My pride and joy of days past that I stupidly sold was a Model 29 S&W 44 Magnum with an 8 3/8 barrel. Well I went to the Club over the weekend and sitting on the bar was a list of guns someone was selling and guess what was on it? Yep, it’s mine now and is it a beauty and tight as you could ever ask for.

Well in those good old days with the old one I might have said I could shoot a flying flea that gun shot so good but I don’t have any of the loading data anymore.

Looking at the Alliant catalog, they are firmly recommending 2400 for 44 Magnum loads but again I seem to remember loading Unique and reading that Unique worked very well with magnum loads because it was a slower burning powder and built pressure a little slower which was a better situation for magnum loads. What do you guys recommend?

I will be loading a 240 grain hard cast LSWC bullet and again firing it through an 8 3/8 barrel which has a nice tight gap between the cylinder and barrel so not much pressure will be lost.

The unique works well for low and mid range loads.....it is more sensitive to powder location in the case due to smaller charge in the case compared to 2400....2400 is for upper med to heavy loads...the standard for years was 22grains 2400 and 240lead..but start at 18grains and work up....use a good crimp and I use a standard primer in warm-normal weather...some in xtra cold use prefer mag primers..the bullets need to be hard and well lubed....esp with the 8 3/8 long bbl.....hth..good luck and good shooting-loading!

wboggs, take a look at a current reloading guide from Speer or Hornady. Lots of good info. in there. Bigdaddy is right, Unique is for target to mid range loads in the 44mag. It is wonderfully accurate w/ lead bullets. For full house 44mags, go to 2400, H110, VV110 or W296.

Don't pass on IMR 4227 it shoots very well in mine . 296 made for fast velocity but poor accuracy least wise in mine .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

I tried em all and the best combo of accuracy and vel. always seemed to come from H110 for me.
When I shot handgun silhoutte that was the powder of choice with W-296 at 2nd place.

For .44 Mag, with CAST bullets, I have always had the best performance, velocity and accuracy, with 2400 hands down..
With JACKETED bullets it's been 296 or H-110.

Good luck

i really dislike 2400 because of the amount of unburned powder i get. H110 on the other hand works perfectly for me

I know that some people dislike 2400 cause it is dirty or whatever. I am really not sure what that means as no matter what I use I end up clening them anyway. I have had 2 629 mags over the years with the 8 3/8" barrel and they both loved the old Keith load of 22 grains of 2400 with a hard cast lead bullet. That load knocked over a lot of IHMSA silhouette rams at 200 yards. At 100 yards offhand I could ussually keep them in the head of a mansized silhouette. It isn't what you would call a powder puff load but it is accurate and it will work on a lot of game animals.

I have been shooting the most common load for 10 years in my 29-4: 240 gr JHP, 24 gr H110, roll crimp.

my ruger s.s. red hawk likes 19.5 of accurate #9 with 240 hornady xtp. some times i shoot 4227. #9 is VERY clean.

I've owned a couple of 629's over the years and seen them migrate to some of my sons.

The comments above about the 2400 powder being dirty and unburned match with my experience. Unique used for the low end and pleasant loads is also the same that I found out. H110 is now my go to powder for the hot loads with cast and jacketed slugs.

Glad you found the one you thought was lost. I think we all have a shooter or two that we sold only to regret it and start the search for it's replacement. I foolishly traded a Colt New Frontier 7.5" barrel .22/22Mag that was the most accurate 22 pistol I've owned and still am looking for one to replace it.