loading .44 Spl?

[savasyn]

Savasyn,

You should checkout the thread on TheFiringline Forums,

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=402341

A gentleman there bothered to Chronograph His CA Bulldog firing a number of different factory 44 loads. Including Buffalo Bores 255gr Keith recreation. Keith's load might get 1,200 fps from a 6.5" S&W, but from his Bulldog it only averaged 817! Useful stuff to know.

Oh, that is good to know. I'll definitely read the thread when I get some time to enjoy the details.

I assembled some Keith equivalent loads while I was working up all my other test loads. Care to join me on the range for that?

I might be interested, especially if you bring something burly enough to manage them once the "novelty" wears off from the Bulldog
What area do you live in? I'm in the South Bay LA area.

[earchivist]

My other 44 is a Dan Wesson! I'm in NorthEast L.A. Nextdoor to Eagle Rock, and Pasadena. I was thinking the Firing Line in Burbank because they allow the use of Lead bullets at their indoor range.

[buffybuster]

I've been loading various pistol rounds for about 6 months now and have a decent feel for making basic target loads that group nicely. I'm about to start loading .44 Spl and looking at the data has sparked my curiosity so I have a couple of questions.

Based on the data that I've looked at(Hodgdon website, Lee and Lyman manuals) no one loads .44 Spl higher than 14,000 CUP. The Lyman manual says that this was because of older, weaker guns but that with modern guns can be loaded higher. Looks like .44 Mag can be loaded up to about 40,000 CUP and that is a huge difference!

I personally don't have any need to over crank the loads nor any plans to do so, but I'm curious how high one could take the .44 Spl case if they were only going to be fired from a .44 Mag firearm or at least a good, sturdy .44 Spl.

I obviously haven't done any real research on the trail blazed by Mr. Keith in the journey to create the .44 Mag, but from the little I have read, it sounds like he was pushing the Spl pretty hard.

To restate what I said above, this is all about answering a curiosity and not because I want to go do it. I have a .44 Mag so I can get all my high power needs filled there with plain old factory Mag loadings.

Loaded to the same pressures, the 44Spl can be loaded to be hot on the heels of the 44Mag with 240gr or lighter bullets. That's exactly how the .44Mag was developed. But it begs the question "Why?" when the .44mag exists.

[savasyn]

My other 44 is a Dan Wesson! I'm in NorthEast L.A. Nextdoor to Eagle Rock, and Pasadena. I was thinking the Firing Line in Burbank because they allow the use of Lead bullets at their indoor range.

I might be up for that. PM me with some details as to when and I'll see if I can make it out.

[savasyn]

Loaded to the same pressures, the 44Spl can be loaded to be hot on the heels of the 44Mag with 240gr or lighter bullets. That's exactly how the .44Mag was developed. But it begs the question "Why?" when the .44mag exists.

I was only scratching the itch of curiosity. The max data listed for .44 Spl has such a low max pressure compared to .44 Mag, there clearly was room to move. Based on all the stuff I've read since posting the question, indeed, people have run the Spl pretty smokin' hot.