.44 mag to the range, finally!

[Ranger J]

I tried for three years or so to find loads that my .44 mag Handi barrel would shoot and finally gave up on it and sold it.  I turned around and got a new 1894 in .44 mag.  I have an 1894 in .357 and an 1895 in 45/70 and both shoot great but I was somewhat worried about some remarks about the accuracy of the .44 that were made in another site.  The remarks suggested that the l894 had the same over size bore as the Handi barrel.  I loaded up 12 different loads with four different size bullets from .429 to .432.  It didn’t like the .429 JSP with any of the powder loads that I shot it with.  The bullets completely failed to make any kind of group.  I tried two Hornady XTPs, 180Gr and 300Gr.  These bullets are sized .430 and both with a full load of H110 shot and grouped very well.  At 50 yards they tore a good size hole in the target.  I was shooting 10 rounds of each load I tried and if either of these two loads did not print in the two inch ragged hole it was because I pulled off.  The gun also liked some Laser Cast .431 size cast bullets if I did not push them too much.  With a light load of AA#2 they would also tear a single 2-inch or so hole.  This is great because this is a really light and more important cheap round to punch paper and kill cans with.  As I pushed these bullets faster they started to open up on the group except for a load of H110 which shoot well but I was afraid might be too fast for the plain base cast bullet.  I had a few Bear tooth 250gr Gc left over from the Handi experiments and they shot good with a max load of H110.  Too bad the shipping is so expensive on them.  Over all I am happy with the gun as I have found a good cheap cast load to mess around and if I choose to take the .44 deer hunting I know the Hornady 300s will do the job.  The 180gr Hornadys really make the gun jump and crack as they are probably going over 2000fps but would probably blow up if they hit a deer rib.  Just the same I am interested in what they would do to a groundhog or an armadillo.
RJ

[COLT45]

I get similar results with my Marlin .44 MAG--The 1-38 twist works well with 180 and 200 gr HNDY bullets--I am currantly using full load of W296.At 50 and 100 yds.
My luck with Speer 240 semi jacket HP and 240gr HNDY-SIL has been good -but not as good as with the lighter bullets. I have been using a 200 gr hard cast bullet with drylube and 2400 and have had good l luck at 50 yds, but have not tried 100 yds.