44 special in a 44 mag barrel

[stxhunter]

Just installed my new 44 mag barrel. I do not plan to do my own reloading anytime soon. Hunting loads will be 44 mag and practice will be 44 special low velocity most likely. Any pro's or con's on shooting soft cast lead 44 specials out of the 44 mag barrel? I have heard it might cause  lead build up in the barrel or other problems. Any advice would be welcome.

[I make oil]

I only shoot .44 Mag out of mine.  I don't find that I save that much on the ammo to justify the .44 special.  The recoil is not as bad but my guns don't  recoil that bad to me with .44 Mag.  I do often shoot cast reloads from a local loader here as I do not reload yet and have not had any trouble with leading in any of my guns.  However, I clean my guns after shooting and seldom shoot more than 50 rounds a trip through them.  I shoot a Blackhawk a Contender and a Marlin 1894 all in .44 Mag.  One of my favorite calibers.

[Grumulkin]

There is nothing wrong with shooting 44 Special in a 44 Mag.  The 44 Special case is shorter than the 44 Mag. case so you can have powder buildup, leading and/or erosion of the camber ahead of where the 44 Special case ends if you shoot it a lot that way.  Buildup of lead or powder residue could cause difficulty chambering 44 Mag. cartridges if you don't clean it adequately.

[stxhunter]

Shot about 50 rounds of 44 mags this weekend. Recoil was lighter than I thought it would be so I will stick to the mags. Thanks for the info.