Loading the 44 special

K

KEYBEAR

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CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

First let me say I have been reloading over 45 years but I learn something every day . The 44 Mag has been my round of choosing for most of that time . Now I have two Ruger 44 Specials and do not really shoot them much but still load for them . I am loading 240 gr. lead with 7.5 gr. of Unique and not to impressing ? I am looking for something better any ideas .
 
Better how???

The .44 Special is not an impressive round if you are used to the .44 Magnum.

Its not a terribly impressive factory round, even if you aren't used to the .44 Magnum. Factory load is 246gr lead slug at mid 700fps from a 6" revolver.

I checked 4 of my OLD reloading books, your 7.5gr Unique is well over the listed max in 3 of them for a 240gr lead bullet.

My 1970s Lyman manual lists a max of 8.0gr for 1,000fps from a 5.5" Colt SAA test gun.

Old data is for comparison only!!!
 
I'm on the road and don't have my numbers handy, but I worked up some 200 Meister over Unique. They went over 1,000 from my 5 1/2" Blackhawk. Haven't tested them in the Bulldog. Also run 200 XTP and GDHP over Power Pistol for 850 out of the Bulldog and 1,000+ from the Ruger.
 
I agree that we need to understand what "better" means...

I also agree that 9.5gr Unique under a 240gr bullet is over-book levels...

ADDING:

OOPS!

I meant 7.5gr!!!
 
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I will go out on a limb here that the OP is a fan of the big bore magnum.
The 44 spl just does not have the felt recoil to sooth the savage soul.
Velocity is not the answer, bullet mass is.
If you want a 44 spl to feel more like a magnum move up to a 300g or larger bullet.
 
When I first started loading the .44 Special, for my 6.5" Model 24-3 S&W, I was using WW 231.

Now that was unimpressive. Teeny charges of powder in a HUGE case and erratic velocity/ignition, most likely based on where the powder was in the case when I pulled the trigger.

When Trail Boss finally hit the market I grabbed a bottle and gave it a try, and was thrilled with the results. Excellent accuracy, very consistent velocities and ignition, and around 90% case fill.

I've not used any other powder in my .44 Special in years now.
 
Edited: This is a response to a now deleted post.

Is that for .44 Special or .44 Magnum?

That seems to be WAY heavy for .44 Special.

Hell, that is SIGNIFICANTLY in excess of Elmer Keith's HEAVY .44 Special load.
 
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.


Mike,

That was a 44 Mag load near or at maximum. Maybe it's a mistake or maybe he was trying to be funny. Either way, its way over book and dangerous for the 44 Special, and he didn't follow the forum rule to post the required warning for over-book loads, so I deleted it. Too easy for a novice to believe whatever they read ("it's on the Internet") and blow a gun up in their face.

For that matter, the OP's 7.5 grains is over book. Fine in a Ruger, I expect, but something light like a Charter or an antique may not like to see too much of it. Alliant has 6.3 grains as maximum, so the warning needs to be there, too. QuickLOAD thinks the Alliant load is light, but the powder makers watch shot-to-shot variation in testing to make their choices of maximum loads, and they may have seen something that's not ideal like the calculation.

Trail Boss is great. Burns cleaner than anything else I've ever played with.


Keybear,

I edited the required warning into your original post. Please read this sticky at the top of the forum.

My guess, as I already mentioned, is that your Rugers will be perfectly happy with something warmer than standard 44 Special. If they are something like the Lipsey's target SA 44 Special Rugers built on a 357 frame, though, they won't have the thickness of steel their 44 Mags do.

The way Elmer Keith, among others, worked revolver loads up was to increase the charge until he started getting sticky extraction. When that happens, you want to reduce the load 5% and call that reduced charge maximum. You can work up in steps that are 2% of a published maximum for the powder. The sticky extraction happens because the steel is stretching beyond the elastic limit of the brass, which it can do, and then snaps back to shape over the now-oversize brass, clamping it. It has to expand about 0.001" or more to do that, and the expansion is at the thinnest part of the chamber (outside, usually). So you don't want it doing that all the time or the metal will fatigue and weaken.
 
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

8 grains of Unique with a 260-265 grain hard cast bullet. WW or Star-Line brass, any Large pistol primer.

I used an LBT Wide flat nose gas-check and a Lyman 429244 gas check bullet.

I use the same load of powder for the Lyamn 429421 plain base bullet,cast hard. These drop out of my m,old at 248 grains.

I have used these loads for 40 years in a S&W M24, a Colt SAA, and also several 44 magnums I have owned.

For a very good mid-range load in 44 magnums with magnum brass you can use everything the same, except I go up to 8.5 gr of Unique.

Super accurate and also a good killer of everything I have ever shot with it, from deer down to rabbits.
 
Nick,

I've never used 2400 for anything, so I wasn't 100% sure, but I thought that load, just bullet weight alone, was far and above anything possible to obtain in the .44 Special.
 
Good guess, though. I tried it in 44 Special about 35 years ago. Very dirty because it didn't like the low pressure.


Wyosmith,

I edited the required warning into your original post. Please read this sticky at the top of the forum. Please use it any time you post something over book, even if book is wimpy.
 
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

That sucks, I was gonna try 14gr of 2400 under a 265gr RCBS Keith bullet...am also looking for 240gr. WC that crimps out like regular bullet out to 700fps + from my 18oz 396 Mt. lite. That's what ya need for extra recoil is the 396.
 
Again over book. Alliant's only listed load of 2400 in the 44 special is for a 250 grain Keith bullet at 13 grains maximum. Lyman has 12.3 grains as maximum with a 255 grain cast bullet. The old timers all claimed lead seemed to give higher pressures in revolvers as they got near maximum. Opposite of what I see in a pistol, but the dynamics are a little different and deformation in the forcing cone may be a factor and so may the alloy.

When the bullet gets heavy enough, though, regardless of their construction, you'll find the burning gets cleaner. I don't recall exactly what I was playing with at the time I found it dirty. It was in a Charter, so it would have been light. Also, what constitutes over book has changed. I have an obsolete data book (Hornady #2) that lists 13.3 grains as a starting load for a 240 grain JSP in 44 Special, and lists what is now a magnum load as maximum. That starting load left my hand stinging pretty good in the Charter, so I never explored going higher in it. The load was developed by pressure signs in a larger Colt SA revolver, and not by pressure measurement. Today, Hornady has dropped 2400 from their .44 Special loads and fired the ones they list in a Charter, so I feel better about them. For more oomph than Unique, they use Blue Dot at 6.7 grains to start and 9.1 grains maximum with 240 grain lead SWC with a Winchester primer in a Hornady case and seated to 1.490" COL. That gets them 100 fps more than their maximum Unique load, and may be a way for the OP to explore.
 
7.5 grains of Unique is over max for a cast 240 according to Alliant. 7.5 of Unique is just under max for a jacketed 240.
What are you trying to impress? Targets or CCW bad guys?
"...something light like a Charter..." Yep. Boss at the shop loaded a 265 with some powder(no idea what). Cracked the factory grips.
 
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information .

I am loading 7.5 gr. of Unique in my 44 Special under a 240 gr. Cast lead .
The 44 Rem Mag gets 10.2 gr of Unique with the same Cast Lead .
My Hornady Handbook #2 shows 9.3 gr of Unique under a 240 JHP for 44 Mag.

I last used 2400 in about 1978 ..

I am not look for anyone of you to tell how much or how little powder to use or not . Just looking for a better powder then Unique .
 
If, by better, you mean a way to get higher velocity, try Blue Dot. If, by better, you mean cleaner burning, try Trail Boss. If, by better, you mean more accurate, try Bullseye, 231, Trail Boss and Tightgroup. If, by better, you mean more economical to shoot, try Clays. But if you continue to keep what you mean by "better" to yourself, you'll keep getting information that doesn't interest you.
 
That 7.5 gr. of Unique has been around for quite a while. It was the late gun writer Skeeter Skelton's pet working/defense load for his S&W M24's. He did have a load with #2400 he used for hunting but I never messed with it. All I will add is the load is accurate in my S&W 624 and is adequate for what I use ir for.
Paul B.
 
I always held Handloader Magazine in high regard and I give them credibility.
Brian Pierce wrote an excellent article on loading the 44 spl.It appears in issue 236,Aug/Sept 2005.

With the popularity of the Lipsey Special Ruger,Ruger decided to make the version a production handgun.
Its the flattop .357 smaller frame.Mine is a Bisley.

I bought it after reading a Ross Seifred article on this handgun.I'll say he loaded it quite briskly.(He advocated 265/275 gr bullets and he was loading 296/h-110.His pressure estimates may have exceeded those in the recommended Handloader article.I do not have the Seifred article at this time. )

I recall a post where we discussed loading for this handgun here.I mentioned Seifred's loads.

A lot of folks advised I should never load my Lipsey that hot,its the small frame,go buy a Super Blackhawk,etc,etc,etc.

I have a Super Blackhawk,thank you.Since about 72.

Mr Pearce classifies 44 SPL loads to 3 tiers,much like the 45-70.

He specifically includes the 44 SPL's built on the flat top .357 frame as suitable for tier three(the highest pressure) loads.This level is up to 25,000 psi.

Here is a link that will take you to a PDF of the article.I suggest saving a copy while it is up.

I think the article will serve the OP well and educate a number of well meaning individuals who are selling the .44 SPL on the Ruger 357 short.

http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/44_Special_Articles/Brian Pearce on the 44 Special.pdf

As I said,I DO have a .44 magnum SBH,and no,I have not pushed the high pressure loads.I don't load absolute max in my 44 Magnum,either.

But it is not accurate or necessary to hold the .44 Spl Rugers to 900 fps.
 
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And Mr Pierce has already retracted his classification of the 696 from that article. He is one of my favorite writers also, but I do not believe he actually pressure tests those loads.
 
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