Has anyone got a reliable load for 44 mag with 300 gn projectile that has mv of less than 1020 fps at sea level. I wish to use this combo for pest control with a silenced rifle.Thanks
Rod

I have a silenced .44 mag. rifle in which i shoot cast bullets. I use the lee 44-200RF, lee 44-310RF GC, and a modified 44-310 mold throwing 260grs bullets without the GC.
I do not know what powders are available in NZ, but i use mostly vithavuori N310, N320, N350 and also N110 for magnum loads. So far, my favorite load is the 260grs bullet with 7.2 grs of N310, for 1000fps and 1" groups @50 meters. for the 310grs bullet I use 8.1 grs of N310, 1050fps and also 1" @50 meters (max load). to reach approx. 1000 fps with the 310 bullet, use 7grs N320, or 8grs of Unique, or 9grs of N350.
By the way, my gun has a 12" barrel, based on a russian baikal single shot shotgun. do not use these loads with jacketed bullets, if so reduce the charge. also N310 can be a little tricky with jacketed bullets, giving to much extreme spread in velocity.
If bullseye is available to you, you should be able to substitute the N310 with it. for the least report, use the fastest powder. for hunting you should also use the bullet with the largest meplat available, in order to kill as fast as possible. Most important while hunting with this caliber is to have a good backstop, 'cause these bullets penetrate easily 15" or more pine wood! also consider trajectory, zero at 50 meters, it will drop 9" at 100 meters.

good shooting

Eirik

Well guys this thread is heaven sent for me. I have a 14 inch Thompson Contender barrel in 44 Mag at home, that�s waiting for me to get around to doing exactly this. After a not so successful attempt at building a silenced 7mm TCU � I couldn�t get decent accuracy from bullets heavier than 130grs � I decided to build a 44 Mag instead, but didn�t know really where to start, hence the barrel just lying around.
On hand I have a lot of 285 and 315gr JDJ style cast bullets, and Nosler 240gr JHP�s. Here in South Africa we don�t have access to same powders as you guys, so load data is not really applicable.
But what I would like to know is hunting performance, what can I expect from these bullets at around 1000fps � I�m sure penetration will be good with the heavies, but not sure about the 240grainers.
Do you think the 240�s will even expand at subsonic velocities?
Also I want to build my own silencer and would appreciate any drawings or info on successful designs that you might have (I have Autocad 14 and 2000 loaded). If drawings aren�t available just a description and overall sizes would help.
I was sure I was not the only one who had thought of this. By the way for anyone�s information, I can tell you that a 130gr soft point at 1020fps will go completely through a Warthog�s head at about 25 meters.
Any help will be appreciated.
Bush baby

Try 9 gr of Blue Dot
Clean Burning ( cleaner than Unique ) and works perfect in my Marlin with 20" barrel.