Which one powder in .44mag?

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1shot

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I'm just about to begin casting Lee 240 grainers for the .44magnum. Non-gas check.

Looking for a 900fps light load for 25 yards indoors- and a slightly faster one maybe 1200fps for playing with the gongs 50 yards+ outside.
Unique looks like just the powder to use, wondering if there's anything else similar/better in the above usage.
Cheers!

1Shot
 
H-110 is rebranded W296, and is not a good powder for other than max loads. The manufacturer does not recommend loads reduced by more than 3% from max.

Directly from the Hodgdon Basic Manual

• H110 and W296 loads should not be reduced more than 3% due to inconsistency
of velocity at the lower pressure.
Click to expand...

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Hodgdon Basic Manual.pdf page 16


The problem with only using one powder, say a slow powder to get max velocity, it that it won't generate enough pressure to be a good low velocity powder. If there isn't enough pressure, then the power won't burn completely, reliably or cleanly.
 
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"light' load

900 fps isn't exactly a light load , you may be limited to maybe two powders to accomplish what you are after . Myself I load a fairly stout charge of Blue dot for silouette with a 240 grain g/c rcbs slug that is water quenched , giving the neccesary hardness and I load the same bullet with 8.2 gr of red dot for a (inside) gallery type load ,that still has all the ompfh that you need to ring the gong @ 50 m .
 
I like the old Hercules 2400. The new 2400 should be very close.
22 grains of 2400 is the traditional, classic, full power load. In a tight revolver it should give you about 1450. 20 grains is very accurate, probably 1250 to 1300 fps.
2400 is accurate down to about 14 grains, by my testing.
One powder will easily do it, 2400.
 
I used to be a 2400 enthusiast back when it was a Hercules powder, both as a handgun powder and as a powder for reduced rifle loads. But flake powder is so light that it does not meter well compared to ball powder, so when loading full power loads H-110 is my choice. Despite the fact that Unique is a flake powder, it remains my choice for moderate handgun loads and for reduced rifle loads; I just avoid running it through a powder measure, and spoon it onto the scale.

I think you may have leading issues if you attempt to fire plain base 240 gr cast bullets at 1200, although how big a problem you will encounter depends on the hardness of your bullet and on the characteristics of your specific gun. If I had plain base bullets to shoot, I would choose Unique and keep the velocity at or below 1000 fps. But go ahead and load up some heavy loads and if you observe serious fouling, back off your powder charge or choose a faster powder and drop the load accordingly. Buy a box of jacketed bullets, and fire a few jacketed rounds if you observe heavy lead fouling. This is an easy way to get rid of lead fouling and it is easier to deal with copper fouling than trying to scrape away lead.
 
I've been shooting 240 LSWC with 7gr Unique
I found it enjoyable to shoot with low recoil
The load came from the reloader guide on Alliant web page
Have not tested this load on a Chono yet
Alliant reloader guide said 899 fps

Another fellow here is using Trail Boss as it fills the case better for lite loads
 
i use 231- while you have to be extremely careful not to double charge the case, it gives slightly less than the performance you're looking for- 1100 fps for a 240 over 11 grains of 231- standard large rifle primer, and tha's the MAXIMUM charge using that powder- i've been down as low as 6 which is the MAXIMUM 44 SPECIAL load
 
I have been using 7 1/2 grains of Titegroup with 240 swc. It is actually a pleasure to shoot now. Haven't cronyed it yet though.


Straight Shooting

Budweiser2
 
I use Titegroup, have used 6gr to max 10gr with the 240 SWC and works good. Now use 8.2gr with 200gr, 240gr, 260gr & 300gr.
Why 8.2gr---- I am lazy and have powder measure set at 4.1gr for doing 9mm & 38, so just use a double charge for the 44mag.

For max loads I use H110 or 296.
 
H4831 said:
I like the old Hercules 2400. The new 2400 should be very close.
22 grains of 2400 is the traditional, classic, full power load. In a tight revolver it should give you about 1450. 20 grains is very accurate, probably 1250 to 1300 fps.
2400 is accurate down to about 14 grains, by my testing.
One powder will easily do it, 2400.
Click to expand...

Ah, a man of my own heart, from the Keith 'pre metric' era;). With the Lyman 429421 of his design at 245-250gr or a 240grSW, 22gr of 2400 was the order of the day for 'hot' loads. 'He' also favoured that bullet with 5grs of Bullseye for light loads and 8.5grs of Unique for target loads.

Going with just one powder for target and heavier loads, I'd probably go with Unique. It's been mentioned previously but it appears that todays 2400 may be slightly warmer than the old Hercules 2400. With the newer 2400 I find 20grs to be max preasure wise in my model 29. However, I still have 2lbs of the old stuff left so I'm good for a little while. I use H110 in the 500 S&W and from all reports I've seen, that may be what I'll start testing in the 44 Mag.
 
I have the classic Keith bullet, in both flat base and gas check, for each of 357 and 44 magnum. I had shot so many 30 caliber cast bullets at quite fast speed, that I didn't really think a gas check was needed for the revolvers.
In the 30-06, I found that overloading the cast bullet resulted in very erratic groups. In the spring I found many of the bullets I had fired in the winter. Quite the odd one had a groove down the side of them, where the gas had escaped. Even the gas check ones. This was obviously the cause of the flyers. There was no increase noted in lead fouling with the heavy loads. Maybe there would have been if I had fired a lot of them. But when accuracy went, I cut down on pressure.
Thus, I always thought that if my revolver loads were accurate, that is all that mattered. Accordingly, I think if they chronograph with a normal, to smallish extreme spread, they should be accurate.
In my notes I see where 13 grains of 2400 in the 357 Smith, with a 168 grain flat base, chronoed at 1335, with extreme spread of 59, for five. This is certainly not excessive for a revolver!
12 grains of H110, with flat base, gave 1124, with 60 fps spread.
13 grains of H110, f.b. gave 1152, with 68 spread.
12 grains of 2400, f.b., gave 1277 and spread of 48.
13 grains of 2400 in the 357 Smith & Wesson, 168 grain flat base bullet, with 38 Special brass, went 1247, with an extreme spread of only 28 fps!
I have similar results with the 44 Magnum, shooting a Ruger Super Blackhawk.
22 grains of 2400, 252 flat base, Lyman #429421 bullet, went 1415 with a spread of 68.
20 grains of 2400 went 1312, spread of 41.
Apparently,none of those loadings suffered from excessive load of a cast, flat base bullet.
My best ever minimum spread was with 8.2 grains of W231. The 252 flat base went 1018, with a spread of only 17!
My best ever five shot group, fired in a 7½ inch Ruger, rested on a bench, was a 1¼ group at 50 yards. This is an honest, no bs group. The load was 20 grains of H110.
 
I've switched from 2400 to SR4759 as my general purpose cast bullet rifle and magnum pistol powder. It won't give top velocities with the heaviest bullets (i.e. 300gr+) in the 44 Mag, but is a winner with the 240gr and it can be safely loaded down.

I'd try it in the 16.0 to 21.0 gr range with the 240 gr.
 
Unique or any other powder with a similar burn rate would probably be the best fit for the velocity range you want. I would be hesitant to push the velocity envelope with fast burning powders like W231/HP-38 or Titegroup due to ease with which they can be double charged in the .44 Magnum case.
 
PROMO is only sold in 8 pound kegs.

Since I am not interested in punishing my gun or myself, my 44 loads are reduced but pleasant to fire.
With a cast 205-240 grain bullet, a nice load is 5.5 grains of PROMO. [Promo's burn rate is the same as RedDot] If you want some more powder you can go to 7.5 but that's it.
In a .44special case with the same bullets, 4.5-5.0 is target quality.
 
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