44 Mag Load Check for 12 inch Encore

[mikemayberry]

First, let me say I've read so many things on Graybeard and learned so much--thank you to all who contribute!

Second, my new 44 Mag Encore is begging for me to shoot it more often.  With that in mind, I will soon go to a friend's house who will introduce me to reloading.

We have talked about all the choices I can make and I think I have come up with a powder, bullet and primer selection.  He has okayed it and says it should work fine but I do have a couple of questions before I make my purchases.

My intentions (unless someone helps me understand I am making an error) are to buy Remington 240 grain Jacketed Soft Point bullets to be loaded with between 16 and 19.6 grains of Alliant 2400 and Remington 2 1/2 primers.  My brass has all been shot only once and is in great shape.

The Midway 44 Mag Reloading Manual shows this to be a recommended load that will be middle of the road with pressures ranging from 24400 to 34100 and velocities from 1207 to 1410.  These are out of a 8.27 inch barrel with a 1:20 twist.  

Questions:

What should I expect from my 12 inch barrel?

If this shoots well, it could become my deer and hog load for later this year.  Comments?

Please remember I am a beginner with the 44 Mag and want to shoot it well.  Don't need anything too hot yet and will max distance at 75 yards unless I get REAL good with this in the next 60 days.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Mike

[Questor]

Mike:

I think those bullets will be fine for both hogs and deer, but I personally prefer a hard, deep penetrating bullet for hogs. I don't have a lot of experience with hogs, but I have enough to know that soft bullets and hogs are not compatible because they are so tough that it really compromises penetration when those big bones are hit.  I switched to LBT hard cast bullets for this purpose, but have not tried them yet.  I am talking BIG hogs, of 350+ pounds. For smaller hogs, I think the Remington soft points will be fine.

For my use, I use two different kinds of bullets: Hornady 240 grain XTPs for deer, and heavier hard cast bullets for hogs to get maximum penetration.  

I have found the Remingtons to be accurate in my 10" Contenter barrel.

If the manual you refer to used a revolver for velocity testing, expect 300 to 400fps more with the 12" Contender barrel.  

I think you're using a good approach to start with. The 44 is a good cartridge to learn reloading with.  

If recoil is too heavy for you with the Contender, you can check into Pachmayr grips and foreend, and using lighter loads. 1200fps is sufficient and you don't need maximum velocity. Hopefully your buddy has a chronograph to help tune the velocity.

[ricciardelli]

Your loads may be okay for deer at a limited range, but I wouldn't want to use them on a 6" tusker who had his sights set on my legs!

2400 From 15.9 grains to 22.8 grains
 CCI-350 Primer

[Questor]

By the way, here is the link to what Alliant Powder publishes for a jacketed 240 grain bullet load:

http://recipes.alliantpowder.com/rg.taf?_function=pistolrevolver&step=2&bulletID=414&cartridgeID=1027&caliber=%2E44&cartridgedescr=Rem%2E%20Mag%2E&bulletdescr=Swift%20240%20HP

First rule of reloading: cross-reference multiple "big name" sources, like the powder manufacturers and bullet manufacturers.  My favorite manual is Speer's. My least favorite is Lyman (because the velocity information is practically useless.)

[Catfish]

To start with you should get 200 to 250 fps. more from your Encore, maybe more. Longer and no cylinder gap.
   I`ve been reloanding since the 1960`s and have setteled on 2 powders for 99% of my handgun loads. For plinking loads I use Bullseye and for heavy loads I use Win - 296. For the .44 mag. the Rem. 240 grn. JHP is an excellent deer bullet. I`ve found that the Serria 240 grn. HP are alittle more accurate, but they both preform well on the other end. The Hornady XTP bullets are as accurate as the Serrias, but they don`t expand well at handgun velosities. Is not Serrias, Rem. makes a goos second choice.
   The Rem. bullets are way to soft for hogs. I would recomand that you go with a hard cast bullet, preferably gas checked, and 300 grn. if you can find them.
   Your load slection should be a real good deer load, but if you want to play around alittle try the 296 and the Serria bullets, I like that load better. If you load 296 keep your loads near or at max. loads.