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Loads for 44 Mag and Special


Big Six Henderson #16594

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Howdy BIG 6.

 

You didn't list your preferred bullet weight, which makes a difference.

 

But as Rip Snorter listed, the Hodgdon website give great info on the 44's with various bullet weights and good powders.

 

I also like to use the Speer manual and the Hornady information when trying to develop a load, just for a comparison

of components, etc.......

 

Hope Y'all are doing well.

 

..........Widder

 

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I've used the 44 spcl Hodgdon minimum of Clay's with 200gr & 180gr (had to use 185gr data), and minimum of Trailboss with 160gr.  Per Hodgdon they are much faster than 600fps but are very mild. 

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Oh Hey!!  Let's keep this simple OK?  With either cartridge, load 3F AFF to the bullet base and crimp.  Done.  Recommend a nice 160 or 165Gr bullet.  No scales, no measuring, just APP to the base and done.

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I load 200 grn Bullet in 44 mag case 7.5 Unique. Works well in both Super Blackhawk & Marlin. 

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200 gr swc or rnfp, 20 gr of 4227, mag case, LPP or LPM= about 1000 fps/stout enough for bowling pins and reasonable accuracy. 200gr rnfp and 4.4 gr of cleanshot, LPP gives a mild. accurate cowboy load. I also have a 200gr JHP load that will shoot in under 4 inches at 100 yards if you do your part-loud, abusive and 1700+/- fps.

Not for the faint at heart.

 

Imis

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3.5 gr. Of Titegroup behind a 165 gr. Coated BadMan bullet, mild recoil and great accuracy, been using this load for the last year in my Ruger Vaqueros,can’t recommend it enough!

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A great big "Howdy" to Big 6 and his better half Lil!  You guys were always some of my favorite posse pards and I look back on our days at Hooten Old Town and trips to Mule Camp as some of the best times in my life.  Anyway, I have a Marlin Carbine and two old model Ruger VQ's chambered for .44 Mag and shoot the .44 Specials in both without issues.  Back when reloading supplies were really scarce (not that this has changed much), I lucked into about 6 lbs of Alliant Clay Dot and it's been the only powder I've used for quite some time now for my .38 and .44 loads.  Frankly, you won't find load data for pistol rounds for this powder from Alliant, but it is made to be similar to Hodgdon Clays and is a fast powder that appears to work well in the .44 Special and .38 Special.  Anyway, I did some testing with this powder in the .44 Special and shot each of them over my chronograph.  From my experience it takes just a bit more Clay Dot to get the same velocity as I did with Clays, but I looked at the Clays load data and started a bit lower and worked up from there.  I plan to do the same with the .44 Magnum when the weather warms up a bit.

 

Anyway, I have an RCBS mold for a 200 grain Truncated Cone bullet that I really like and I have used it for all my loads and as for Clay Dot I've found that 4 to 5 grains makes some very manageable and accurate loads for target shooting or Cowboy Action.  4 grains of Clay Dot under the 200 grain pill gave me an average of 850 fps in the Marlin and 675 fps in the Ruger VQ's.  5 grains of Clay Dot gave me an average of 1004 fps in the Marlin and 830 fps in the Ruger VQ's.  I actually like the hotter load with 5 grains of Clay Dot, but they both burn clean and are very consistent.  However, the 4 grain load is probably a bit more manageable in the VQ's.  Either way, I had no problem with them in the handguns and would buy more of this powder if Clays is still hard to get.  Good luck and good shooting to you and yours.  Adios

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I load cowboy loads for the Three Amigos, 44-40, 45 Colt and 44 Mag. The issue with loading the 44 mag is that the starting loads are all fairly high velocity, for cowboy, and they are decent pressure. 45 Colt loads in the book start off mild, as does most 44-40 load data. 

 

Therefore my conjecture was, that a starting load in a 45 Colt, should be safe in a 44 Mag. I found that for any given pistol powder that i was using, if a 44-40 with a 200 gr bullet gave me good results with 5 grains, a bit less in the 44 Mag works the same and for the 45 it was back to 5 with a 250 grain. At these low powder charges, bullet weight just gets you a different velocity. I test with a chronograph and for the powder I was using (452AA) for the most part once you found a primer that would give you reliable ignition in one, that would be a good start in the others. 

Trail Boss was mentioned, so someone may have some, it gets real easy. I measure the powder chamber volume with the bullet seated and load near or at 70% density. For the 44 Mag that turned out to be 5 gr with a 200 gr bullet, and it was a match for my 44-40 load with the same bullet and 5.5 grains. I had all my loads just about transitioned to Trail Boss, and then it was gone. I'm sure many others are in the same boat. 

 

So, the simple answer is 5 gr. work up or down for about 750 fps over the chronograph with a 200 in the 44s or 250 in the 45. If 452AA works so should BE, or any suitable powder up to the burn rate of 231. Unique starts to work at about 7.5 gr. below that ignition is an issue. The only issue I have is 5 gr of 452 or anything other than TB, is just a wee bit of powder way down in the case. I visually check every round. 

 

BB

 

I've attached the 44 Mag pages from Lyman manual #44 from 1967. It shows the Bullseye data for the 44 Mag. 1967 was during that era when Bullseye was the go to powder for light pistol loads. I'm of the opinion that if I have Bullseye data, I know where to start with most of the other pistol powders. 

44 Rem Mag data from Lyman 44.pdf

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53 minutes ago, "Big Boston" said:

I load cowboy loads for the Three Amigos, 44-40, 45 Colt and 44 Mag. The issue with loading the 44 mag is that the starting loads are all fairly high velocity, for cowboy, and they are decent pressure. 45 Colt loads in the book start off mild, as does most 44-40 load data. 

 

Therefore my conjecture was, that a starting load in a 45 Colt, should be safe in a 44 Mag. I found that for any given pistol powder that i was using, if a 44-40 with a 200 gr bullet gave me good results with 5 grains, a bit less in the 44 Mag works the same and for the 45 it was back to 5 with a 250 grain. At these low powder charges, bullet weight just gets you a different velocity. I test with a chronograph and for the powder I was using (452AA) for the most part once you found a primer that would give you reliable ignition in one, that would be a good start in the others. 

Trail Boss was mentioned, so someone may have some, it gets real easy. I measure the powder chamber volume with the bullet seated and load near or at 70% density. For the 44 Mag that turned out to be 5 gr with a 200 gr bullet, and it was a match for my 44-40 load with the same bullet and 5.5 grains. I had all my loads just about transitioned to Trail Boss, and then it was gone. I'm sure many others are in the same boat. 

 

So, the simple answer is 5 gr. work up or down for about 750 fps over the chronograph with a 200 in the 44s or 250 in the 45. If 452AA works so should BE, or any suitable powder up to the burn rate of 231. Unique starts to work at about 7.5 gr. below that ignition is an issue. The only issue I have is 5 gr of 452 or anything other than TB, is just a wee bit of powder way down in the case. I visually check every round. 

 

BB

Mid-range .44 Special data works well in the magnum case.

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Have been loading 5.2 grains of A2 for years with 200 and 240 grainers from 44 spec or 44 mag case.  I shoot original vaqueros so the on the hot side load for 44 spec is not a problem.  Got tired of carbon ring so started shooting 44 mag cases  The load is in the 45 colt range though just over half the starting load for .44 mag.  Same charge maked power factor in .45 acp with proper bullet also works in 44-40.  YMMV

 

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I use 4.5 gr of titegroup or cleanshot in 44 magnum cases, 200gr outlaw bullets .430 coated. great for cowboy action. My son shoots this load in a pair of new model vaqueros, and a uberti 73 carbine.

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