44 Special in 44 Magnum ?

[hammer]

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Not a question concerning the desirability or need for a 44 Special chambered handgun... Have too many 44 Specials for that.


When 44 Special cartridges are fired in the longer 44 Magnum chamber...

How much accuracy is lost compared to shooting 44 Special level loads in the longer 44 Magnum brass ?

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[jefats]

I haven't noticed any fall off of accuracy in my guns. In fact, if anything, accuracy tends to improve. Might be due to less recoil of the 44 Special.

Of course, you may find different.

[wadepatton]

do not buy the "conventional wisdom" that longer bullet jumps _always_ decrease accuracy.

i know this from single-six testing in 22lr and 22 short. i was using the gun for 50' offhand (two actually) competition and won a lot of matches with it. along the way i tested lots of 22 benchrest-quality ammunition. i also ran all sorts of "normal" quality ammo.

the best groups were printed with (are you ready for this) not lapua, nor eley tenex (or any of the "sub" tenex eley offerings), neither federal gold medal, nor any other long rifle ammo of any designation, the best groups were of the winchester wildcat high-velocity _short_ loading.

and it brought home the trophies.

what _will_ happen is that you'll build up a little crud in the chambers which may or may not cause difficulty loading magnums without a little brush-work.

think about how accurate many 357's are with 38 loadings.

************

oh, on second reading is see where you're going. 44spl in long brass--cleaner cylinder. hmph.

dunno-but don't let theorization about bullet jump keep you from using short brass. and don't forget the bigger cavern won't make the same pressure as it will in the shorter case-which could give rise to a load that prints better out of one case than the other. to which (can i ramble here?) i'd tweak the load toward the case i wanted to use by trying to match the pressure of the most accurate one.

m/o/f i'm getting some 44 russian brass for my plinker loads in the spl. it's a fool-proof way (i hope) of keeping my loads sorted when i'm shuffling through pockets and countertops and belt-loops of mixed ammo.

[hammer]

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To clarify...

Am interested in how 44 Special loads in 44 Special brass do in 44 Magnum chambered guns.


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[groo]

Groo here
Bullet jump is controled by overall length not case length..
Keith did this when he put more bullet out of the case and into the chamber.
You need only select a bullet with a shorter nose [shorter overall length] to get a 44 spec
in a 44 mag case.. [no worry about chambers dirt or damage]
Take a 44mag Keith bullet and crimp over the front band [like the first 357mags] and
you have a 44 spec [aka smaller powder space]

[mt]

Jul 7, 2010 16:32:13 GMT -5 hammer said:

.

To clarify...

Am interested in how 44 Special loads in 44 Special brass do in 44 Magnum chambered guns.


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I have two 5.5 in. Super Blackhawks that shoot one ragged hole with the 44 Specials loaded with 7.5 gr. Unique/ 240 gr. SWC.

mt

[wickerbill]

My 5.5" SBH shoots equally will with either 44 spl or mag cases. I see no fall off in accuracy with the shorter case.
Bill

[Deleted]

my seville hates 44 specials, and likes to be pushed hard. just that gun though

[dale53]

"Back in the day" several of us at my local gun club got seriously involved in PPC shooting. Some of us had .357 Magnums and some had .38 Specials. The question came up and I decided to run some tests with the club's Ransom Rest. I invited all who were interested to donate their guns for tests.

After testing many by shooting .38 Special target loads (148 gr WC ahead of 2.7 Bullseye) and factory WC loads, I found that most of the .357's shot VERY well with .38 Specials. The groups, where good quality bullets were used and careful loading ofter would group well under 1" at 25 yards. However, on occasion, I would find a particular revolver that didn't shoot as well with short cases as with the long cases. It didn't happen often but it DID happen.

The answer with the .44 Special/.44 Magnum was found to be the same.

You really need to test both to determine for yourself which works best for your particular revolver. The odds are the short cases will work just fine.

Dale53

[tas6691]

I have a S&W mdl29 with a 4 inch barrel that shoots heavy 44 special loads in 44 spl brass much more accurately than lighter 44 mag loads in mag brass. Recoil of the loads being pretty equal, I keep plenty of the 44 special loads on hand for this very reason.

I also clean the cylinder with a 44 caliber cylinder brush from Brownells to clean any fouling from the shorter cases. It never seems to be an issue though, as I dont clean all that often and I switch between magnum and special cases regularly. YMMV.

[steveb]

Sometimes theory and reality don't match up. The theory may be correct, but need a machine rest to show it. steve b

[AxeHandle]

There are differences in theoretical accuracy and real word accuracy.. We all know that the true test is shooting the cartridge in the gun...
FWIW the best gun builder I ever knew when asked about building a heavy barrel PPC gun on a K frame S&W 357 said, "Sell it, and bring me a 38 Special."

[hammer]

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Back in the 1980s when people shot 38 Specials in target competition...

A friend had two Colt Pythons chambered in 38 Special.

The cylinder was just long enough to hold flush-seated 148 wadcutters.

The barrel extended into the frame to make the smallest tolerance gap with the short cylinders.

Supposedly did well in competition.

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[AxeHandle]

Seems like that was a patented modification by a gunsmith named Fred Schmitt.. No doubt the flush seated WCs had a pretty good jump in the stock length cylinder. I think that the real advantage was the cylinder weight reduction for the DAO revolvers...

[mindustrial]

Have a 4" S&W model 66 that shoots 38 specials more acurately than mags.
Have a 629 that doesn't know the difference between specials & magnums.
Too many variables to make carte blanche statements