I REALLY appreciate the replies.
I REALLY appreciate the replies.
A 240 grain bullet over 9 grains of Power Pistol is everything you need in a .44 Magnum. It chronos it 950 fps out of my four inch 29 and you can drop an elk with it. It won't beat you or your gun up either.
It's considerably cleaner than Unique.
Last edited by Trooper224; 02-05-2021 at 11:42 AM.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
Like many have said, for an all around 44 Mag load a 240-250 gr cast bullet with a wide metplat and going at about 950-1,000 fps out of a 4" barrel is hard to beat. If you use powders with a burning rate similar to Unique or a bit faster it translates to 9-10 gr and very modest recoil.
In my 6.5" S&W 629 classic I mostly use this Lee bullet:
https://www.herrons.com.au/products/...le-cavity-mold
It weights 260 gr with WW alloy, and clocks 1,075 fps with a SD of 7-8 fps over 8.2 gr of a argentinian A2 powder. Is is extremely accurate and soft shooting.
I'm sure experimenting with Unique or other US made similar medium rate powders would yield similar results.
I have put a lot of .44 Magnum rounds downrange, including hunting and IMSHA competition a lifetime ago.
I really like maximum loads Hodgdon of H110 powder under a 250-300 gr. hard cast bullet for shooting big game.
But if I only could go with one load only, it would be 10.0 grains of Unique under a 240-250 hard cast SWC bullet. That load is flat out accurate in every revolver and TC Contender I have ever tried it in, and at reasonable handgun distances, it is shockingly effective on stuff up to and including large western Mule Deer. And unless you are very recoil sensitive, it's a load that you can shoot a lot, and do so comfortably.
I have never tried Power Pistol powder, but have only heard good stuff about it.
240gr SNS polymer coated, 10gr 800x: ~1000 fps
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver
I'm noticing a trend here...
I've often thought that for 90% of use cases, what we really need is .44 Extra Special, not the full snort .44 Magnum rhino-rollers.
For those of you that use a .44/45 bullet that weighs 240-250 at 1000ish FPS, I'm curious if any of you also use them in a long gun and have choreographed that.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......
Looking old load/chrono records my favorite all time GP 44 Mag load is what so many others have mentioned: 240SWC/ 10.0 Unique. Manageable and very accurate. In an old Pre 29 5" it whistles along at 1102fps.
Second choice is same bullet with 8.5 grains of Power Pistol for 986fps from a 4.25" 44 Mag. Superbly accurate, in several 44s.
Enjoy!
A full weight (240 - 260) .44 or .45 bullet of good design (SWC with nice big meplat) at 1000 fps will handle any creature in North America and most elsewhere. It's easy to shoot, easy on the revolver and simply works. Trying to run bullets at high velocities only flattens trajectory a bit at extended ranges that few of us can use to any advantage. Running a .429 SWC weighing 250 grains through Schwartz's model shows it will "only" penetrate 36". I submit that will get the job done.
Years ago, I read an article by John Linebaugh about the concept of a 250ish grain Keith at 900 from .45 Colt on game. He noted that it killed game very well and that they rarely were more than 25 yards where they were hit. I started trying that in my S&W 625 Mountain Gun in .45 ACP. I used Starline Auto Rim brass, 250 grain Keith SWCs and 6.5 Unique for barely 900 fps. It kills deer very well and like Linebaugh said, they don't go far. The lack of a sonic crack seems to be significant, because I noted that upon being hit, the deer will run a few steps, then stop and walk a few more and tip over dead. You can do the same thing with .44 Special and Magnum. Give it a try and see what you think.
Regional Government Sales Manager for Aimpoint, Inc. USA
Co-owner Hardwired Tactical Shooting (HiTS)
I think it is fascinating this performance (250@900) is exactly what the 45 Colt started as with it's original black powder load. A 255g soft lead bullet (1-16 tin to lead) over 40g of FFg black powder in a balloon head case produced 910 fps from a 7.5" Single Action Army. Although the military wimped out and ended up with the 45 S&W Schofield round, civilian ammo makers continued with the original loading. Perhaps this had something to do with the 45 Colt cartridge and SAA becoming known as "the Peacemaker". (smiley face goes here)
Dave