reloading .44 mag at low velocities

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islandhunter

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I'm just getting into reloading for my .44 mag redhawk and wondering if you need to put any filler in with small powder charges. I've heard of something called dacron but dont know if its neccesary. Would cotton work? Thanx for any info.
 
Fillers work, but are a pain in the butt for handgun rounds.
A couple of things though.
Make sure you use enough to fill the case, there are unsubstantiated stories about fillers that don't fill the case causing ringed chambers.
And always add the weight of the filler, to your bullets weight for the purpose of reloading.

Then again, you could just use 44-40 loads, that require no fillers.
 
Small powder charges usually use fast burning powders like bullseye and 231(be very careful not to double or triple charge!). I've seldom heard of position sensitivity with these powders, but i've measured larger velocity swings with high volume case-low powder charges. Kapok, the stuffing in old fashioned life jackets works as filler(often free). It's a natural plant fibre, fill but don't pack the case.
 
At one time I did try fillers when using Bullseye in .44 Mag & .357 Mag light loads but never found it to make any significant improvement. The filler, for me, does seem to make a differince in light loads in the .45-70 using powders like IMR 4227. A suggestion would be to use a powder such as Unique. Not is it only good for some of the lighter loads and take up more space in the case but it also works fairly well with some of the heavier loads.
 
sunray said:
Use .44 Special load data, not .44-40. No fillers required. Your magnum cases will do nicely.
Click to expand...
44-40 case is larger than the 44 mag Sunray. If it doesn't call for fillers in the 44-40, and most don't, you certainly don't need them in the 44 mag, and the loads will provide slower velocities in general than the 44 special loads.
 
islandhunter said:
thanx for the input guys, I have some unique and i'll try that w/o filler.
Click to expand...

In addition, get some soft cast bullets. The hard cast bullets for high pressure and hi velocity loads won't expand right in your barrel with these loads.

NormB
 
You can also use TrailBoss powder. It is made as a very bulky powder designed for light loads in big cases. By being bulky it is much harder to double charge a round.

For beginner reloaders (just a general comment, not saying you are a beginner) a bulky powder is an additional safety feature that will help minimize the chance of a double charge. After a while you will get into a reloading "rhythm" and chances of a mistake are greatly reduced.

Also look for loads listed as Cowboy Action. These are light loads.

I use 231 for light 44 Mag loads. Winchester 231 has about the same burning rate as Unique.
 
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i use about 7 -8 grains behind a 240-250 grain slug depending on whether i'm shooting 44mag or 45 colt- it's a little "warmer: than your 44 specials will allow, but nowhere near a full-house 44 mag load
 
I've run as low as 4.6 grains (edit to add: no filler) of 231 behind a 240 grain semi jacketed hollow point. No problems. Nice for a 'beginner' introduction to a big revolver... almost no kick at all. But with the cost of the big projectiles I can't see much use in loading more than a few of them for laughs. Some guys like it for target work, but in my mind that's what a .22 is for. .44's are for knockin over deer. 20grains of 2400 and no less ....:D
 
8 grains of Unique was my standard "light" load for the 44 Mag in a Model
29 S & W ... Lyman 429421 - 240gr Keith SWC. Fired literally hundreds of these rounds ( couple of thousand anyway ! ) without a single complaint.
 
Depending on a bullet you might be able to seat it down deap enough in the magnum case to match an OAL of a .44spl load! 245gr Frontier works great for that :)

Recently I tried 7.5gr of IMR SR 4756 befind 245gr bullet (for ~775fps) felt like a .22 out of my Raging Bull ;)
 
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