I have a question regarding a new Redhawk 4" in 44 Mag. I have been shooting American Eagle 240 grain Jacketed Hollow points. I am sure these are mid level as far as punch goes however, I find them very enjoyable to shoot. I have had a few sessions where I shot 50 in an outing and quit just because of other commitments. My questions are as follows. I am going to start loading for the 44, I want to stick to the 240 grain bullets. In the short 4" barrel what powder would you recommend that would allow good burn rate, be fairly clean, and also have minimal muzzle flash? Also any recommendations on dies? I certainly do not need any competition dies but I figured some must be better then others. Thanks for any help, tips or comments. I very much appreciate it as I under take this new adventure!

WS

I use carbide dies. lees are good.
I like ww296 my red prefers 220gr sierras.
A full load of ww296 is no slouch.
Also like H110 200gr and 210gr xtp bullets.
Dave

H110 and Win. 296 are the VERY SAME powder.

Win. 296/H110 and Blue Dot are the powders I like for jacketed bullets in the 44 Mag.

The dies that make the most accurate loads are Hornady---Hands down! The standard Redhawk loves H110. The BH, SBH and SRH loves 296.
YES, they are the same powder but there is a difference in the burn rate and don't let anyone tell you that you can't tell the difference. You will pull your hair out trying to get H110 to shoot accurate from the SBH and SRH and the same with 296 out of the RH.
Depends on what some guys consider accuracy though, some never get past 3" at 25 yd's and consider that great. It depends on your requirements and what you do with your guns.
My requirements are no more then 1" at 50 yd's and I prefer much, much less. I want as close to 1" at 100 yd's that I can get.
I have spent years working loads for all of these guns with both powders and no matter what I do, I can't match one to the other. Each gun will like one or the other but not both.
I would not be without both H110 and 296. Thank god there is enough difference between them that you can make any gun shoot. Those that stick to only one of these on the premise that they are exactly the same, have no idea what the other will do.
Another thing I have found is that in most cases, these powders do not shoot the best with magnum primers. You MUST experiment with both primers with your weather conditions. A primer change can triple groups right now.
I have been working with the .44 since 1956. I shoot them to 500 meters along with all of my other revolvers.
If you are happy with 2" at 25 yd's, anything you throw in the case will do it.
The guns from .41 up, should NOT be shot at 25 yd's! It is a big waste of time and money.

Give the 300 grain Hornady HP/XTP bullet ahead of Win 296 a try before committing to the 240 grain.

Redding dies.

That holds a lot of truth too. Most .44's like a heavy bullet/boolit and I use up to 330 gr's in mine. 240's are very accurate and I never lost accuracy going up in weight but going below 240 was always dismal.
The .44 is a very versitile caliber and is not very picky about bullets. It IS hard to find a good factory load though. My friend bought a new SRH and was trying to shoot WW loads. The things shot so far left he ran out of sight movement. All of my loads shoot dead on with a centered sight. One reason that since 1956 I only shot about 50 factory loads to get empty brass until I could buy emptys.

quote:

YES, they are the same powder but there is a difference in the burn rate and don't let anyone tell you that you can't tell the difference. You will pull your hair out trying to get H110 to shoot accurate from the SBH and SRH and the same with 296 out of the RH.

No, REALLY; the SAME powder. They come from the SAME container and are then packaged with different labels. The ONLY difference between a container of Winchester 296 and H110 is the label and perhaps the lot they came out of. The ONLY thing that affects the burn rate is the label (a strange phenomena to be sure) and the placebo effect.

I have a S&W 629 Mountain Gun (4" bbl). I use Hodgdon's Universal powder with a cast lead 240 gr bullet for about 1000 fps. Makes for as good accurate load without excessive recoil.

Stay away from 296 as a powder if you don't want lots of muzzle blast and big balls of fire. Have loaded 270 jacketed with 296 to 1200+ fps in this gun. Lots of recoil and a really impressive ball of fire even in bright sunlight.

Yes, 296 and H110 are the same powders but Hodgden gets from one burn rate and WW gets from another, for canister powders. H110 is a little slower.
All powder outside of these burn rates go to loading factories that can measure their own burn rates to adjust for factory loads.
Burn rates for canister powders are held as close as possible and different lots can be a little different from each other, but it is still watched carefully. The difference between H110 and 296 are MUCH more different then between lots of each.
It is not possible to make every batch of powder the same. Once it is measured, it is sent to the company that has specs that match that batch. Hodgden has different specs then WW.
They look, smell and taste the same, but do not shoot the same.
If you think they are EXACTLY the same and shoot EXACTLY the same, prove it. I have, and they don't! Look in any loading book and you will see a different min and max charge for each.
I have changed loads of each powder in a certain gun so the velocity is exactly the same but group size is different.
Now how about AA no. 9 and N-110? Are they made by the same company? Is the burn rate the same? Do you load the same charges?

Whopper Stopper: as far as the parameters you're asking about, you might want to try AA#7. You can build very accurate mid level loads up to those near the top of performance. Muzzlebalst from a 4" barrel is the key here and you will get it with a magnum powder loaded in cartrdiges you fire from a 4" barrel. #7 is a clean burner as well as having lower flash which is a component of muzzleblast. As for data, here you go: http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/PerCaliber2Guide/Han...20133%20to%20135.pdf

On the 296/110 debate. Open a reloading manual that gives pressure data. You'll find different charge levels for the maximum load and if you find loads with identical charges you'll notice that the pressures will be different. Enough so that you can't dismiss it to varying powder lots. They come from the same base powder, just as 231 and HP-38, but they are not identical. Same thing applies to 760 and H-414. If any doubt exists, contact Hodgdon. You can go to their website and see that the only powders they sell that truly have an identical Winchester counterpart are HS-6 = 540 and HS-7 = 571.

Actually, I did contact Hodgdon and here is the response:

296 and H110 are indeed the same product.


Mike Daly
Customer Satisfaction Manager
The Hodgdon Powder Company Family of Propellants:
Hodgdon Smokeless Powders
Pyrodex Muzzleloading propellants
Triple Seven Muzzleloading Propellants
IMR Smokeless Powders
Winchester Smokeless Powders

As far as the H414=W760 question is concerned, from looking at load data, I've suspected they're the same as well but I couldn't get Hodgdon to confirm that.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
Actually, I did contact Hodgdon and here is the response:

296 and H110 are indeed the same product.


Mike Daly
Customer Satisfaction Manager
The Hodgdon Powder Company Family of Propellants:
Hodgdon Smokeless Powders
Pyrodex Muzzleloading propellants
Triple Seven Muzzleloading Propellants
IMR Smokeless Powders
Winchester Smokeless Powders

As far as the H414=W760 question is concerned, from looking at load data, I've suspected they're the same as well but I couldn't get Hodgdon to confirm that.

And now both are owned by Hodgdon

Yes 296 2400 110 along with IMR 4227 are excellent powders 4 44's .

If you walked a mile in my shoes you would be bare foot !.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
The standard Redhawk loves H110. The BH, SBH and SRH loves 296.
YES, they are the same powder but there is a difference in the burn rate and don't let anyone tell you that you can't tell the difference. You will pull your hair out trying to get H110 to shoot accurate from the SBH and SRH and the same with 296 out of the RH.
.

bfr,

That's a ridiculous assertion that in general H110 works better in any given Redhawk and the Blackhawk revolvers favor W296. MAYBE in your guns! But don't kidd youself to believe that holds true for any other gun.

I've used H110 and W296 almost by the keg in my .44's and .45 Colt's and never detected anything more that normal lot to lot variations one would encounter with any other canister grade powder. Both produce similar velocity and accuracy from my revolvers - when the rest of the components are kept standard. This holds true for bone stock revolvers to a few Bowen customs and FA revolvers that I have experience with. Your mileage may vary...