specials (except for the Bulldog), I really like the Skeeter load (7.5g of Unique|Universal|20/28 under 240-250g SWC),. I've also shot the Keith load (1200fps load), but really no need to go there when you have a .44 Mag handy.

I use 8.0./Unique/250 RNFP in .45 Colt, for most things. It's probably the equivalent of the Skelton Load.
Click to expand...
Actually 8.5g Unique is a bit 'closer' in velocity to the Skeeter load. At least in my test guns :) .

I personally have not used h110/296. To narrow of a power band. Stick to old school 2400 where I got plenty of room to play.
 
Last edited:
orionengnr
Detonation
Do a search and you will find a few isolated instances in handguns...IIRC, it it usually associated with light H110/W296 loads. Hence the recommendation to go no lower than 3% below published loads....again, working from memory, and my memory ain't what it once was.
Click to expand...

I wrote to Hodgdon about that ~ 10 years ago.
They said there is no worry of detonation with H110, but stuck bullets.

I have since experimented with H110 in 45 Colt, all the way down to a stuck bullet.

The threshold of stuck bullets is drastically affected by crimp. A good roll crimp can get me a lot lower... not as low as Unique will go, but pretty low.
 
With regard to using Unique and it's so-called "dirty burn" tendencies, I have yet to use or see used a published load for it in ANY cartridge that could not be "cleaned up" somewhat, by:
1.) Increasing crimp.
2.) Increasing charge.
3.) Increasing projectile mass.

None of these changes need be drastic.
Increasing crimp by as little as 1/8 turn (on a standard 7/8" x 14 threaded press) has always helped a little, and sometimes, quite a bit. Its efficacy depended on how heavy the initial crimp was.
Increasing charge by as little as 0.1 grains (yes, it CAN be done, with Unique), especially near max charges OFTEN helps. In 38 years of reloading, only once have I seen clear signs of excessive pressure when increasing the charge weight by 0.1 - 0.2 gr.
Increasing bullet weight usually results in decreased volume in which the powder deflagrates, from a deeper seating of the heel of the projectile into the case, which increases pressures. Again, it's been rare that I've encountered frank signs of excessive pressures when the bullet weight is increased SLIGHTLY (think 240 gr. vs. 245gr. in .44 Spl. or 250 gr. vs. 255 gr. in .45 Colt).
During one work-up, it was noticed that one of two lots of bullets cast from the same mold shot discernably cleaner than the other. Weights of bullets from each lot were different by about 3.4%, so apparently inertia had something to do with it, also.
 
It's an issue of start pressure and handgun cases have small enough capacity that if you don't have enough crimp or if the bullet is seated too deeply, especially with a lubricated lead bullet, you sometimes get lower pressure (opposite of what QuickLOAD predicts) because the primer has started the bullet out of the case before the powder burn was well established. That means the powder peak pressure is lower because it's making its gas in a smaller volume than for a well-held bullet.

You can detect these on a chronograph, usually. The loads that are being started out of the case by the primer generally have lower average velocity and higher velocity SD than ones properly anchored.

Another thing that can happen with a low pressure load is longer bullet jump to the throat can also lower pressure by offering too little resistance to build pressure against as the bullet slips forward over the extra distance. This likely accounts for why a load would burn cleaner loaded in a magnum case than in a special case, assuming the same crimp groove is used in both.
 
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