Who reloads for pistol 44 mag/44 special

[Rodentman]

Actually, all seriousness aside, I DO shoot full house loads out of the little guy once in a while. Thing is I have other guns that turn heads more than that one, like the 3" bbl 460. Even the modest Coonan puts out a good blast!

[Bearcatrp]

3 inch 460 will wake the neighbors. Got a pic of that monster?

[Rodentman]

It's rather large for such a small gun:

[Bearcatrp]

Now thats a fine gun. Crowd pleaser. And I thought my Ruger Alaskan was a bad ass pistol. Would like to see the fire ball come out of that canon.

[OldmanFCSA]

Says the guy who only wanted to shoot one round out of my TC/Contender.
45.0 grains of IMR4198 and 265 Hornady 430 projectile.

[crbutler]

I used to try and hot rod the .44 mag back in my younger and stupider days.

The highest velocities I got with 240's were in the near 1700 FPS range with VV N110 a bit over their max (in their old book) with a Colt Anaconda. I never got quite as good of results with 2400, H110, 296, or IMR 4227. Of course at that time all I was interested in was velocity. I think the 4227 load might have been the most accurate.

I shot the Anaconda loose. I still have it, but that gun was really sweet when it was in good order.

Got a Freedom Arms .454, and while that handled the loads well, I found that I didn't like the SA style grips with the big boomers.

A .45-70 Contender is great fun. I actually think it recoils less than the .454.

I finally got a .30-06 in an Encore and tried Hornady's heavy magnum ammo in it. I could feel the ligaments in my wrist move. 2 shots and I haven't shot that gun again in 15 years.

Now, if I want fast, I use a rifle.

My current .44 loads are a 240 grain cast bullet running at about 1000 FPS using whatever powder I happen to have a lot of (231, Blue Dot, or VV N350)

A 240 gr JHP using VV 110 at about 1300 in a 8" gun

and a 300 gr using N110 at about 1200.

The 300 is a silhouette load that really seems to do well in most all the guns I have (Ruger, Colt, S&W, Desert Eagle)

The 240 is a load I developed for hunting, but never used (my .41 mag is much more accurate, so that gets the nod when I want to use a revolver for deer.) It will keep them in 1" at 50 yards from a rest, so its not a bad load.

I used to shoot a lot of the cast load, but since I started shooting IPSC and IDPA, I just haven't blasted with them in some time. It is kinda a pain to clean the guns afterwards... The blue dot is the dirtiest of them, and it doesn't meter that well, but as I use it in my magnum duck loads, its usually what I use because I usually have a 5# jug somewhere of it. Kind of a lame reason to use it, but it is what it is...

[Eric Marleau]

I reload 6.5gr of W231 with 240gr cast bullets for two of my .44 magnums.
Accurate and mild recoil target load.

For hunting, I load up H110 with 240gr HP/XTP

Nothing to prove on the range.

If I want to go macho, I bring out my Desert Eagle with full house reloads.

Shooting a short barrel .44 magnum with heavy loads is nuts.

Eric

[Bearcatrp]

Shooting a short barrel .44 magnum with heavy loads is nuts.
Eric

Ask old man what he thought about shooting magnum loads out of my Alaskan. His TC had more recoil than my Alaskan.

[OldmanFCSA]

Shooting a short barrel .44 magnum with heavy loads is nuts.
Eric

Ask old man what he thought about shooting magnum loads out of my Alaskan. His TC had more recoil than my Alaskan.

I've been told I have a strong wrist and grip, so the recoil of the 300 grain XTP's over 19.0 grains of WIN296 was totally manageable out of your Mouse Gun.
The recoil out of my 14" TC/Contender, in 444 Marlin using 45 grains of IMR4198 with 265 grain Hornady soft point, has a tendency to be strong due to duration of projectile in barrel generating recoil pulse. But its manageable too for shooting 40 targets of silhouettes. (At least for us NORMAL sized individuals.)
Now shooting your Mouse Gun at night could be a problem with flash of powder burning outside the barrel - one shot may be all you would get of accurate sighting. The rest would be "fire-for-effect".

[Bearcatrp]

Thats the draw back on any snubby. Shot placement is key for a 1 shot knock down. With the 44, winging them would work to vs a 38 or 9mm snubby. Your canon could wing by them and still get there attention real quick.

[Eric Marleau]

26.8gr with a 200gr HP/XTP bullet shot out of my Desert Eagle lights up the range.
The fire coming out of the barrel is unbelievable.

Sometimes playing around like this can be fun.

After reading what you guys posted, I'd like to try shooting a snubby like yours just for the heck of it.
Never would have thought that the recoil would be manageable.
Learn something new everyday around here

Eric

[Bearcatrp]

Ruger did a fine job making the Alaskan. At 1st you will think its an over weight tank but after you fire a 240 gr round through it, you will be surprised how less the barrel rise is. Its stout. Shooting 44 special out of this has no recoil. Just wish Ruger would make a 3 inch full lug version. There is a 2 3/4 inch redhawk now (http://ruger.com/products/redhawkDE/models.html). Some folks have a Alaskan in 480. Not sure I would want to shoot that one but would try it once just to check it out.

[Eric Marleau]

Off topic just a tad.
This afternoon I picked up from Lakes Trading the Ruger GP100 .357mag with a 4" barrel.
I went into the Range and fired some full house loads through it.
Like my S&W 29-2 .44 mag with it's 4" barrel, there was very little barrel jump and was fun and accurate.
For sure, the shorter the barrel, the less barrel jump.
This will be my woods gun. Also, with the 4" barrel it will be nicer to carry than my Blackhawk .41mag.

Rugers are tough.

Eric

[Bearcatrp]

I like the GP 100 in 3 inch. Ruger would make a killing with a 3 inch alaskan. I used to own a 357 years ago but when I went back into a magnum pistol, the 44 was my choice. If I ever decide to go 357, the GP 100 w/3 inch barrel would be in my gun safe now. Would make an awesome CC.

[Eric Marleau]

I also have a S&W 686-4 with a 6 inch barrel. Great gun.
For deer, I only use my .41mag Blackhawk, or one of my three .44 magnums.
The .357 for me, is a tad too light for big game.

Eric