44 magnum

If you have not fired a .44 Magnum before I would suggest buying at least 200 round of .44 special ammunition to practice with to become familiar with the revolver before going to full load .44 Magnum loads. Cowboy action loads in .44 special are ideal for this purpose.
 
Factory .44 ammo is pretty pricey.If you become a reloader you'll be able to save a lot of money. In the meantime the advice above is sound--shoot .44 special assuming you can find any.Factory ammo is getting harder and harder to find and the prices have gne through the roof in the past year.
rfo1
 
I also have a model 29-2,lovely handgun and lots of fun to shoot.Factory ammo is horribly expensive and not alot of fun to shoot,also its pretty hard on the gun.The early model 29's had a reputation of going out of time if fed a steady diet of full house loads.

I shoot a reload of a 240 grain lead SWC going at 750fps.Very sedate and accurate and easy on the gun.Every now and again I will shoot a cylinder full of full house reloads.

The 44 magnum is one of those calibers that is really worthwhile reloading for in comparison to say a 9mm where the savings may be not that great compared to factory loads
 
Nice gun, not really made to shoot a lot of full house though. I had two over the years and both had to be re-timed. Reloading is the way to go. You can shoot 44 special, full or light loads, even black powder if you wish.
 
As stated, either buy 44 Special or 44 Magnum Cowboy loads for general shooting. Then a box of full 44 Magnums for that :kickInTheNuts: experience.

Keep your brass as you eventually want to reload (unless you have way too much money).

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One of mine.

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.44mag was my second gun :) ...if I were you I'd get something cheaper/easier to shoot. Or just start with some light .44 special ammo...full power magnums is not the best gun to strt with.
 
For some great fun try the Remington 180 gr factory loads. Lots of flash and bang there.

I was shooting with a friend a few weeks ago. He was shooting American Eagle 240 gr and I was shooting the Remington. What a noticable different between the two in terms of noise, flash and recoil.

I was shooting the same loads last week and the range owner happened to be out on the range. He came over and asked me what the velocity was on my loads. He was quite surprised to find out they were factory. He thought I was using hot loads and was concerned that I was using loads over and above what the range was rated for.

They are a few bucks more expensive than most factory loads but if you like big bangs, you gotta try them.
 
This is what I have been shooting:
Reduced loads: 5.5 grains Titegroup, Plains 240 grain cast SWC
Magnum loads: 22 grains H110, Frontier 245 grain FP CMJ

Both loads use magnum cases.

The .44 Magnum is a reloader's calibre. The savings are huge compared with factory ammo and you can make the most of its versatility. Given the cost of factory ammo (including .44 Special), it would be very expensive to shoot enough to become proficient.
 
44 mag is a very expensive only gun. Put "get a matching S&W 22lr," on your to do list. Definitely, you're gonna want to get reloading ASAP. Factory 44mag, is gonna be around or over a buck a round. 44 special, is not something you're going to find very easily, and don't be thinking it'll come with a price break compared to the magnum stuff. You can load special loads in magnum cases, that'll be the easiest way to load down for fun. I don't bother, my 22 gives me all the no recoil fun I need. The 44 is for blasting stuff. I use 240gr hard cast lead bullets from Cactus Plains Ammunition. I buy them from Wholesale sports. And I use max loads of H110. I've never had any noticeable leading in the slighest from this combination.
If we could hunt, or shoot away from the range, I'd load lighter stuff, for smaller critters. Seeing as it's a range only type of thing, I go all out. I put a hogue grip on my Super Blackhawk, and can fire all the full power loads I want without bothering my hand or wrist.
 
In this market, I would recommend whatever ammo you can find!

That said, the 44RM is an easy and worthy candidate to start handloading for. This can be done inexpensively and is great fun.

For all the rest of you guys, do you really find the 44mag in a full size revolver that much of a 'handful' to shoot? Really? Seriously...
 
I find the full bore ammo to be a bit nastier in the 29 than my Redhawk. The Super Blackhawk Bisley is fairly easy on the hand, and my 10.5 inch Super Blackhawk with the hogue rubber grip is a pussycat. They are all fairly tame compared to the 500 though.
 
Ive not shot a 500 S&W yet but my 454 Casull has tons of kick! I Love shooting that gun.
But my 629 44 Mag is also a great gun to shoot and I think that if I could only have one gun it would be 44 Mag
you can load it down and be easy on you and the gun or you can let her rip! my 629 is a older one without the full lug and I like that better all 29 are like that I think.
 
curtmg said:
To be honest, it just scratches the itch. I'd need something bigger, to really take care of it. 454 Casull gets me excited just thinking about it.
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I've fired a few rounds through the 460 and 500 S&W revolvers. They were beyond practical and encroaching on ignorant.
 
Silverado Well mabe for you, but I think 454 Casull is a Great Caliber I have had some shooters who like it and some who dislike it I like hand cannons but I also like my 9mm I have 3 and shoot them alot.
 
Silverado said:
For all the rest of you guys, do you really find the 44mag in a full size revolver that much of a 'handful' to shoot? Really? Seriously...
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I don't consider a .44 mag a handful, but I still would not advise someone who has never fired a handgun before to try one with full loads as an introduction!
 
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