I had a great day at the range with my M44 and H&R Handi Rifle in 357 Magnum. The accessory 357 magnum barrel I got for my Handi Rifle is my favorite barrel on this rifle so far, with the 45 Colt being a close 2nd. I've been experimenting with heavy bullets in the .357 Magnum rifle. The 3rd Edition of the Lyman Pistol and Revolver Handbook has .357 loads intended for a 10" Thompson Center Contender Loads using the 204gr bullet #358315 and H110 grouped into 2" at 50 yards with no leading. From a 10" barrel these loads are listed at 1515 fps, the barrel on my .357 is 22" so they probably picked up another 200 to 300 fps from the extra 12" of barrel. I got these bullets from Western Bullet in Montana along with a variety of other unusual special purpose bullets. I also, tried a box of Federal/Eagle 158gr JFPs. They shot a bit higher and to the left of the Lyman loads, with groups opening up to 3”. These make a great dual gun load for the Handi and Blackhawk.
The M44 definitely likes the Hornady .312 150 gr SP bullets and Varget powder. At 50 yards I was easily keeping everything inside 2". Also, I put 10 rounds of the lacquered steel cases Czech light ball through my M44. This stuff is amazing clustering shots into an inch with the occasional flyer. After shooting the Czech ammo I ran 5 patches soaked in a mixture of 1 part Ballistol to 9 parts water to dissolve and remove the corrosive salts from the bore. The 1st patch came out black and by the time I ran the 5th patch through everything was pretty clean, I finished up with a couple dry patches.
