44 Magnum 44 Special

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Leavenworth

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Another thread on my ammo quest I have 2 previous one’s going g on .22 ammo and .357 / 38 Special

I understand that people shooting a 44 Magnum use 44 Specialto practice with .
What ammo would you choose for a S&W 44 magnum it’s a long barrel ?
Thank You
Leavenworth
 
My load for cowboy action: .44SPL case 5.5gr W231 or HP38, 200gr RNFP lead slug, and whatever LP primers were on sale. I use this load in 5-5/8 pistols and a 20'' carbine. Low recoil but still nocks steel down well.
 
Leavenworth said:
Another thread on my ammo quest I have 2 previous one’s going g on .22 ammo and .357 / 38 Special

I understand that people shooting a 44 Magnum use 44 Specialto practice with .
What ammo would you choose for a S&W 44 magnum it’s a long barrel ?
Thank You
Leavenworth
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Not normally, no. 44 special brass is harder to come by than 44 mag brass in my neck of the woods. I use various power loads in 44 mag cases in my 44 mags, and 44 special brass in my 44 specials. - dan
 
If you reload and cast your own bullets, I would suggest you use the 245 grain Elmer Keith bullet 429421 SWC in both .44 Special and .44 Magnum. Back in the old days when me and my friends (who later became IPSC/Manitoba) we used that bullet over 7.0 to 7.5 grains of Unique in .44 Special brass and 22.00 grains of 2400 in .44 Magnum for shooting Metal Chicken down in Minot. We also had some medium .44 Magnum load for Bowling Pin shooting that was not quite such a barn-burner but I no longer remember what it was. In today's loading manuals (because this was 1978 to 1980 before we formed IPSC/Manitoba) 22.00 grains of 2400 is an overload but in the 43rd Lyman manual of the time -- as well as Elmer Keith's writings -- it was the load. We were all using Model 29's at that time.

I never noticed any large point-of-impact difference at 25 yards between any of the loads. I do remember we had to resight the guns for shooting Metal Chicken out to 200 yards, but I no longer remember the details on that.
 
When I got my revolver I bought 44 mag and 44 special brass along with plated and cast bullets to reload with while I waited forever for my transfer to be completed. I haven't even opened the bag of 44spc brass yet in 2 years. When I want to shoot light loads, I just use the cast and Unique for a milder recoil. That being said, I only shoot the gun for fun, not competition.
 
I have owned a few 44 magnums... right back to when a single action revolver was available in the early 60's... Hy Hunter made in Germany... What a blast that was with 240 grain full loads.

My 4 inch model 29 was also a full load blast to shoot.

But if accuracy was paramount light loads were so much easier to handle. Always used 44 magnum brass regardless of the load... saw no purpose in using the shorter 44 Special brass... it just fouls up the chambers for Magnum and actually may be a bit less accurate with the longer bullet jump.
 
I think you may find that 44 special ammunition will be much harder to find and may be more expensive than 44mag. As you are enquiring about 38sp/357mag in other threads, practice with those lighter loads and just shoot 44mag.
As you may notice from some of the responses, getting into reloading will be good - especially for revolvers. You can develop all sorts of loads for low recoil, accuracy, and/or power. It's a whole nother hobby though lol
 
Suspect you are not set up for reloading yet, but as others mention, it makes sense if you plan to shoot a lot. I don't have the ability to reload nor do I shoot a particularly high volume so I make do with factory loads.

If you are shooting a revolver, it is all fine - even the cheaper stuff. SFRC has remanufactured Wolf ammo which is the cheapest you'll find particularly if you pick it up during their sales - like now.

I've found deals on PMC 44 Spec ammo and some other brands so i've loaded up. I've never had an issue with residue build up. I run a quick brush through the cylinder after every session. I usually finish up the session with a round of 44 mag.

I do prefer jacketed ammo for both. That probably keeps the residue build-up to a minimum, particularly with 44 Spec.

You need to be pickier if you have an auto like a Desert Eagle. I only shoot 240 gr jacketed ammo in mine - mainly Federal American Eagle or PMC.

I also would not shoot anything too heavy in an older S&W M29. Most of the 44 mag ammo in Canada is pretty standard strength so not a problem.
 
I have not shot 44 in a rifle, You may find that if it is chambered for 44M, 44 sp may give you problems , I know 38 sp will in some 357m lever actions.
In a revolver , don't matter, other them point of aim and carbon build up in the camber.
I always shoot 38 sp. these days in my 357M, because that is what I have lots of and my hands don't like 357M anymore.
And I don't care what some people may think about that.
 
.44 Rem Mag can be loaded from mild to wild. I've never even fired a .44 special out of my guns. I don't know anyone who shoots .44 special.
 
I've got some mild Clays loads you can try if you like. Also some pretty snarky H110 loads. Come on down to DVC and you can try them through your gun or one of our 629's. Just PM me to let me know when you would come down.
 
Leavenworth said:
Thanks for the replies fellas ! I’m not into reloading yet ,I hope to but I’m not sure I have enough room in the house .
Leavenworth
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A friend of mine bolted his Hornady progressive press to a piece of wood, and clamps it onto a kitchen counter to make his ammo.

You have room. :cheers:
 
jimbo14 said:
A friend of mine bolted his Hornady progressive press to a piece of wood, and clamps it onto a kitchen counter to make his ammo.

You have room. :cheers:
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Wanting to keep my investment into Canada between minimum and low, we only have a small inexpensive 2 bedroom apartment ourselves. My Hornady LNL AP is mounted on a Workmate Folding Workbench I bought off of Kijiji for 50.00 from some guy in Penticton. Two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood to reinforce the top deck, and my press and Lubrisizer are mounted aboard using Inline Fabrications bench top plates and removeable mounts so I can pull the presses off in a minute and fold the whole thing back up again if we have guests and the whole loading bench has to just disappear.

Is it as stable as the benches we have in our loading room in San Miguel with the Dillon 650's? No. But it doesn't need to be. If you get into bullet casting, you can load .38 Special for about 8.50/box of 50 right now with the cost of primers and powder for Small Pistol if you use the cheapest Ginex primers. .357 would cost more in terms of powder but not a scandalous amount. .38 Heavy Duty would be somewhere in between. The .44 would cost you more because the primers are more expensive right now, and you use more powder and you'll go through more castable lead which is getting harder to find here in Canada. Mexico still uses lead wheelweights with wild abandon and this is something that really irks* me but it is what it is. If you want to shoot your guns as much as you'd like, you need to reload.

*It irks me because I don't think using some other material for wheelweights is going to save the planet. I think they went down the road of getting rid of lead wheelweights as best they could to stop making it easy for the bullet casters. Prove me wrong. It isn't the Mexican system that irks me most of the time, usually it's the Canadian one.
 
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Sniper_485 said:
My load for cowboy action: .44SPL case 5.5gr W231 or HP38, 200gr RNFP lead slug, and whatever LP primers were on sale. I use this load in 5-5/8 pistols and a 20'' carbine. Low recoil but still nocks steel down well.
Click to expand...

I tried that load in my Original Vaqueros (4.62" barrels)but 231 left a lot of powder residue. This was in a search to find a replacement load as I can't find Unique for love nor money. Currently 4.8 grains of Tite group pushing a 200 grain LRNFP is working.
 
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