44Mag Hunting Loads

Cubslover

Anyone have any great 44Mag hunting loads they'd like to share??
I have a friend who hunts Whitetail deer with his S&W Mod 29 8 3/8".
I'm thinking a 240gr Jacketed Soft Point or Hollow Point in front of either Alliant 2400 or Hodgdon H110. I've also given thought to Nosler's Partition Jacketed bullets.

Any suggestions?

7mmbr

I use both H110 and 2400 in my Lone Eagles with great success. Both H110 and Win 296 are the same so don't buy both powders thinking they are different for different loads. I use a 200 grn XTP here in Il. for deer and have not had to track one over 25yds, if at all. I have taken 11 deer with 12 shots and out to distances longer than most would like to try. I have used the 240's with equal success as well. I have used the Noslers but had better groups with XTP's at longer yardage.
I have found in revolvers that they tend to shoot best about 3/4 throttle to just short of full house. Stay away from lead with these powders (H110 and Win 296) because they really lead up the barrell unless they have a gas check. Elmer Keith had a great load with 240grn lead with 2400 powder of 21.0 grns. 44mags tend to run the best with powders of H110, 2400, IMR-4227 and AA#9.

Becareful with loads that approach full house. Lyman makes a great book for just pistols and list both IPSC Major and Accuracy loads as well as Hunting and Silhouette.

H110- Start 19.3, Max 23.9 w/ 240grn HC.
2400- Start 17.5, Max 21.5 w/ 240grn HP.
IMR 4227-Start 19.3, Max 23.1 w/ 240grn HP. (23.1 showing
most accuacy potential)
AA#9- Start 19.0, Max 22.2 w/ 240grn HP.

Hope it helped and have fun.
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Seen the least, feared the most!!

shootstright

Back in 1959 when I started loading 44 mag
AL-8 was the best, no longer available. The old 2400 powder left residue that would make the action stop working. Don't know about the new 2400 , never used it .
IMR 4227 has a very sharp loud muzzle blast , hard on ears.
I now use H110 for all 44 mag loads .
180 gr. shoots flat work well from chucks to deer.
200 gr.
240 gr.
300gr.
All good rounds .
If you use the 300 gr. loads , load for one gun and zero for that load only they shoot a lot different that the others .
I use the max loads from the Sierra reloading manual . I have always ended up with Sierra max loads as being the best performers .
I hope this will be of help to you.
I am with 7mmbr on the XTP bullets.

dcso3009

Im with them on the 240gr XTP's. I load them over H-110 and Win primers in Win cases with great success. This year they were used on 2 bears and 3 deer with great results. This load from a super redhawk will print a 2" group at 50 with the factory iron sights. I'm at work now and don't recall the powder charge on them at the moment. I will edit this when I get home and check my records.

surekill

26/27gr.of 296win , 180hp works great outa my encore [:D]

SCorvers

23.8 gr H-110, Federal Mag pistol primer (they are "soft primers") w/ either a 240 gr. HP or Softnose. I use it in my Marlin 1894 and would check a manual before using in a pistol. Will really put a woopin' on a deer.

buckdeer

try hodgon lil' gun and 240 gr remington bulk bullets. i'm shooting 23 grains now out of a 14" contender and it really packs a wallop (1650 fps). you will have to use a little less powder in a revolver.

darksider

in my old lyman book 25gr of 4227 was listed as the accuracy load with a 240 bullet jacketed i use the same load with the 250 cast keith bullet but I shoot rugers if you sand bag you can yuse 38 holes at 25 yards for targets

2BGood

I shoot a Smith 629 classic and have had great success with 24.5 grns of H110 and a 240grn Hornady HP-XTP for about 1400 fps.
I have also used the Nosler 240grn Hollow point with 22.8 grns of H110 this is a compressed load but very accurate with 1500fps.

I like either W296 or H110

Good luck,,,,sure is fun to take a nice mule deer with a 44 mag pistol with open sites.

RCrosby

Ditto on the XTP's. I've had great luck with the 240's but 200 would likely work as well, maybe better.
With the hardcast 240 Keith's load was, I believe, 22 grains of 2400 though the primer is rarely listed. If my memory serves me well, I did read one time that he used standard primers with that load.
One of the first projects I tackled years ago when I got my first chronograph involved playing around with that load. I found that 21 grains/2400 with a CCI 350 gave nearly identical results as 22/w/ a CCI 300. Accuracy was super and velocity respectable.
The "Lil'Gun" possibility is interesting. It shoots great in my Hornet (better than 2400 though a clearly different application) and (they claim) equal velocity at less pressure than with other powders. If that's true, and if it holds for the .44 as well, it could be a damn near ideal fuel for the maggy.

mbsams

I hunt hogs! I need penetration - I use 240gr Oregon Trail Laser cast ( a very hard bullet ) over 11.0gr. of Unique. Very accurate as well.

Bill Costik

I have had good accuracy at 25 and 50 yards, off a bag, with the 240 XTP and BlueDot. I just shot some loads into thawed out venison roasts earlier today. The load was 19.5 grains H110, Federal cases, CCI magnum pistol primers and a 300 Hornady XTP. The wound channel was devastating, to say the least. I could only recover two bullets (the rest are buried in the backstop). The bullets I did recover mushroomed to about the size of a penny, and look much like a A-Frame or Partition would. I have not yet had a chance to weigh them, but I noticed some lead flaking imbedded in the backstop. Who knows how much weight was retained, but I will let everyone know on Monday how they perform on a live whitetail.

SP45

Depends on what you are hunting. I was loading the 260 gr. FP with 296, I beleive it was 21 grains but this was in a Ruger. I would be careful working up loads for the Smith. This was a load for hogs. The bullet was made for the 444 Marlin and I beleive it was made by Hornady.