H110 44magnum

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curtmg

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I've got a new to me 44mag Ruger Super Black Hawk, with a 10.5 inch barrel :dancingbanana:. I've always built up to loads in all calibers I've loaded for prior. I've got some 240gr cast lead swc ready to go, should I go through the motions of working up to 23 grains of H110? Or is it fairly safe to assume, one of the strongest 44mag revolvers on the market should have no problem with a max load?
I debated making some reduced loads with Unique, but I think I'll just shoot a few cylinders from the Single Six, between cylinders in the big gun (the REALLY BIG GUN).
 
You can go as high as 24 grains. I shoot them out of both my Redhawk and DE all the time so it would be nothing for a Super BH.

The only other load I use in the RH is a Titegroup target load with a LSWC.

You can use the 24gr with the LSWC, a FMJ or plated. The only reason I don't use LSWCs with the H110 load is because of the DE (polygonal rifling & gas ports). It's just easier to do them all in plated.
 
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H110 44 mag

when I use H110 in any pistol load I use copperwash or jacketed bullets as I don;t drive cast bullets out of my pistol anything over say 950fps . I don;t want to clean lead out of my barrel .
 
Bullet velocity isn't the main contributing factor in barrel leading. As long as they're sized right and make a proper seal, you can launch them at much higher speeds without any leading.
 
I have had five 44 magnum revolvers. I shot big pistol silhouette with them, two Model 29s and three Ruger Super Black hawks.
I loaded them exclusively with either H110 or the old Hercules 2400. I used 24 grains of H110 in every one of them, and sometimes 25 grains. Every gun took that loading with no trouble, whatsoever.
Elmer Keith developed the 44 magnum cartridge, Remington named and loaded it, while Smith and Wesson made the revolver to handle it.
The loading Elmer Keith settled on was 22 grains of Hercules #2400. This was THE load for it; 44 mag, 22 grains of 2400. All of this was with the cast bullet that Elmer Keith, also, designed for it. It became the Lyman mold #429421. I think it was usually referred to as 245 grains, but old Elmer must have used a hard alloy, like linotype, because most of my bullets weigh more than 245 grains. Some of mine have gone to 260.
I used a micrometer to measure the expansion of new brass. 22 grains of 2400 expanded the bases more than did 25 grains of H110. The chronograph readings were similar.
In shooting silhouette the position used for a right handed shooter, is to lay on your back, bend the right knee up, hold the gun in the right hand and rest it on the right side of the bended knee. A good leather pad must be on the knee to protect from leaking gas between chlinder and barrel. The left hand usually helps to hold the head up, to properly align the sights.
Thus, only one hand holds the gun and a full blown load gets a bit rough to handle. Enough power must be used to knock over the rams at 200 metres, even with a poor hit. I discovered that cutting the load to 20 grains of 2400 worked fine and was just as accurate, along with reduced recoil. The way a bullet, especially a blunt one like this, works in flight is that the difference in speed between 20 and 22 grains, was much less at 200 metres than it is at the muzzle. Thus, it took only a slight change in sight adjustment, with the lower velocity load at 200 metres.
As a point of interest, I traded in a 7½ inch Super Black Hawk, for one with a 10½ inch barrel. I discovered I couldn't shoot any better, nor knock silhouette targets over any better, with the 10½ than I could with teh 7½. I soon traded it in on another 7½ inch Super Black Hawk and that one turned out to be the best 44 I ever had.
If this didn't confuse you too bad, I hope you can get something out of it.
 
Thanks for the advice, I guess I do have a bit of work ahead of me. I'll try 23-25 in .5 grain increments, see where we go. How is brass life, what can I reasonably expect? I've got 1000 once fired coming to me, so regardless I'll be set for a while. Doing tests I'm pretty good with segregating my brass all the way through sizing, and repriming, if the pockets are loosened, I'll know.
I wish I had a 200 yard range to work with this on, but 100 i do have, is pretty decent, especially for starting out. How high would you be aiming to hit something that far? I imagine you'd be using a lower point on the front sight, or maybe just a lower sight altogether.
I think I went with the 10.5, merely for cosmetic reasons. I love the look of a massive gun, and until I can afford to buy and shoot an X frame Smith or a BFR, this is as big as it gets :)

Also, would there be any issue with using large magnum rifle primers, I have about 2 lifetimes of them, and only about 2 years worth of large pistol magnum primers? They are all Winchester Primers.
 
You might have problems with light strikes with the rifle primers, as they have a thicker cup to withstand rifle pressures. Large rifle primers are also taller than large pistol primers and may not seat fully in a pistol case.
 
I can tell you one thing and that is do not reduce your load for H110 by more than 3%. You can do a check with the manufacturer to confirm. I know first hand that you will get inconsistant ignition with reduced loads and that powder. Bullet stuck in the barrel inconsistancy. Other than the it is a great powder and I would not give it a second thought in using it full out in the revolver you have.
 
joebanana said:
Bullet stuck in the barrel inconsistancy
Click to expand...
While I fully agree with the inconsistency of light loads in H110, I've seen that on the chronograph, a bullet stuck in the bore, is something I've never seen with that powder.
Also, personally, I didn't see that inconsistency, until I was well below that magic 3% mark.
That doesn't mean it can't happen to you, just didn't happen to me.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
While I fully agree with the inconsistency of light loads in H110, I've seen that on the chronograph, a bullet stuck in the bore, is something I've never seen with that powder.
Also, personally, I didn't see that inconsistency, until I was well below that magic 3% mark.
That doesn't mean it can't happen to you, just didn't happen to me.
Click to expand...

I was younger then and loaded up a bunch about 50% lower than max. At the time I had never heard of putting too little powder in a case hurting anything. I never did try and work up to the point that problem disappeared:)
 
curtmg said:
Thanks for the advice, I guess I do have a bit of work ahead of me. I'll try 23-25 in .5 grain increments, see where we go. How is brass life, what can I reasonably expect? I've got 1000 once fired coming to me, so regardless I'll be set for a while. Doing tests I'm pretty good with segregating my brass all the way through sizing, and repriming, if the pockets are loosened, I'll know.
I wish I had a 200 yard range to work with this on, but 100 i do have, is pretty decent, especially for starting out. How high would you be aiming to hit something that far? I imagine you'd be using a lower point on the front sight, or maybe just a lower sight altogether.
I think I went with the 10.5, merely for cosmetic reasons. I love the look of a massive gun, and until I can afford to buy and shoot an X frame Smith or a BFR, this is as big as it gets :)

Also, would there be any issue with using large magnum rifle primers, I have about 2 lifetimes of them, and only about 2 years worth of large pistol magnum primers? They are all Winchester Primers.
Click to expand...

If you ever get the chance to fire out to 200, you'll be very surprised at how flat a 44 mag handgun will shoot. I've heard it from a number of sources that 44 mags are only good out to 100 yards, and once you're past that, the bullets are falling like rocks. I can tell you from personal experience, that just isn't the case.
 
Firstly, there is no reason, whatsoever, to use rifle primers in the 44 mag. I use large pistol, standard primers only, whether they are shot in a revolver, or one of the Marlin rifles. I have never used rifle primers, so don't know if anything would be different, or not.
When shooting at a longer range, you should always adjust your rear sight. The Super Blackhawk's have an excellent sight, with very precise,crisp and clean click adjustment. Mark down your clicks, so you know what to set it next time.
We shot silhouettes at 50, 75, 100, 150 and 200 metres. At practice we would sight in for 50, as a base sighting, then go to 75, set the sigahts and mark it down when it was correct. We then did that for every range.
At the match, we started with the base sighting for the 50 yard chickens, then as we moved up, we looked at our notes, to see what the setting was for every range.
The brass has a long life, if you bell the mouths the least you possible can, to get the lead bullets in.
I have never had the primer pockets swell. They wear out by getting cracks in the necks at the mouth.
When you get too light a load of H110 it leaves unburned powder, so it is not a good powder for very light loads. However, in my notes I see that on Feb. 25, 1988, I loaded 20 grains of H110 with a bullet of 50/50 linotype and old bullets. I shot it over a rest with my 7½ inch Ruger and the group at 50 yards was 1¼ inches! This is an honest account and accurate measuring. Not saying I could do it every time, but I did it once!
Note that 20 grains is considerable more reduction than the 3% touted.
I have several other examples of loads in the 20 to 22 grains of H110 as being very accurate.
 
I already knew about the not reducing H110 (good advice though, in case anyone didn't), I've been a fan of 44 mag since I fired one the first gun I fired, so I've done a fair bit of reading on the matter. Just clarifying a few matters before I dive in head first. I've got Unique if the urge ever strikes to not launch wristbreakers (I doubt it will ;) ). It'll be sweet to hit the range tomorrow, unfortunately the dies and brass won't be here for another couple days. First time in 6-7 months shooting centerfire non-reloads, damn that stuff is expensive ($48/50 :eek:).

I'll just stick with the pistol primers, winchester large are marked for standard and magnum. Thanks

H4831: Did you find the lower charges of H110 were more accurate than other powders? Those are about 15% lower than the starting load in my Speer manual. I realize you're the voice of experience, I appreciate your help here. I just don't think I'll be trying the lower charges. Those high ones look fun though :)
 
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H4831: Did you find the lower charges of H110 were more accurate than other powders? Those are about 15% lower than the starting load in my Speer manual. I realize you're the voice of experience, I appreciate your help here. I just don't think I'll be trying the lower charges. Those high ones look fun though.

Many powders are accurate in the 44 mag for light loads. I quoted the H110 as one of the powders that was accurate at somewhat reduced loads. Here are some others.
13.5 of 2400, at 50 yards, with 7½ inch Super Blackwack, 5 shot group,
4", but four hits went into 2" group.
6.5 of Herco, 3¼"
7 of 700X, 3¼"
My error of aim at 50 yards with iron sighted revolver must be something like 2 inches.


Tested in scoped Marlin, all at 100 yards.
8 grains of W231, 2 3/4" at 100 yards.
8.5 of Unique, 7.5 inches, my remarks are, "All bad!"
12 Unique, "All bad."
12.5 Herco, 9 shot group, my notes say either 3½" or 4¼" Not sure what I meant by that.
For comparison, i shot a 4 shot group with Speer jacketed bullets and 24 grains of W296. It made a 3¼ inch group at 100 yards with the rifle, so my cast bullets look pretty good.
 
H4831
I have tried rifle primers in the 44 mag. In a rifle, my wifes '96 Ruger. The results, not chronographed were no noticeable change in accuracy, but, several rounds had to be hit twice by the firing pin to go off.
As we were working up a hunting load, a load like that, that is not dependable was discarded.
Handgun primers ONLY in the 44 for me.
Had exactly the same results when I tried it in my '92 Winchester in 44-40.
 
Just got back from the range. Good times :)
Gun works very well, just need my brass and dies to show up now. Load some 23-25gr, about a dozen of each, test for accuracy and comfort, for my next trip. The factory loads I took out today, were actually fairly mild, winchester white box, 240 gr jsp, the box said they were hunting loads. My middle finger is a little sore, got bumped by the trigger guard a couple times. I was only shooting at 20 yards today, way too close, the muzzle was half way to the target. Bullets were hitting pretty high, I didn't want to adjust the sights yet, so I just held low, worked well enough, too rainy for groups on paper. I figure when I get back out there with my own loads, I'll dial it in just right, today was just a day for fun blasting :)
 
Once you start reloading for the .44 Mag. you'll probably find that H-110 works best at 20 -24grs. with hardcast 245 gr. bullets or heavier cast bullets, some with gas checks. My favorite .44 Mag. load is the 325gr.Wide Flat Nose Gas Check hard cast bullet with a healthy dose of H-110, easily the deadliest bullet that I have tested in the .44 Mag.
 
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