Preparing for .44 Magnum

[Xae289]

So, while I wait for the crown's permission to pick up my new S&W 629, I'm getting ready to reload some .44 magnum to have ready for when the new cannon comes home. I usually prefer to buy factory ammo and shoot it up as a sort of baseline to get a feel for a new caliber and stockpile some brass, but with the way things are, I haven't found any reasonably priced ammo.

In any case, I got my prep started today. So I set up my dies then resized and primed 100 cases. After that, I used 6 unprimed cases to set the expanding die, loaded a bullet (no powder) into each to get to the proper length, and set the crimp.

I decided to use the 6 to turn into snap caps instead of buying any, so I painted the tips of the bullets and the primer pockets with some blue nail polish and I'm going to go buy a pencil eraser to carve up and push into the primer pocket.

I'm going to load up my first live batch tomorrow. The brass is new Winchester, primed with CCI Large Pistol 300, topped with a Nosler 200 grain JHP, and I'm going to work up using Longshot since I'm very familiar with it from reloading hot .40 S&W. I don't have a chronograph yet, so my goals are a clean burn, moderate recoil, and accuracy in a powerful, but not full-house magnum load. After I get to a charge I'm happy with using Longshot, I'll work up a load using H110 and 300 grain Hornady XTPs for a heavy hunting load.

Some pics of my prep work including the 6 future snap caps, with the bullets, primer pocket, and head stamp painted blue. Also had to put a couple of .22LRs in the picture. The 300 grain XTP bullet is almost as long as the entire .22LR cartridge.

 

[Phauxtoe]

44 mag
So satisfying to shoot
I like low to med power loads.
I have had good luck with brazos bullets

 

[Acer-m14]

another thing you can do on the DIY snap caps is drill a hole in the side of the case for a sure peace of mind indicator its a dummy round

 

[218bee]

If you ever download that 44, consider these plated bullets from Berry's. I got them down to around mild-38 Special velocity and its a welcome change to stiff hunting or factory loads. Doesn't beat the gun up either. Like $84 for 500 heads and you can shoot the pistol all day.

 

[Rondo223]

Do not load H110 below min recommendations. Best to run it at the top end of the data. Never used Longshot. For my target loads I just use Unique.

 

[Phauxtoe]

I like W231 in 38spec, 44spec and 44mag.
Consistent, accurate, versitile!

 

[Xae289]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

@Phauxtoe , those bullets look great for the price. I saw a couple of bullets of theirs that I'll probably be ordering for my other revolver, a replica Remington 1858 black powder with a cartridge conversion in .45 Colt. That's my current go-to for big-bore light smokeless loads using Trail Boss. I'll have to look into 231, it looks very versatile with cast bullets. While I'm not especially interested in light loads for this revolver now, if I'm crazy about it, I might use it as a big bore plinker also and sell off the .45.

@Rondo223 , thanks for the heads-up. I definitely noticed that narrow range with H110. I'm pretty used to that with Longshot. Near starting charges with it in .40 have been dirty, spit out unburnt powder, and given me my only squib. But then when loaded near or at max, it's clean, powerful, and accurate.

 

[C3D]

One of the best ways to prepare for shooting .44 magnum - walk out to your car, open the driver’s side door, put your hand on the A pillar, and slam the car door on your hand a few times. It helps build up pain tolerance for shooting this round.

 

[Getzville 068]

^^^With poor fitting wood grips maybe, but with rubber grips or good wood stocks the 629 can be easily managed.

I've had fifteen years of shooting a Model 29 with rubber Hogue grips. No broken bones yet.

Gotta love those N-frames.

 

[Phauxtoe]

One of the best ways to prepare for shooting .44 magnum - walk out to your car, open the driver’s side door, put your hand on the A pillar, and slam the car door on your hand a few times. It helps build up pain tolerance for shooting this round.

Are you talking ‘57 Chevy or ‘80 K car?

 

[C3D]

Are you talking ‘57 Chevy or ‘80 K car?

K-Car = 357
Honda Accord = 44 Magnum
57 Chevy = S&W 500!

 

[Xae289]

One of the best ways to prepare for shooting .44 magnum - walk out to your car, open the driver’s side door, put your hand on the A pillar, and slam the car door on your hand a few times. It helps build up pain tolerance for shooting this round.

Haha, I'll make sure to wear double ear pro. I was a little disappointed the first time I shot a .44 mag. I expected my fillings to shake loose, my ears to bleed, and the target to catch fire. The first one I shot was a 6" S&W 629 and it wasn't even close to as bad as .357 from a snubbie. Hell, I've shot hot loaded .40s, .45s, and 10mms from light guns that have felt worse.

 

[Rondo223]

Shooting with one of these makes it not bad at all.

 

[Xae289]

Shooting with one of these makes it not bad at all.

View attachment 80023

Especially with that Hogue grip! I was looking hard at an SBH in .44 or the regular Blackhawk in .45 Colt, but I really like shooting in double-action.

 

[S&W Fan]

I like W231 in 38spec, 44spec and 44mag.
Consistent, accurate, versitile!

My buddy and I use W231 as well. Makes a nice , very accurate round.

 

[S&W Fan]

One of the best ways to prepare for shooting .44 magnum - walk out to your car, open the driver’s side door, put your hand on the A pillar, and slam the car door on your hand a few times. It helps build up pain tolerance for shooting this round.

I hear this quite often and most times it’s because the grip isn’t right for the shooter who is trying it out for the first time or they were never shown how to properly hold and shoot the .44 mag. revolver. I’ve been shooting .44 mag for well over 25 yrs. and still enjoy shooting it to this day. My first ever pistol purchase when I got my pistol permit back in my mid to late 20’s was a RSBH In .44 mag that I still own .

 

[MuttCat]

629, nice. What length barrel?

 

[Deplorable Me]

I've purchased brass from these folks and had good luck:

.44 MAG R-P Once-Fired Brass | DiamondKBrass.com | 500 ct.

My .44 magnum is a Marlin 1894SS rifle. Even with jacketed bullets the weight of the rifle sucks up the recoil.

I use Alliant 2400 powder for my .357 and .44 mag loads. Jacketed bullets. Keep an eye on the reloading book recipe; some call for magnum primers some call for standard primers. I'm burning up some Win296 powder; bought it when I couldn't find 2400.

For .44 mag lead I use Win231. It meters good and is less smoky than Unique which I use to use. The lube in lead bullets also contributes to the smoking and fouling. Love the low recoil. I'm going to try coated lead bullets in the future to see what the difference is.

I have shot Oregon Trail Laser Cast bullets. They shoot pretty good, I've maxed out the velocities and as advertised no leading.

An article I read years ago suggested a deep cleaning of the firearm bore whenever you switched bullet metal types.

 

[1911guy]

So, while I wait for the crown's permission to pick up my new S&W 629, I'm getting ready to reload some .44 magnum to have ready for when the new cannon comes home. I usually prefer to buy factory ammo and shoot it up as a sort of baseline to get a feel for a new caliber and stockpile some brass, but with the way things are, I haven't found any reasonably priced ammo.

In any case, I got my prep started today. So I set up my dies then resized and primed 100 cases. After that, I used 6 unprimed cases to set the expanding die, loaded a bullet (no powder) into each to get to the proper length, and set the crimp.

I decided to use the 6 to turn into snap caps instead of buying any, so I painted the tips of the bullets and the primer pockets with some blue nail polish and I'm going to go buy a pencil eraser to carve up and push into the primer pocket.

I'm going to load up my first live batch tomorrow. The brass is new Winchester, primed with CCI Large Pistol 300, topped with a Nosler 200 grain JHP, and I'm going to work up using Longshot since I'm very familiar with it from reloading hot .40 S&W. I don't have a chronograph yet, so my goals are a clean burn, moderate recoil, and accuracy in a powerful, but not full-house magnum load. After I get to a charge I'm happy with using Longshot, I'll work up a load using H110 and 300 grain Hornady XTPs for a heavy hunting load.

Some pics of my prep work including the 6 future snap caps, with the bullets, primer pocket, and head stamp painted blue. Also had to put a couple of .22LRs in the picture. The 300 grain XTP bullet is almost as long as the entire .22LR cartridge. View attachment 79817

what color nail polish do you use for a heavy date?

 

[Xae289]

629, nice. What length barrel?

I went with the 5" Classic with the full underlug.

what color nail polish do you use for a heavy date?

Glitter.

 

[Xae289]

I've purchased brass from these folks and had good luck:

.44 MAG R-P Once-Fired Brass | DiamondKBrass.com | 500 ct.

My .44 magnum is a Marlin 1894SS rifle. Even with jacketed bullets the weight of the rifle sucks up the recoil.

I use Alliant 2400 powder for my .357 and .44 mag loads. Jacketed bullets. Keep an eye on the reloading book recipe; some call for magnum primers some call for standard primers. I'm burning up some Win296 powder; bought it when I couldn't find 2400.

For .44 mag lead I use Win231. It meters good and is less smoky than Unique which I use to use. The lube in lead bullets also contributes to the smoking and fouling. Love the low recoil. I'm going to try coated lead bullets in the future to see what the difference is.

I have shot Oregon Trail Laser Cast bullets. They shoot pretty good, I've maxed out the velocities and as advertised no leading.

An article I read years ago suggested a deep cleaning of the firearm bore whenever you switched bullet metal types.

A buddy of mine let me shoot some of his Oregon Trail lasercast handloads through my .45 Colt. They were definitely clean and seemed like good quality bullets, can't remember what powder he used in those. They're a little pricey for lead, but I do want to try them out.

When it comes to coated bullets, I bought a bunch of Missouri Bullet Co. bullets with the Hi-Tek coating. Same deal as the Oregon Trail -- no leading and good accuracy, but they were also low velocity, being pushed by medium to max charges of Trail Boss.

As far as primers go, I'm intentionally sticking to recipes that call for a regular large pistol primer since I have a lot of them and didn't want to buy magnum primers with so many regular LPs on hand.

I definitely agree with cleaning the bore when switching bullet types, but really from lead to copper plated or jacketed, not vice versa. Just for the hell of it, I've used copper remover in my handgun barrels, but it doesn't seem to be do anything unlike in my rifles, where it's definitely lifted some copper residue. I've only ever gotten lead fouling badly enough to notice once and it was when I loaded unlubed soft lead balls over a charge of Trail Boss for my .45 Colt. Surprisingly accurate, but after 30 rounds of it, I sloughed out a ton of lead from the gun when I got home. Really just a dumb little experiment to make a .45 shoot like a .22. Who knows though, maybe copper fouling does occur at .44 mag velocities.

 

[Deplorable Me]

A buddy of mine let me shoot some of his Oregon Trail lasercast handloads through my .45 Colt. They were definitely clean and seemed like good quality bullets, can't remember what powder he used in those. They're a little pricey for lead, but I do want to try them out.

When it comes to coated bullets, I bought a bunch of Missouri Bullet Co. bullets with the Hi-Tek coating. Same deal as the Oregon Trail -- no leading and good accuracy, but they were also low velocity, being pushed by medium to max charges of Trail Boss.

As far as primers go, I'm intentionally sticking to recipes that call for a regular large pistol primer since I have a lot of them and didn't want to buy magnum primers with so many regular LPs on hand.

I definitely agree with cleaning the bore when switching bullet types, but really from lead to copper plated or jacketed, not vice versa. Just for the hell of it, I've used copper remover in my handgun barrels, but it doesn't seem to be do anything unlike in my rifles, where it's definitely lifted some copper residue. I've only ever gotten lead fouling badly enough to notice once and it was when I loaded unlubed soft lead balls over a charge of Trail Boss for my .45 Colt. Surprisingly accurate, but after 30 rounds of it, I sloughed out a ton of lead from the gun when I got home. Really just a dumb little experiment to make a .45 shoot like a .22. Who knows though, maybe copper fouling does occur at .44 mag velocities.

Oregon Trail has a proprietary load manual that maxes out the velocity. The alloy is a bearing metal that contains lead. Velocity through my rifle 1600 ft/sec with no leading, their data. Used a chronograph. Using general load data for lead is below their potential.

 

[S&W Fan]

I went with the 5" Classic with the full underlug.

Glitter.

Excellent choice. This is my 629-3 /5” classic . It’s my current hunting rig.

 

[Xae289]

Excellent choice. This is my 629-3 /5” classic . It’s my current hunting rig.
View attachment 80540

Man, that thing looks sweet! How's the recoil with those grips?

 

[S&W Fan]

Man, that thing looks sweet! How's the recoil with those grips?

Not all that bad at all. But then. I’ve been shooting .44 mag with wood grips for a long time. Obviously a nice set of Houge rubber grips for the winter hunting months would reduce felt recoil even more.

 

[Xae289]

Not all that bad at all. But then. I’ve been shooting .44 mag with wood grips for a long time. Obviously a nice set of Houge rubber grips for the winter hunting months would reduce felt recoil even more.

Gotcha. I've only ever shot a 629 with those stock S&W rubberish grips, but with a covered backstrap I don't like the longer trigger reach. In that case, I think I might try the Hogue rubber grips first since I already know I'm going to shoot it too much when I first get it.

 

[Xae289]

Thanks to all the advice. For anyone interested, here are some of my groups from the ammo I loaded. 200 grain Nosler JHP loaded with between 13.5-14.1 grains of Longshot. Not very impressive accuracy out of me, but I'm still getting used to the gun. I'm very happy with the pistol's mechanical accuracy. All of the targets are a mix of double-action and single action shooting.

Ordered a bunch of cast Missouri bullets with the Hi-Tek coating. These jacketed bullets are pretty expensive by comparison and I think this revolver is going to see a lot of range time.