Bullet+powder recommendations for .44 plinker load?

T

The_Shmoo

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Missisauga, ON
For a 5" 629 classic. I have some magnum brass, still need primers (any LP should suffice, yes?), powder and pills. Should have the bench finished this week so I can finally mount the press.

For a plinking load, is it better to go lighter or heavier bullet. The only stuff I've put through this gun is 240gr winchester JSP, which were a little bit stiffer than I was expecting.
 
I use Bullseye and 245 grain "Cactus Plains" cast bullets for my plinking.

I shoot them out of a Marlin lever-action and they chronograph at about 1225 fps. Not sure how fast they'd be going from a revolver.
 
I've always been a fan of magnum primers but I too use 240 gr HP, not Berry though - BDX I believe and I use W296 as it's vastly superior to H110 ;)
 
For light loads I use .44 special data and just load it into .44 mag cases (use a .44 mag OAL obviously).
I'll use most any regular pistol powder available for this; magnum powder isn't required for these light loads.

For regular .44 mag loads I use H110/W296 or IMR4227. In a rifle I also use SR-4759 but it isn't recommended for pistols (it's technically a rifle powder so probably burns too slow for pistol length barrels) and is also discontinued by Hodgdon (but can still be found here and there).

I cast my own 240gr and 310gr bullets. The 310's are just for fun and experimentation; the 240gr are my normal go-to bullet. If I wanted to save on material and was using lighter loads, I'd also consider a 200gr bullet but don't currently cast those. For really light plinking loads I use .435" round balls sized to .433" so they get a short ring to seat into the case. I tumble lube them with alox and load them with 7-10gr of any medium pistol powder (the kind suitable for 9mm-.45ACP).
 
21.5gr of IMR 4227, CCI 300 primer, 240gr Campro TMJ at 1.60" with a 1/2 turn crimp worked great for me. Easy on everything but still has a satisfying "ka-THUMP"
 
For plinking I use a 240gr Campro plated over 7.5gr W231. I use WLP but any large primer will work. IIRC it gives above 875fps
 
sevoman said:
5 grains of Titegroup behind a lead 240gr SWC,does 725fps and very accurate.Easy on the gun,wallet and the wrists.
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That would be a nice mild load.

I wanted something that was more of a .44Spl +P sort of recoil just so I'd know I was still shooting a big bore but not so strong that it would punish my hands and wrists like a steady diet of full power loads does. My recipe was to try some 200gn and 240gn cast lead bullets with 6.0 and 5.5gns respectively of Titegroup. This proved to be nicely snappy and fun without beating up my hands. I'd call it comparable to a 1911 shooting standard 230gn loads in terms of recoil.
 
Another vote for campro 240gr projectiles. I load these over titegroup or longshot powder for plinking rounds. Full power rounds are loaded with imr4227 with Sierra 300gr jsp or 240gr Hornady xtp jhp.
 
240 cast lead bullet with 6-7gr of hp38 win 231 or trailboss works well in my Blackhawk and Winchester and marlin carbines
 
Very nice recipes, all, however a few years back when I started casting my own, I found it a huge waste of good lead bullets to use the standard 240-255 grain bullets. If your only punching paper or dinging gongs the much lighter bullets work just as well AND you use less lead. The extra 40-50 grains of lead saved by using a 200-214 grain bullet adds up fast.

I would also like to promote and introduce reloaders to my favourite powder, PROMO. Lawry's in Caledonia has some. Same burn rate as RedDot, is very energetic so low powder charges are the norm, and costs about C$26.00 a pound all taxes in. (Only sold in 8 pound kegs though...)

5.0 grains to 6.0 grains of Promo behind a lead 200 grain RNFP bullet in a 44 Spl case or a 44 Mag case is ideal for most applications.
 
The_Shmoo said:
For a 5" 629 classic. I have some magnum brass, still need primers (any LP should suffice, yes?), powder and pills. Should have the bench finished this week so I can finally mount the press.

For a plinking load, is it better to go lighter or heavier bullet. The only stuff I've put through this gun is 240gr winchester JSP, which were a little bit stiffer than I was expecting.
Click to expand...

I have the same 5" 629 Classic and below is a Quickload chart showing my plinking load and all the powder being burnt at 4.2 inches down the 5 inch barrel.

(below, purple dotted line powder all burnt, green dotted line 95% of powder burnt)

44231_zps745df461.jpg
 
JonMtl said:
What do you guys think of BulletBarn's hard cast bullets?
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Hard cast is an advertising term. BHN is what you need to know. Bullet Barns are 25 BHN to hard for most shooting. If you don't cast Budget Shooter Supply carries Missouri bullets which are cast per caliber. 12-18 BHN is the range for most handgun loads.
 
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My favorite plinking load out of my Model 29 with 8 3/8” barrel is 240 gr cast LSWC and 7 Grains of Bullseye. It is remarkably accurate and very light (like shooting a 22) for anyone who tries and fun to shoot.
 
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