.44 mag. reduced loads for jacketed bullets!

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

 Help , I have a bunch of jacketed 200, 210 and Speer 225 half jacket .44 bullets. Plus a lot of 44 mag. brass. I am no longer interested in hot heavy, handloads for my pistols. I would like a load of around 1000 fps. Even a bit less would not bother me. I have a bunch of 2400 I would like to use in these loads if possible. I checked the previous posts on this, and one offered a load of 12.5 grains of 2400 with the favorite being 14.5 grains. Now this is something like I have in mind. It didn't seem clear if the bullets used in this reply were cast or jacketed. I would like to use jacketed. Right now I have a load of 13.5 / 2400 /210 Rem. in a .44spl. case, beautiful. But Speer doesn't list 2400 for use in 44 spls. with the .225 grain bullet. All the .44 mag. loads run about 1400 fps. something I don't need on a normal basis.
1.What is the lightest starting load I can use in the 44 mag. case with 200-225's and 2400??

2.What is the deal with the 225 Speer and 2400 in the .44 spl. case? I thought 13.5 might be fine, but no info. Can anyone offer any suggestions??

[Graybeard]

Real light loads and jacketed bullets are a dangerous combination. How light is too light varies by bullet. The Speer half jacket bullets you definitely do not want to be loading light as jackets can stick and cores clear the barrel. This is still a barrel obstruction and can blow up on the next shot.

I'd say 900 or 1000 fps should be safe with most jacketed bullets but I'd not run the Speer half jackets that slow myself. I prefer to use cast when I want low velocity loads. I know that with cast bullets 12.5 and 14.5 grains of 2400 both have worked well for a friend of mine in the past and should do fine for you. With jacketed bullets I have no such experience with those loads.

[45-70.gov]

just save those jacketed bullets
you  will want hot loads again  some day

buy a mold from LBT on this forum   i  love my 28og  WFN  from veral
or  just buy  those cheap  swaged slugs

but  like  Mr.  Beard  said.....don't shoot  jacketed bullits slow 

[Sweetwater]

"According to the 1962 Speer #5 Manual"

44 Special 225gr Speer Jacketed Hollow Point Cat No 429-225-HP (half jackets)

Pressure test gun with 6.5" barrel        Winchester Cases        CCI300 Primers

14gr 2400 1016fps 12000(pressure unit unspecified)
15gr 2400 1106fps 15000   "          "          "
16gr 2400 1188fps 20000   "          "          "

The following information is not intended for beginners:

The same manual lists the 240gr half jacket with the same charge weights and very close to the same velocity and relative pressures. I've read in the past where those half-jackets needed to be kept at 1000fps minimum for the very reasons GB offered. With your 44 mag brass and 2400, which we know will burn ok at 44 special pressures, I would start at their listed starting load (for 44mag) and note the velocity, grouping; all the little tattle tale signs that tell you what is going on, and then go down, slowly, 0.5gr or less at a time and keep the lowest (not the average) but the lowest velocity above 1000fps - unless something else told me otherwise. Your cases will be really smoky on the outside as your pressures drop - just one more sign of what is going on. You may want to try a mag primer to change the pressure curve - if so, start over at the prescribed starting load.


Noting this is the old Hercules 2400 and you are probably using Alliant 2400, which is hotter - and it is a pressure barrel so no cylinder gap = a tad less velocity and a tad less charge for equal pressure in a standard revolver. This is not a "reloading situation", but falls into "handloading". This would be fun for me. I noted the brand new Alliant Reloader Guide does list for the 44Special 13gr of 2400 with the 250gr lead SWC at 965fps. Lead has less resistance than jackets, and 250gr has more resistance than 225gr - in theory. I also note the 250grSWC COAL for 44Special and the 225grHalfJacket COAL for the 44Mag are the same at 1.58" - Get out your Chrony, using 1000fps as your low minimum, and go to town.

Let us know your findings.

Regards,
Sweetwater

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

Thanks, this is about what I decided also. I didn't want anything super slow, around 1000 fps. or a mit more or less. I can load the 225s oveer 18.5 grain of 2400 according to a manual I have in mag. cases.  The .44 sp. will do mostly, but I have 500 or so new mag. brass I would like to use. Thanks again.

[Sweetwater]

My #12 Speer lists 17.5gr 2400 with the 225gr halfJacket in $$mag cases as a starting load. Firearm was a 7.5" Ruger Redhawk and CCI350 mag primers, yielding 1333fps (book). Your 18.5gr should run near 1375fps.

Do you have a Chrony or other Chronograph? It is cheap and may not be the most accurate, but I don't know how I got along without it! It is fairly consistent and it was cheap and it seems to work!

Regards,
Sweetwater

[BBF]

Smallest amount of 2400 for the Speer 225 is listed in Lyman# 48 for a pistol load on page 353 at  17.7 gr.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Thanks this is what I was looking at or for. I like the 17-18 grain starting loads. They shoot flat enough for my use. Sweetwater, I have a Crony, and use it some for rifle loads. With pistols I never used it much. But it would be a good idea. Thanks again