Been shopping for a 4" S&W Mod. 629, for back up & recreational purposes. Finally found a good one, & have it incoming for next week.

Although I realize that a longer barrel would be optimal for ballistic & accuracy reasons, I'm pretty much stuck on 4".

Wondering if anyone has worked up an accurate, efficient load for or hard cast or JHP projectiles w/ this platform? I'm really looking for something that is better then .44 Special velocity, but something a bit less then "full house".

Any input based on short barrel magnum experience, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Advice?

Wear ear protection and keep everyone else behind you...the muzzle blast is terrible in short-barreled magnums.

I like the hard cast Keith-type semi wad cutters myself.
Seems like anything I hit stays down.Or at least has a large hole completly thru it.
I have .44's in 4",6" & 8 1/2". I dearly love em all.
The 4" is easy to pack and you really won't notice velocity change in general plinking and hunting.
My carry load is 19 grs. of 2400, lrg. pistol primer(not mag)and a 240 grn Keith.These are very accurate in my 4" 29 and pleasant to shoot.
Get yourself some .44 special brass (Ebay).You will be surprised at the target loads you can develop.
www.reloadersnest.com has a wide selection of both .44 loads.

9.5 grns. of Unique will get you a little over 1000 fps.
That little pinch of powder will load a lot of fun out of a 1 pound can.

The .44 is a superb and very flexible caliber, giving fine results at almost any velocity which is practical, considering the case size.

I load all my .44s in the Magnum case. This prevents shorter-cased ammunition from building up fouling at the front of the charge holes, which can make it difficult to stuff in full-length cases without cleaning. Using only Magnum brass also removes the need for buying anopther brass type.

HOWEVER...if you use the same bullet design for both full-power and reduced loads, you must identify each cartridge in some way. (This can avoid some nasty surprises, like plinking a bear with a reduced load?!?!) I use Testor's model paints, running a bead around the primer annulus (groove) on each case. I use 'hot' colors (red, orange, yellow etc.) for full-power loads, and 'cool' colors (black, blue, green etc) for reduced loads. The paint comes out along with the used primer, and the system works great.

Here are side-by-side tests of a 4" S&W and a 7.5" Super Blackhawk, fired with the same ammo on the same day:

44 RCBS 250KT cast bullet, 255 grains:

13.0 Blue Dot, 4" average 1049, 7.5" average 1161

20.0 AA#9 4" average 1233, 7.5" average 1378

20.0 2400, 4" average 1177, 7.5" average 1303


429303 cast bullet, 200 grains:

23.0 2400, 4" av 1393, 7.5" av 1574


LEE 200 RNFP cast bullet, 200 grains:

obsolete powder, but compare velocities:

5.0 grains, 4" av 684, 7.5" av 766

6.0 grains, 4" av 870, 7.5" av 949

7.0 grains, 4" av 950, 7.5" av 1038.

As you can see, the velocity difference between barrel lengths is not all that great.

A favorite reduced load of mine with the RCBS 250KT bullet is 8.0 WW231, which leaves the 4" S&W at 922 fps with an extreme spread for 10 rounds of only 21 fps.

My 4" S&W is a Mountain Revolver, the lightest N-frame .44, and it is FAR nicer to shoot with loads like the last one mentioned, than it is with the hell-benders. I now use only my own cast bullets in 99% of my handgunning, and do not miss the jacketed ones at all.

I think you're definitely on the right track. Best of good shooting to you, gcf....

I'm w/ Poletax. Keep the M/V at or around a K and it'll do fine. You start pushing cast, even tempered hard cast, past 11 or 12 and the riflings will strip the bullet and accuracy goes out the window. Not to mention the 8 lbs. of lead you'll have to get out of the leads of the grooves.

Now, puncher, I just HAVE to disagree with you.

You see that load in my post above, with the 200-grain cast .44 bullet at over 1500 fps? It gives ZERO "leading", excellent accuracy, and generally is a heck of a good load. My .41 Mag is a Model 57 Smith with the 8.375" barrel, which is routinely loaded to well-over 1400 fps...same thing, fine results and no leading.

The biggest problem with cast bullets in revolvers lies in mismatched internal dimensions. The chamber throats should be LARGER than the groove diameter of the barrel, and the bullets themselves should be LARGER than the throat diameters. In this way, a positive gas seal is obtained in the chamber throat, and then another positive gas seal is obtained in the forcing cone and barrel. The bullet should actually be sized down a trifle in the throat, and sized down slightly AGAIN in the barrel. It is gas, blowing past the bullet, which melts the sides of the bullet and causes most "leading".

It is perfectly possible to get excellent full-power magnum revolver performance with cast bullets. The great flaw with using "hard cast" commercial bullets is that they are NOT sized to our individual guns. Most commercial .44s are very hard and sized to .429"....too hard, and too small. My .44s are sized and lubed in a .432" die, which is actually larger than a couple of my moulds will cast, but even those bullets are around .431" as-cast, and that's the way they're shot.

I have no trouble with leading in my 44s, even with quite-soft alloys. Really hard alloys are un-necessary for conventional straight-case revolver cartridges, and can even INCREASE leading tendencies because they're too hard to "bump up" under pressure to seal the chamber throat.

The "leading" phenomenon is easily eliminated with the right tools and knowledge. Many of us are now driving cast RIFLE bullets into the over-2500 fps velocity area in experiments, with considerable success.

Bullet-casting is a great addition to a shooting hobby, lemme tell you. Come over to "Cast Boolits" for a visit (find it with a Yahoo search).

If you want a real monster stopper load go with a 300gr plus harded cast Large flat point. I use to shoot JHPs in my 44 but after hearing of some trouble with them on larger game I brought a Lee 310gr mold and loaded some up. Lots of penitration. If you are talking most 2 legged varmits I would go with a 200 JHP put your talking 4 legged ones the very heavy harden cast ones are the way to go.

I use 21grs. 2400 w/240XTP, 1425fps(chroned), I can hold 4" groups at 50 yds.,(opens)7.5" Redhawk, Ransom rest I'm sure could do a better job, never was able or had the chance to try it out on deer, what are you deer chicken or what? Jay

For game I like 16.5 grains of 2400 with a 300 grain XTP. (Work up slowly as I use the slower "OLD 2400") For humans, I like the 180 grain XTP with 2400.