.44 Magnum Loads

[kid44]

I have a S&W Model 29 with 4" barrel. it is a pre endurance package gun.  S&W strongly advised I shoot nothing bigger than factory 240 grain loads in it.
While I may not get to bear territory very often I occasionally do.  I also have a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44, is it safe to assume I can move up a bit from
240 grain loads in it?  Thinking in the 300 grain range, both jacketed and hard cast.

[potatojudge]

With a 300 grain bullet there's no reason to push the bullet real hard. Load to 1000-1100 fps and you'll be well under book max for most powders.

If modest heavy bullet loads are harder on a revolver than hot light bullet loads I'd appreciate someone explaining why.

[rjm52]

I've settled on a 260 Keith with 10.0 grains of Unique as my do everything load...

Have to check what it is doing for velocity from a 4 5/8" barrel but I think it was just over 1100..what else does one need...

[tj3006]

If you're SBH is in good working order you should be able to shoot any published load.
There might be some data available for the Contender or maybe some freedom arms or rifle loads I never heard of but I have put some smoking Buffalo bore ammo through all my Rugers.
They work just fine. However you might not want to do to much of that,just do to excellerated ware.
But you sure do not need to baby a SBR. ...Tj

[markwell]

My son and I have both carried S&W 29-2s in bear country loaded with 300gr. LBTs ahead of a goodly charge of W296. Both my son's 6.5" gun and my pair of 5 inchers have held up well over the years but, we don't shoot a lot of the heavy loads. Our go to load for most uses is a 245gr 429421 Keith bullet running just a tad over 1000fps. I'd think your Ruger would be the more robust of the two revolvers you have.

As I've aged and my joints went south I have switched to carrying a 10mm 1911 in big bear country. Our load is a 200gr. RNFP-GC hard cast bullet from Montana Bullet Works running about 1250fps. with a goodly charge of AA#9. The 1911 is way easier on our joints and we can more effectively put hits on target with the autoloader. Where we live we only have Black Bears and although we tote a handgun almost daily when out and about the bears are not much of a consideration.

[bula]

Kid44, what loads have you been using in this M29, all along ?

[jgt]

Individual guns are a category of their own, but overall the Smith & Wesson 44 magnums held up fine to hunting loads. They just weren't designed for silhouette shooting competition using the loads it took to knock over steel targets.
I have owned and shot many over the years and never had a problem with them. My 629 no dash was designed on the 29-2 platform and I used to load it with a cast 379 grain Keith style bullet over a 680 powder charge. It was my go to bear country load. I still have the gun today and can tell no ill effects. I would guess your wrist and elbow joints would give out before the gun. YMMV.

[bigbrowndog]

With 240gr. FMJ loaded to factory specs I would feel well prepared for bear protection, I’ve loaded similar for the wife’s SW 69. Loaded 240’s at 1100-1200fps using the old Hornady FMJ’s, if doing it today I’d look at a 240gr. Mono.

Trapr

[rjm52]

Just checked my .44 Data:
OM SBH 4 5/8"

Accurate Molds 43-235V 230 grains/8.0 Unique/920

MP Keith Solid 261 grains/10.0 Unique/1115

MP Keith PP 245 grains/10.0/Unique/1150

LBT WFN 284 grains/10.0/Unique/ Have not chronoed yet but I'm guessing 1075-1110 fps...

[gsokk]

Mar 3, 2023 11:30:55 GMT -5 kid44 said:

I have a S&W Model 29 with 4" barrel. it is a pre endurance package gun.  S&W strongly advised I shoot nothing bigger than factory 240 grain loads in it.
While I may not get to bear territory very often I occasionally do.  I also have a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44, is it safe to assume I can move up a bit from
240 grain loads in it?  Thinking in the 300 grain range, both jacketed and hard cast.

Where is bear country? Pennsylvania vs Montana, makes a difference I would think. I live in PA and never seen a bear except on the golf courses in the Poconos. In the woods or on the many trails in NE PA stand pressure 44 mag in a Keith style bullet or Buffalo Bore low recoil 44 mag is what I use in my SW performance center snubby 44 mag. For the heavy loads 300 grains and up, the OAL of the cylinder might be too short to accept those loads. In terms of power, do you really need those monster loads and need to push them at higher velocity? My Freedom Arms M83 in 475 pushes a 425 grain hard cast at about 950 FPS, and will penetrate like crazy. As another poster said, don’t need to push those heavier bullets too fast to be effective. In your SW I would think 240 grain loads will be more than you practically need but I’m not an outdoorsman or ballistic expert.

[kid44]

Mar 4, 2023 10:11:08 GMT -5 bula said:

Kid44, what loads have you been using in this M29, all along ?

Mostly, if not all Remington 240 grain JHP or JSP.. S&W strongly recommended nothing hotter
than factory loads.

[Encore64]

Heavier Bullets doesn't translate into "Hotter" Loads.

Should be quite easy to develop a 300 grn Load that produces less pressure than factory loads.

[kid44]

Mar 5, 2023 13:05:35 GMT -5 gsokk said:

Mar 3, 2023 11:30:55 GMT -5 kid44 said:

I have a S&W Model 29 with 4" barrel. it is a pre endurance package gun.  S&W strongly advised I shoot nothing bigger than factory 240 grain loads in it.
While I may not get to bear territory very often I occasionally do.  I also have a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44, is it safe to assume I can move up a bit from
240 grain loads in it?  Thinking in the 300 grain range, both jacketed and hard cast.

Where is bear country? Pennsylvania vs Montana, makes a difference I would think. I live in PA and never seen a bear except on the golf courses in the Poconos. In the woods or on the many trails in NE PA stand pressure 44 mag in a Keith style bullet or Buffalo Bore low recoil 44 mag is what I use in my SW performance center snubby 44 mag. For the heavy loads 300 grains and up, the OAL of the cylinder might be too short to accept those loads. In terms of power, do you really need those monster loads and need to push them at higher velocity? My Freedom Arms M83 in 475 pushes a 425 grain hard cast at about 950 FPS, and will penetrate like crazy. As another poster said, don’t need to push those heavier bullets too fast to be effective. In your SW I would think 240 grain loads will be more than you practically need but I’m not an outdoorsman or ballistic expert.

For me bear country would be Colorado and Wyoming, only black bears in CO and most likely wouldn't

run into a grizzly in WY.  I'm pretty sure, as you mentioned that 240's would be more than adequate.
If not, I need a bigger gun

[jeffh]

Mar 3, 2023 12:07:28 GMT -5 rjm52 said:

I've settled on a 260 Keith with 10.0 grains of Unique as my do everything load...

Have to check what it is doing for velocity from a 4 5/8" barrel but I think it was just over 1100..what else does one need...

Absolutely THE most shot and most useful load I found when I was still shooting the Mag.

I was using the 429421 at around 250 - 255 grains (mould variations) an JUST ran across the chronograph data for mine.  From two different 7.5" NM Bisley BHs and my last and favorite, a 7.5", OM SBH, I was turning 1150+ fps.  Easy to handle, economical, accurate, penetrated deeper into the backstop than faster loads.

I eventually found the 44 Special I wanted and got away from the Mag, but the tippy-top loads, which I rarely shoot in the 'Special do about that anyway.  Otherwise, I shoot 7 to 7.5 grains of Unique in the Flat Top 44 Special.

Tried to get away from that bullet for years.  As a kid, I heard "Elmer Keith this and Elmer Keith that" and figured there HAD to be something less archaic and more improved than something from several decades before I was born and brought light and wisdom to a world of darkness and ignorance.  No matter what I tried, that blasted single-cavity Ideal always made bullets which shot better and penetrated better than anything else I tried.  As other moulds went away and I began to accept the reality, I eventually (at about the age of 60) bit the bullet, so to speak and ordered a 4C clone of my old 1C 429421.

Sometimes the "old stuff" can't bet bettered, and I'm not one to admit that easily or readily.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that there are no bears where I live, and only black bears and maybe hogs anywhere I might manage to wander to.  I suppose if I could afford to move to someplace where there were big bears, I could afford to buy a new 44 Mag.  I'd still use that bullet and that load for most everything and maybe stoke it a bit if I was out and about where I might rub elbows with the BIG ursus varieties. 

[gnappi]

Way back when I loaded for the 29, 629, Super BH and Super RH I used mostly 265 grain JHP bullets with 4227 in all of them.