44 Magnum Ammo

3 weeks ago, I saw 2 boxes of 50 at Cabela's in Regina. $75 per box, brutal. Forget which brand they were. I left them on the shelf, and decided to start reloading. Brass and bullets are scarce, but available.
 
What is the cost of Winchester White Box 44 Mag 240 gr these days? The last time I bought factory 44 mag ammo was from Wholesale Sports when they were still open, about $50 for a box of 50 rounds. Checking out a few websites, this stuff goes for $80 - +$100 now? Ouch.

As others have mentioned, shooting 44 magnum is a perfect reason to start reloading, even if you ever only reload 44 mag. You could pick up a basic Lee kit for less than $300, add dies and your components, and you're ready to get started.

Why reload 44 mag? As you've noticed, cost and availability sucks right now. Reloading components aren't easy to find either these days, but you have a lot more options. Flexibility is the best reason to load 44 mag. With factory ammo, your only choice is "full power". When you reload, you can load powder-puff loads that even kids can have fun shooting. Or mid-power loads, so you can shoot more at your range session without developing a flinch or getting blisters on your hands. Or full power loads for $hi+s and giggles.

Reloading is also a really fun hobby, it's easy to do once a person learns the basics, and there is a ton of info out there on the process. If you shoot your 44 a lot, the investment in your initial reloading tools will offset the cost of factory ammo pretty quickly.
 
How much would you typically shoot your 44 in a year? Be honest, if it is only a couple of times a year, maybe 1-200 rds, I would seriously look at a LEE Loader kit (not just the LEE dies). Check out YouTube to see if it is for you and if you have saved your brass, you are a third of the way to reloading right on your kitchen table. You can get into the whole hobby with a press and other equipment but all you are buying is speed/volume, the LEE Loader will give you all the quality and flexibility you need for casual shooting.
 
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"Reasonable" was made a horribly relative term because of misuse in the legal system. It has been further tainted by the covaids reaction. I remember paying about 45.00 for a box of Winchester white box maybe four years ago but with respects to ammunition prices, "reasonable" is what someone will pay for it. I haven't bought a box since it hit 50.00: S&B used to be easily obtainable an just as good but for the reasonable price of pre-rape prices because of Branch Covidian activity and frantic consumption south of the border, "reasonable" can only be obtained by reloading... if you already had the components or manage to find them now... just as tight as factory rounds.
 
Wolf makes and sells commercial reloads. I have bought and used his ammo in 9mm, 40 S&W and 45ACP. The ammo was good. I think he makes 44Mag, too.

If you contact him and buy a case, he will sell direct.
 
Agree with above posters, start reloading 44 mag. In my experience in a revolver it's not a high round count per range trip gun. A single stage LEE press can get the job done easy.
 
Makes me glad I stocked up a few years ago. I picked up S&B for $32 per 50 rounds, so bought 2000. Still have maybe 600 left. I bought a pile of ammo at that time. $21 box for .45 ACP, $22 for .357, $12 for 9mm. All S&B. Also picked up a bunch of American Eagle .223, a whopping $.30 per round. I spent about $5K. Wish I had spent $20K then. *sigh*
 
Makes me glad that I bought all that a fellow shooter had to sell. He was getting out of 44 mag and offered me his ammo supply at $20.00 per box of 50 American Eagle. Best $140.00 that I spent ........ Lifetime supply for my Ruger Carbine.
 
I use 7g of autocomp powder. Very nice easy shooting,...with 1 hand.
I can shoot my 44 all day long for pennies a shot.

factory PMC makes it roar Like a crazed Lion ! LOL , No fun when you have to hold a Death grip with 2 hands and pay a fortune for it.
 
Interesting. I've been thinking about selling my S&W .44 because ammo is so expensive and hard to find right now. I considered reloading but I really wouldn't know where to start and it seems that the more I have read about it, the more confusing it is. Also, I can't help feeling that no sooner would I get everything set up and JT and his cronies would gleefully announce their BS handgun ban to "make our streets safer".
 
shoota said:
Agree with above posters, start reloading 44 mag. In my experience in a revolver it's not a high round count per range trip gun. A single stage LEE press can get the job done easy.
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This for the win. Shooting any handgun where the ammo caliber that is "forty something" other than perhaps .40S&W is a good reason to build up at least a modest reloading setup. Even .45ACP is not cheap these days.

Even done slowly and with a single stage press it is not difficult to load at least 100 rounds per hour. And once you get more in the groove you can load around 150 in a safe manner. This includes checking with a flashlight to ensure no double charges or missed charges before seating the bullets. And best of all you can tailor the loads to suit yourself. Need some soft shooters for new folks to try? Easy to load some light loads with suitable powders that would not scare anyone. Enjoy some full power "barn burners" but would not mind some more moderate but still perky loads? Easy peasy lemon squeezy when you reload your own.

And with a reloading setup comes the ability to load other calibers in the same way to suit your personal tastes and do so at reduced cost. Even at present with primers up around 8 to 10 cents each and powder at $50 a lb and .429 bullets at around 25 cents each we can still reload a .44Mag for around 35 to 45 cents depending on your choices. At that sort of savings it would not take long to pay for the reloading gear. And at that point reap the benefits.

The big issue at present is the lack of supplies like primers and powder since those all come up from the US. And not much of it is getting over the border what with the panic buying going on down there. But it's still a good direction to move towards.
 
I have 7 .44 Mags that have never seen a round of factory ammo, whether cast or jacketed every round has been reloaded. I have brass that has had 20+ loadings and still going strong. My go-to load is 7.0 gr of Titegroup at right around 1000 FPS depending on what I'm launching it out of, accurate, comfortable and I get right at 1000 rds per pound of powder. I shoot somewhere around 6-800 rds of .44 a year which would be cost prohibitive if I were buying factory.

Reload... this is the way...
 
This is the 3rd time (at least) we have had shortages in the last 25 year. Ever hear the phrase "History repeats itself"? When times are good stock up. I look in my locker and see 1,700 rds of downloaded .44 magnum loaded and ready for next years Cowboy Action matches plus another 400 rds of .44 loaded with CamPro bullets for indoor range shooting during the winter. Plus I have enough components for another 1,500 rds. PLAN AHEAD, this will happen again. Learn to reload, it is far cheaper than factory ammo.
 
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