I finally got to shoot my newly acquired nickel 44 Magnum S&W M29 yesterday (28th May.)
240 grain cast bullet (Nevada bullets, I think) over 17.7 grains of 2400. It's .3 less than the starting load from my Speer book, but I figured it'd be okay.
First three shots did a cloverleaf at 25 yards. Then I got cocky and sloppy. Still, they all stayed well withing a rapid fire center (about 6 inches) at 25 yards. Chronograph showed an average of 993 f/s. Extreme spread was 192 f/s, but I figure a higher loading will smooth that out some.
Now I have to order some new cases and work up a bit. I've some jacketed bullets I'll try also. I'm going to find a general purpose 44 Magnum load of a (more or less) 240 grain bullet at 1200 f/s or so.
There is something very satisfying about having serious power under control. Let the anti-gun amateur shrinks make of that what they will. I bet they wet their pants over a car with a real engine, too.
240 grain cast bullet (Nevada bullets, I think) over 17.7 grains of 2400. It's .3 less than the starting load from my Speer book, but I figured it'd be okay.
First three shots did a cloverleaf at 25 yards. Then I got cocky and sloppy. Still, they all stayed well withing a rapid fire center (about 6 inches) at 25 yards. Chronograph showed an average of 993 f/s. Extreme spread was 192 f/s, but I figure a higher loading will smooth that out some.
Now I have to order some new cases and work up a bit. I've some jacketed bullets I'll try also. I'm going to find a general purpose 44 Magnum load of a (more or less) 240 grain bullet at 1200 f/s or so.
There is something very satisfying about having serious power under control. Let the anti-gun amateur shrinks make of that what they will. I bet they wet their pants over a car with a real engine, too.