44 Mag. What's your favorite powder/ load

[Ray Z]

I've been loading my 44 mag with WC 820 for a long time. I start out with a Lyman gas checked 240gr hard cast bullet and 22gr of WC 820. It burns well, but it's just like h110, it likes to be compressed to burn consistently. It's a good load for range shooting. I don't think it would be good for hunting.

Here comes the but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, wait for it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, But, I'd like to deer hunt this Fall with my son. I picked up a S&W 629 hunter. It has a 7 1/2" barrel and a 2-6 power scope. I looked up Hornady's load for their 225gr FTX. If I use their load for h110 [recommended loading data for WC 820] the max I can use is 20.6gr. Reason being that there is a lot more baring area with this bullet. With that load I can't compress the powder and because of that I have a lot of unburnt powder in the barrel. Average velocity for 5 rounds is 1350fps, and ES is 19. I'm tickled to death with the crono numbers, not the crud in the barrel. What do you use?

[Caster]

Well, I don't shoot 44 mag but I do stoke a 45 colt up to similar pressures. I use H110 some, but I can get just under 1,200 FPS from a 255g cast bullet using Unique.

[Jonnin]

I would soften up the lead, rather than use hard cast, or if that is difficult to control (I asked once and was told that hardness control is a pain) just buy one box of jacketed soft point in the same weight and use the cast to practice and the bought box to hunt. I cannot comment on what powder is best, I like accurate #7 but I will not claim it is better than any other. #7 does not fill the case up enough to compress and it did not leave unburnt powder but my loads were very different from yours (I use a 165 grain slug, big big difference).

[Westwindmike]

I use Unique for 44 Mag loads in my Contender. 240 gr SWC with 10 gr of Unique should kill any Tennessee deer and not beat you up. Caster probably uses a bit more.

[Caster]

12g is max for me. It's stout but not abusive.

[I_Like_Pie]

2400 is THE powder for 44 magnum.

21 grains of it behind a 240 grain Sierra HP and a non-magnum primer.

Does everything a .44 magnum should do.

[Ray Z]

I've tried Unique. It's a bit fast for magnum cartridges. But it's awful dirty. Or I should say that it has a lot of graphite in it. 2400 always worked will for me. Any guesses what the charge would be for the hornady 225 gr FTX? According to them there is so much bearing surface that I had to cut the h110 load down.

[leroy]

I like both the unique and 2400 loads in the 44 mag. RE: "Dirty burning". Use a heavy crimp and a tight fit in the bullet to case mouth(...flare just enough to start the bullet to seat or use a bevel base bullet...).

leroy

[Caster]

Unique is well, unique. You will find that it gets cleaner on the upper end. I was shooting 10g in my 308 and it was pretty sooty. I worked up to about 15g and it was clean as a whistle.

As far as the residue, it is neither corrosive or function inhibitive. Why worry? It cleans up really easy too. An oily patch will wipe it away.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I don't load 44 mag, so merely theoretical-- Ramshot's "hottest" mag pistol powder is called Enforcer. Been playing with it just a little with .357 mag, but not a lot yet.

Ramshot doesn't have data for 225gn hornady, but their max loads "in that ballpark"--

8.275" barrel--

200 gn Hornady HP XTP-- 25gn powder-- 1740 fps

240 gn Nosler JSP-- 22gn powder-- 1520 fps

240 gn LC Semi wad cutter-- 21.4gn powder-- 1407 fps

255 gn CP WFNGC-- 20.6gn powder-- 1428 fps

300 gn CP WFNGC-- 18.5gn powder-- 1361 fps

225 gn Barnes XPB copper bullet-- 20.0gn powder-- 1416 fps

edit-- Enforcer is slow for a pistol powder, in the same ballpark with Accurate #9 and Alliant 2400. So maybe those are about the same or better.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[dlm37015]

aa number 9 and a 245 grain keith type cast bullet

[frankmako]

2400 and/or h110 is what i used for many mango seasons.

[Ray Z]

Unique is well, unique. You will find that it gets cleaner on the upper end. I was shooting 10g in my 308 and it was pretty sooty. I worked up to about 15g and it was clean as a whistle.

As far as the residue, it is neither corrosive or function inhibitive. Why worry? It cleans up really easy too. An oily patch will wipe it away.

What you said makes since. I've got a boatload of WC 820 left over from the days when the military wasn't involved in gun control. I'm not showing any signs of pressure. I think I'll just burn up the powder I've got. Thanks guys for the help. When I do run out of the powder I'm going to go looking for an 8 pounder of 2400 or 4227.And that's going to kill me. I bought this powder for 6 bucks a pound. Remember the days?

[Dave Shooter]

_{Win 296 and 240 JHP, occasionally Sierra 300 JSP. With a healthy roll crimp I get top notch velocity and accuracy. Yeah, as H110 twin, it leaves a little crud in the barrel but it cleans up easy so who cares.}

[dlm37015]

wish i had some wc820 both 286 and h110 which are the same powders came from it

[gregintenn]

2400 for full house loads, and Bullseye for plinkers.

[Ray Z]

2400 for full house loads, and Bullseye for plinkers.

I've got a can of 700x I want to try for 44 spl loads. I don't shoot scatter gun anymore so it's just sitting around. I haven't looked into loads for the 240gr swc/gc yet but I want to use it up.