New to 44 Mag
- Thread starter brijohn
- Start date
We wanna know how long your SBH's barrel is.
I load my share of 44 Mag. I lean toward heavy bullets, however. 180's, being light, would tend me toward nothing slower than 2400. I would shy away from your "big magnum" propellants like W296/H-110, 4227, 300MP, that sort of stuff. Those are better suited for either heavy bullets, or carbine length barrels - or both.
AA#9 would be a great choice.
I myself would probably turn toward AA#7. Although a little faster than most would suggest; it would still deliver excellent velocities with those lighter 180's; and would do so with considerably less flash and recoil than the slower choices.
I load my share of 44 Mag. I lean toward heavy bullets, however. 180's, being light, would tend me toward nothing slower than 2400. I would shy away from your "big magnum" propellants like W296/H-110, 4227, 300MP, that sort of stuff. Those are better suited for either heavy bullets, or carbine length barrels - or both.
AA#9 would be a great choice.
I myself would probably turn toward AA#7. Although a little faster than most would suggest; it would still deliver excellent velocities with those lighter 180's; and would do so with considerably less flash and recoil than the slower choices.
buck460XVR
New member
Me too, with the 180s.
ShootistPRS
New member
The Hodgdon site lists loads for the 180 XTP.
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol
My powder choice has always been H110 for the magnums as it provides excellent accuracy and the highest performance.
For the 180 XTP they list 29 to 31.5 grains of H110. I will caution you not to reduce the load as H110 is prone to hang fires with reduced loads.
The site lists Hodgdon, IMR, and Winchester powders so you can pick anything you like.
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol
My powder choice has always been H110 for the magnums as it provides excellent accuracy and the highest performance.
For the 180 XTP they list 29 to 31.5 grains of H110. I will caution you not to reduce the load as H110 is prone to hang fires with reduced loads.
The site lists Hodgdon, IMR, and Winchester powders so you can pick anything you like.
I usually recommend when starting on a new caliber, load a few with a tried and true load out of your reloading manual. I started my .44 Magnum loading with a 240 JHP and starting loads of 2400 or AA#9. Of course there is the "celebrity load" of 10.0 gr Unique with a 250 cast SWC. Once ou get the hang od reloading the .44, then try other bullets/powders. I started reloading the .44 Mag. in '90 and haven't used a bullet lighter than 240 gr., mebbe I just like med-heavy for caliber, but light bullets seemed to be a waste of time. My favorite load that works well in all 5 of my .44 Magnums is a 265gr. LRNFP over about 20.0 gr. of WC 820.
Buck460XVR, it's no secret that you know how to craft proper, "balanced" ammo for the big handgun cartridges. So your agreement brings me confidence in myself.
Decades ago, I used to load 180's with W296/H-110 and they delivered quite a show. But I would not consider them well suited for any purpose, other than to make a light and sound show at the range - along with tremendous thrust recoil. For varmints, I'm pretty sure they would be a case of more show than go. The slightly faster AA#7 will do the job nicely in a much more controllable package.
bamaranger
New member
180 gr XTP
Here is a not so "apples to apples" comment on the .44/180 XtP slug.
I experimented with this slug from a Ruger .44 carbine (tube feed) while searching for a load that would give better accuracy than the traditional 240 grs were producing. The 1-38" twist of the old carbines seemed to indicate a lighter slug, and I gave the XTP's a try, and they did shoot considerably better. My load was 23.5 grs of H2400, which was safe in my carbine and I believe I reduced the charge based on those from the Sierra manual as a guide line, as Sierra made a .44/180 as well.
However, at carbine velocities, (1985 fps, 18.5" barrel) the slugs were entirely to explosive for whitetails, and would fragment badly. Although I never lost a deer shot with that combo (5?), I never had a slug exit either, nor did I have one that maintained integrity and did not slip its jacket. I eventually learned that the Hornady people have published a table that show the .44/180 XTP as essentially intended for velocities up to 1400 fps. Driving those slugs nearly 500 fps faster from the carbine, I was way over their intended range. I switched to 200 gr XTP's, and now recover the slugs intact and impressively mushroomed. I finally had one (200 grs) exit this year on a 138 lb meat buck.
I did indeed see your post that your rig would be for varmints and target, and I mention the above only to encourage you to limit that slug to that purpose , as I do not see it as an adequate a deer/hog slug when pushed hard.
As an aside, I ran some factory Rem 180 jacketed soft points from the carbine and they clocked an amazing 2160 fps!!!!!!!
Here is a not so "apples to apples" comment on the .44/180 XtP slug.
I experimented with this slug from a Ruger .44 carbine (tube feed) while searching for a load that would give better accuracy than the traditional 240 grs were producing. The 1-38" twist of the old carbines seemed to indicate a lighter slug, and I gave the XTP's a try, and they did shoot considerably better. My load was 23.5 grs of H2400, which was safe in my carbine and I believe I reduced the charge based on those from the Sierra manual as a guide line, as Sierra made a .44/180 as well.
However, at carbine velocities, (1985 fps, 18.5" barrel) the slugs were entirely to explosive for whitetails, and would fragment badly. Although I never lost a deer shot with that combo (5?), I never had a slug exit either, nor did I have one that maintained integrity and did not slip its jacket. I eventually learned that the Hornady people have published a table that show the .44/180 XTP as essentially intended for velocities up to 1400 fps. Driving those slugs nearly 500 fps faster from the carbine, I was way over their intended range. I switched to 200 gr XTP's, and now recover the slugs intact and impressively mushroomed. I finally had one (200 grs) exit this year on a 138 lb meat buck.
I did indeed see your post that your rig would be for varmints and target, and I mention the above only to encourage you to limit that slug to that purpose , as I do not see it as an adequate a deer/hog slug when pushed hard.
As an aside, I ran some factory Rem 180 jacketed soft points from the carbine and they clocked an amazing 2160 fps!!!!!!!
I setup a Ruger 44/77 Rifle for my son two years ago and found a big difference in bullet weights .
Using a Scope I shot 5-240gr. XTP Near a Max load of W296 . Is shot very well at 50 yards and i sighted it in one inch high .
I moved back to 100 Yards the same load shot one inch lower and dead on .
At the time I had a good supply of 300gr.XTP also loaded with a max load of W296 . They shot OK but not as well as the 240gr. XTP .
At 100 yards the 300gr.XTP shot 7.1/2 inch lower then the 240gr XTP and 1.1/2 inches lower at 50 yards . The difference in drop would make the heavier bullet harder to use as a walking gun with shots in the short range to longer range ( 150 yards Max .
Using a Scope I shot 5-240gr. XTP Near a Max load of W296 . Is shot very well at 50 yards and i sighted it in one inch high .
I moved back to 100 Yards the same load shot one inch lower and dead on .
At the time I had a good supply of 300gr.XTP also loaded with a max load of W296 . They shot OK but not as well as the 240gr. XTP .
At 100 yards the 300gr.XTP shot 7.1/2 inch lower then the 240gr XTP and 1.1/2 inches lower at 50 yards . The difference in drop would make the heavier bullet harder to use as a walking gun with shots in the short range to longer range ( 150 yards Max .
I would suggest starting with a mid range load of Unique 10.5-11 to get it settled in and work up to W296 max load, which has been mentioned as a do not reduce load. In my experience concerning the 296/H-110 max loads is you might not see much of a difference in accuracy over the slight band width.
black mamba
New member
Definitely try a slightly faster powder. I use 14 g of Longshot and the 180 Hornady XTP for about 1475 fps in my 629. VERY accurate.