I shoot a BRP 290 grain cast gas check in my .44 mag. I've always used 296 powder but lately I've been shooting a lot of .22 Hornet and K-Hornet using Lil'Gun powder, as I'm buying it in 8lb kegs and it is supposed to be good in pistols I was wondering if any ones used it in their .44? If so hows it compare to 296 for velocity and accuracy? Thanks.

montdoug, good question! I would like to know too.

Here you go, striaght from the source:

Hodgdon Data for 44 Mag

That should get you the published velocity data. As to accuracy, I have tried it in the 41, 44, 45, and 480. The results are OK with regard to accuracy, but I seem to always get better groups with other powders. I always seem to get the best results with H110, 296, or 2400. YMMV

Stan, do you use the same charge with 296 and H110? I found a very slight difference in them and haven't figured out if I need a half gr. more or less with H110 to match 296. I ran out of H110 long ago so I can't test it.
It's the same powder but I still think the batches sent to Hodgden are in a different burn rate range then what is sent to WW.

I have to agree with Hobie. I have found 296 and H110 to be almost identical. I don't see any more difference between the two powders than I see between lots of the same powder. That said, I also seem to come back to H110 more than 296 for no particular reason. I use these powders for top end loads only, using the manufacturer's published data.

Lately, I have been leaning toward more moderate loads and have consequently been using more 2400 and Blue Dot. I get some amazing accuracy with these two powders in the 41, 44, and 45. You certainly don't get the velocity, but the speeds that I am getting are not too far off of 296 and H110. I also tend to use heavier cast bullets these days, and find that if I can get these bullets to speeds of 1050 to 1200 I have all the gun I need for any hunting I want to do. Plus, the loads are more pleasant to shoot. Just some food for thought when you are experimenting with new loads.

Have fun!

I've thought about trying some Lil-gun, but with WC820 at $8/lb I haven't shot much of anything else for awhile. It works great in my 44 and 454.

I haven't loaded Lil-gun in the 444, but have used it in the 480. Using it in the 480, I find that I get the same velocities and accuracy with 400 gr loads with both Lil-gun and H-110.

My prediction would be that you should be able to get the same performance with Lil-gun as W-296 using ~300 gr bullets. Lil-gun should be better with the lighter bullets, and H-110 better with heavier bullets.

Lil-gun is a faster powder then H-110.

at $8 LB,I will have to to try WC 820,got some coming from gibrass.com, Sean

I tried it in my .44 mag and it worked well enough. It did not seem to offer any advantages over H110/W296/WC820 in the larger bores to get me to switch. I love it in my hornet and is my #1 powder there and it did well in .357 mag though. I need to do some more with the .357 to match it against my favorite load ( 158gr over 16.0 H110 ) but it seemed more promising that with larger bores. If you're getting 8 pounds, that ought to be enough to feed several experiments. I say go for it.