What are some of your favorite .44Mag loads? I'm about to finally pick up my first wheel gun, and I'm trying to plan ahead. I've never loaded for a wheel gun before. I have both a Dillon 650 and a single stage press. I'm not sure it will be worth the cost to set up the Dillon to progressively load for it, but maybe it will be worth the time savings in the long run.

I already have large pistol primers, regular and magnum, since it seems that both get called for in specific load recipes. I have brass on the way, but haven't chosen bullets yet. I'm not particularly interested in getting set up to cast my own just for one caliber for one gun. Perhaps it actually is worth it; bullets seem pricey for this caliber.

I'd love to get a hollow point load that is great for water bottle busting- I want flame, sound, and to rip a 2 liter bottle a new one! It's purely a fun load. I've shot .50, .460, .45-70, and .454 in revolvers, so I'm no stranger to big booms. Berry's bullets seem popular for this round, but how does roll crimping onto a smooth-sided bullet work out? I don't want my bullets taking a walk during firing.

On the other side, I want a decent practice load for target shooting. It will not be a defensive pistol.

On the powder side, I have Power Pistol, Blue Dot, AA#7, Titegroup, and want to get some H110.



Not my gun, but the same model (S&W Performance Center 629 Competitor). Any ideas why they went with a Weaver rail on top? (besides the fact that a Picatinny rail would look ridiculous). I'm going to stick with irons for a while, but may toy with an optic/red dot at some point.

I only have one 44 mag, Ruger Redhawk, but have other revolvers in 41 & 45 Colt, etc..

I do load some towards max with Win-296/H-110. Most of my loads and shooting is a medium burn rate powder, like H Universal or Unique. In the large cases I’m less likely to use Titegroup, though there’s likely data with it.



Even with a medium speed powder like Unique, loads can be fairly warm if desired.

I reload my powder coated cast bullets to 44special velocity for plinking. And load Hornady 230 HP to standard magnum for other stuff. I have a S&W model 69 the five shot combat magnum. And a Rossi lever gun

I load for a 2 3/4" Model 69, a 329PD, and a Marlin 1894.

For absolute max performance H110 is the way to go. It burns slow and gains a ton of velocity out of the rifle. It's a bit much for the airweight 329, though, and most of the powder burns outside the barrel in the snubby.

I load 240gr jacketed bullets for the 329 because the titanium cylinder is a pain to clean lead out of. Usually over a pretty stout charge of Unique. Those same loads are good for carry in the 69, but I also cast and powdercoat my own "light magnum" loads for plinking with a 200gr round nose flat point...they're hotter than .44spcl, but not as punishing as the really hot magnum loads, and very accurate.

I’m a fan of 2400 through all 7 of my .44 long guns; currently no .44 revolvers in the safe. 2400 gives a bit more latitude in tailoring loads as 110 is less forgiving when stepping down from full house.

JM .44 Marlin microgroove rifles have slightly loose bores and can struggle with accuracy. I like these bullets a lot as they mic a hair larger than other offerings (most every other mic at .429 where these are at .431) and seat in rifling a touch better than other pills. They also have a very generous meplat and expand well for a flat point profile. I’ve taken quite a few deer with them and the price is right.

https://www.rozedist.com/mm5/m...egory_Code=ZBJ-44MAG

I've been reloading the .44 Magnum for around 30 years or so. In .44 Magnum, I currently have a 9.5" Ruger SRH, 7.5" Ruger SBH, 5.5" Ruger BH, 14" TC Contender and Henry Lever rifle.

Standard load is a 240gr XTP over 24.0gr of H110. I use 20.0gr of H110 for 300gr bullets. These are max or close to max published loads.

My plinking load is 240gr Berry plated over 10.0gr of Unique. I need t find something to replace Unique when I run out.

629 6" ported and a CA 44spl 4" and since I had a ton of titegroup so
it is what I have used along with mainly 240 semi wadcutters.
It has severed me well.

A cast swc and 7 to 10 grains of Unique will give you a lot of practice and a lot of knockdown.

Nice pistol, I’ll be interested in buying it if at anytime you want to sell

I pulled my .44 Magnum loading data off the Hodgdon Reloading website. It's online data, and they update the reloading data as powder burn rate changes take place with different powder lot numbers.
I screenshot what I need, and print on standard printer paper for usage at the reloading bench. The screenshots are saved in the screenshots folder on the PC.

With no native grizzly bears, elk, buffalo, and very minimal moose here in upstate NY, I don't need all the power of a 240 grain projectile with full tilt H110, W296, or 2400 powder power level loadings.
I use .44 caliber Hornady XTP 200 grain projectiles in all of my cartridge type .44 Magnum reloads, and also in my .50 caliber black powder rifles and .50 caliber black powder pistols.
With a green plastic sabot for accommodating the diameter differences in the .50 caliber black powder/muzzle loader rifles and pistols vs the .44 caliber projectiles.
Whitetail deer just are not that difficult to kill. I have put many deer in the freezer with the Hornady .44 caliber 200 grain XTP projectile.
I am very happy with that particular projectile and it's terminal performance.

Then I only need one .44 caliber (0.430" diameter) projectile for component stocking purposes here at home.
I'm using Hodgdon CFE pistol powder, with a maximum charge weight per the above online reloading data resource.
This gives HOT .44 Special performance and perhaps into the very bottom tier of .44 Magnum performance. I have a chronograph, and have not used it for this particular loading.
I recently ordered six of the 100 count boxes of the .44 caliber Hornady 200 grain XTP projectiles as my home stock level was running low.
I got the phone call today, they have arrived and are ready for pickup.
I buy Hodgdon CFE pistol powder in the eight pound bottle and have plenty. All that without intrusive paid background checks!

The above load is nice and pleasant to shoot in various .44 Magnum revolvers.
I recently acquired a very gently used Henry .44 Magnum rifle with a 20" barrel.
I have never bought ANY factory ammo here inside the state since they implemented NY State Police paid background checks for loaded ammunition purchases, so I tried my reload in the new-to-me rifle.
With a 50 yard zero on a paper target, I was able to hit a 9" x 9" diamond shaped steel plate target at the 100 yard berm without having to hold a sight picture above the top corner on the diamond steel plate. Settle the bottom of the full diameter brass bead into the small radius cut in the very bottom of the rear factory buckhorn sight, put the front brass bead in the center of the steel plate at 100 yards, tickle the trigger, and "WHACK" you have a centered hit on the steel plate with every single shot fired. Iron sighted rifle with buckhorn rear sight.
It seems the longer 20" rifle barrel with a fixed breech wrings out more velocity compared to 4.625" and 7.500" single action revolver barrels with barrel/cylinder gaps.

What more could somebody ask for in a .44 Magnum reload than that IF you aren't considering heavy boned large bears, elk, buffalo?
I will take my chances that moose won't appear in my whitetail deer woods here in upstate NY. It's lots of miles to the Adirondack Mountains
One moose did appear near my location 25 or 30 years ago, but it's VERY uncommon.
And the Hodgdon CFE pistol powder? It is my powder of choice for 9 x 19, 10 mm, and .45 ACP
I recall the CFE burn rate/performance being very similar to Unique.
It works for me here!

Another item worth mentioning.
Winchester Large Pistol Primers, in the BLUE 100 count cards, and the 1000 count box with ten cards.
Those primers are labeled for Standard & Magnum usage.
Another way of reducing what you need for stock at home.

I forgot another .44 Magnum that I own. It's a Ruger Redhawk Backpacker with a 2.750" barrel. Not to be confused with the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan.
As Member 92fstech mentioned, H110 in a barrel that short isn't very productive.
While the VW beetle sized ball of fire out in front of the muzzle IS impressive at the range for impressing your shooting buddies, that's wasted energy outside the barrel.
The 200 grain Hornady XTP with the maximum charge of Hodgdon CFE pistol powder doesn't give you the fireball effect much at all.

IMG_20240127_190540830_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251011_003505348 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20250326_123758416_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251009_185616536 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

All this rifle talk is giving me the itch to get a lever action .44Mag. The Ruger .44Mag carbine would be cool, too.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
All this rifle talk is giving me the itch to get a lever action .44Mag. The Ruger .44Mag carbine would be cool, too.

Just do it. That 629 needs a rifle to pair with it. It's a decision that you absolutely won't regret.

quote:

Originally posted by maxwayne:
A cast swc and 7 to 10 grains of Unique will give you a lot of practice and a lot of knockdown.

10gr of Unique with a 240 grainer is what I load. Plenty of knockdown. Mine is on zero at 100 with a 26" drop at 200. Very predictable and I'd never shoot beyond that with a lever gun and open sites anyway. And, it's pleasant to shoot.

I'm thinking a Winchester 1892 Deluxe Octagon take down may be getting added to my wish list. That thing is sexy, and I have enough shorty rifles. That barrel length would be fun with full power .44Mag loads.

https://www.winchesterguns.com...ctagon-takedown.html

flesheatingvirus,

The reason I personally recommend the .44 caliber Hornady 200 grain XTP (at least for whitetail deer sized flesh & bone targets) is that I've used it in muzzleloaders/and revolvers for many decades, and it simply just works.
Today, I was looking for a misplaced/lost item in my reloading room. (nope, didn't find it)
But I did find a plastic Ziploc bag I haven't seen since my last move almost a decade ago.

Every single projectile I have recovered in a deer being processed, it went into that bag.
This Hornady XTP, 200 grain, .44 caliber, 0.430 diameter projectile was dug out of a decent sized whitetail deer during processing.
It was a broadside shot in excess of 100 yards, the slug was recovered from just under the hide on the far/opposite side.
It's hard to see here, but there is no rifling engraved in the bullet jacket, it was fired in a green plastic sabot with a .50 caliber muzzleloader/black powder rifle.
This is a "real world" live test in meat, not jugs of water or ballistic gel. (and certainly NOT a snub at those that test expansion/penetration in water and ballistic gel)

The nominal weight of these projectiles varies a few tenths of a grain if you weigh multiples out of a 100 count box. But mostly right at 200 grains.
This one, it still weighs 192 grains, and both expansion (certainly decent, but not spectacular) and weight retention, (about eight grains lost) and it worked wonderfully.

I haven't even looked at alternate projectile options in more than 20 years for .44 Magnum reloads and the muzzleloaders/black powder rifles & pistols.
The XTP lineup certainly is 'older" projectile technology, however it is still VERY relevant performance today. Why argue with perfection?
Me personally, I would NOT want to be shot with one that worked like this!

My personal experience as a very long term (40 years) .44 Magnum revolver deer hunter (and even a Desert Eagle .44 Magnum semi automatic) is that .44 caliber 180 grain projectiles expand violently and may separate the lead core from the jacket, 240 grain projectiles may not expand and just punch straight through, and 200/210 grain projectiles work just right.

PXL_20251109_190002944 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251109_190018080 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
...240 grain projectiles may not expand and just punch straight through..

Soft points expand very well at 1-200 yards with a good load.

10 gr of Unique will kill anything you want to kill with authority.

I've tested bullets and loads for years on my property. I am over-run with scrawny whiletials. Lots of practice.

Cee_Kamp, that is certainly ideal performance! Have you ever chronographed that load and do you have any idea how fast it was going when it hit that deer? From what I understand the XTP has a certain velocity envelope where it experiences ideal performance. The other great thing about XTPs is that they are readily and consistently available, because Hornady still puts a priority in supplying reloaders, unlike a lot of the other manufacturers these days.

No, I have never run that load over my chrono. When I stopped shooting USPSA open division matches, I stopped using the chrono.
I do know, shooting that 200 grain projectile in all of my revolvers, (2.750" up to 7.500" in length, the projectiles look identical when recovered from deer.
Identical expansion and weight retention.
The muzzleloader 28" barrels clearly shoot faster/flatter than the same projectile coming out of the varied revolvers.
The new-to-me Henry rifle shoots faster/flatter than the muzzleloader rifles. Easy to see when sighted in centered on paper at 50 yards, and then comparing "drop" at 100 yards.
The above projectile shown above, it was so long ago, I can't even remember which muzzleloader rifle it was shot from.
But clearly, without any engraved rifling on the projectile jacket, it was launched from inside a green plastic Hornady sabot.