Suggestions for 44 mag

13 November 2003, 03:24

Bob257

I just bought a S&W 329 in 44 mag. I'm planning on carrying it as a finisher in case I screw up with the rifle. That hasn't happened in a long time, but I've been getting a weird feeling that it may. I know, I'm strange. Anyway, because of the light weight of this gun I loaded 200 grain Hornady's with 22 grains of H4227 in Winchester brass and Fed. large pistol primers. It should give me around 1000 fps and (hopefully) not too much recoil.
Any other suggestions for something that would be light in recoil but do a decent job? I don't want to use 44 specials because of the possibility of "ringing" the cylinder.

Bob257

13 November 2003, 03:44

congomike

You might want to wander over to sixgunner.com and look at their forums. There was quite a discussion a while back about this gun. The census seemed to indicate that there were a lot of problems with the gun locking up when certain loads were used. Worth a look...

13 November 2003, 05:37

Lar45

You could probably use a lighter charge of 2400 or Unique to get the same velocity with less recoil. The 4227 would probably have less pressure and may be not quite as loud?? Since I've found WC820, I've only loaded 296 for comparison.

13 November 2003, 07:29

NotRicochet

Using .44 Specials wont hurt your cylinder, but it does leave fouling deposits ahead of the case mouth that'll make full length .44 Mags harder to extract. I quit using them for that reason, and load Special level loads in Mag cases.

13 November 2003, 12:12

Hot Core

quote:
Originally posted by Bob257:
...I don't want to use 44 specials because of the possibility of "ringing" the cylinder...

Hey Bob257, The Load you mentioned might do just fine for you. No way for us to know "your" recoil level.

When used for a Finisher, I'm guessing you mean real close to the Deer. But, it still depends on where you are thinking about "Placing the Finisher" into the Deer.

If you are talking about "in the ear", then nearly any 44Spl or 44Mag Load will do. Since you Reload, you can always Load 44Spl equivalent Loads in the 44Mag cases and avoid your Carbon Ring concern.

I'd recommend you just use any of the Starting Loads shown for the 44Mag in whichever Manual you have.

If you are planning a Spine Shot, they will probably work as well. But it is always nice to have a few Full Throttle Bambi Blasters along, just in case.

I've killed a bunch of Deer with the 240gr XTP in a 44Mag and they did great. But, there would be nothing at all wrong with a 270gr Gold Dot or a regular old 240gr Hard Cast Lead Gas-Checked bullet either.

Since you are in Penn, you probably won't have any "Snake" issues during Deer Season. We do in the South Carolina Lowcountry and the nice Speer Shot Capsules sure make moving around a whole lot more pleasurable.

Best of luck to you.