Knobmtn's load is a great one. And it'll do for 90 to 95% of the uses I have for a handgun. 8.5 gr. of Unique and a 240 to 250 gr. bullet has been my standard .44 mag load for about 25 years.

I just picked up a Taurus 44 Mag w/4" barrel. Does anyone have loads for a short barrel 44 with Porting?

I recommend you start with the usual loads for a .44 Mag and determine which loads the revolver "prefers". The porting is going to make most any load but the lightest seem loud.

4X4sneak:

I don't know what you want to shoot with your 44. I've found for general purpose fun shooting 8 to 9 grains of Unique and a 240 to 250 gr Keith type cast bullet would shoot an inch or better at 25 yards off sandbags in a half dozen Smiths. Its just a target type load, though, and easy to shoot.

knobmtn

Many years back there was an article in Handloader testing various pistol loads in a Dan Wesson 357, from 8", 6", 4" and 2" barrels. Only the 2" barrel had slightly better velocities with very light bullets and faster powders. Other then that very specific application, shorter barrels won't require different powders for top levels of performance.

I'd expect your velocities to be about 120-130 fps slower then for a 7 1/2" barrel, or say 30 fps slower then 4 5/8" barrels.

A 240-250 gr cast bullet over 10 gr unique will be at least as effective as the most potent 357 load, and much more enjoyable to shoot. You should also be able to load 300 gr @ 1100 fps, which will handle most NA game.

Thanks for the info. I don't expect to hunt with this revolver. I had a 7 1/2 SBH and did not hunt with it. I will pack it in the Mountains as bear protection.

Heck,our combat load was 10gr of Unique and It shore seemed puny to us. Pretty accurate though. When we wanted to upset the competition we used 24gr of H110 after sundown. derf

Try 21.0 grains of WW296 in front of a 325 grain hardcast bullet - estimated @ 1225 - 1240 FPS from a 4" revolver - your mileage may vary - good bear load, hope that you don't need it KMule