Who reloads for .44 special?

green country shooter · Apr 10, 2008

Any special tricks to it? The cases look pretty easy to reload. I'm planning on laying in some 200 SWC lead bullets for some cheaper plinking. The factory stuff is very expensive.

Which brand of dies do you use? I mostly have Lee dies right now, but I'm open to any dies with standard threads.

Buzzdraw · Apr 10, 2008

Are you going run the ammo through a .44 mag or .44 spl pistol?

Shadowrider · Apr 11, 2008

You'll be fine with Lee dies. Just make sure they are carbide. No lubing of cases.

MBB · Apr 11, 2008

I load for .44 special. I load lead swc that are the same weight and velocity as my ccw loads so I can practice realistically and inexpensively. Box of 50 handloads is around $7.75 with reused brass. Compare that to $33 for identical factory loads. No special tricks except I use a heavy roll crimp because of the lightweight gun I have. I use Lee carbide dies and they work great.

J.P. · Apr 11, 2008

I haven't loaded .44 in a while.
Regardless, I have but one .44 load:

250gr LSWC (Keith #429421) over 17gr of 2400, win LP

WARNING, this is an extremely hot load and potentially dangerous to you or your gun!
I don't recommend this to anyone unless or until all safety precautions have been taken.
This is a very high pressure ++P++ load with a velocity range of 1100-1200fps!
It is not a load to be trifled with!!!!

Obviously you'll want a lighter version for a gun chambered in .44special
You can safely reduce the powder and I still prefer 2400 for all .44 loads

Lee carbide dies are great.

green country shooter · Apr 11, 2008

The gun is a .44 mag, but I don't really plain to shoot all that many hot mags through it. It's a Ruger Redhawk, so it's plenty heavy. The only pistol powders I have on hand right now are Trail Boss, which has some light loads, WW 231, and VV 330. The Trail Boss is designed for lead bullets, but the 231 and 330 seem only to have jacketed bullet loads.

criticalbass · Apr 11, 2008

Do you just have a bunch of .44 Special brass? You can load .44 mag down with the same end effect.

The Redhawk is a very robust weapon. I think I would just load some light bullets in .44 mag brass and enjoy the minimal recoil. CB

alank2 · Apr 12, 2008

Hi,

I agree with criticalbass, if you have a 44mag gun, I'd skip the 44 special brass and just load 44mag brass to 44spec levels. Save yourself the work of cleaning rings out of your cylinder for the short brass.

Lee's dies do a great job, but for a caliber like 44 which is a roll-crimp caliber I recommend some Redding Pro Series dies. I had some for sale here a few weeks ago, but someone already snagged them.

I was loading the slightly faster n320 for my slower, easy on the recoil loads. You could probably use the n330 if you found load information for it.

Good luck,

Alan

Buzzdraw · Apr 12, 2008

With a stout .44 mag pistol, you can do all your loading with the same .44 mag brass. One classic fun load is 9 gr. Unique with a 240 cast; accurate, with power somewhere above a .44 Spl.

Another classic hunting load with .44 involves a 180 gr. Sierra JHP and a bunch of Win. 296.

231 will work with cast loads, just not as well as Unique.

flatwins · Sep 20, 2010

Revival of an older thread.

I was curious about this too since I picked some 44 spl brass up off the ground at Red Castle. Figured I'd give 44 spl loads a try.

Who reloads for .44 special?

green country shooter

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Buzzdraw

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