.44Mag Rifle loads

Tim

Tim

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I haven’t even touched my reloading gear since moving 2.5 years ago.

I picked up this lil guy this morning - Henry Big Boy X in .44 Mag - that I need to load some for.

780FDBD3-50A2-4FDF-8EC9-399A13BC17D5.jpeg

I have ~200 240Gr (.430) LSWC on hand. I also have a small quantity of 225gr FTX (LEVERevolution bullets) and 200gr HP/XTP.

Does anyone have 1st hand experience loading LSWC for these Henry rifles? Do I need to just - ummm - bite the bullet and order some plated round nose or….?

I’m just plinking at this point, so I’m not looking to spend hunting ammo $$$.

Oh, relevant powders on hand include
2400
Lil Gun
TiteGroup
Varget (?)
231 (?)
 
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I do not own a Henry but have never had feeding problems with lead SWC with my 44 Mag Marlin.
 
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Of the powders you have on hand, I’d try the 231 first. Unique has been a good powder to me using lead bullets in a rifle and 231 is the closest you have to it.

  • I never had good, consistent accuracy with TiteGroup in a rifle. Too fast burning, me thinks.
  • I have some experience with 2400 and lead bullets. For me, the velocity was certainly there, but not always the accuracy.
  • Same caveats for Lil Gun as for 2400.
  • I've no experience with Varget in .44 Magnum rifles.

Hope I’ve been of some help to you. Best of luck to you and have fun making those cans dance!
 
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The best group I ever got with my Marlin in 44 ,Mag was with cast 240g swc at mag velocity. It will pattern 300g bullets.
If the Henry is anything like the Marlin, you will need to try different loads, bullet types, etc.
Some rifles will feed everything, some are picky.
Mine has feed anything I throw at it including 44 Spl.
Ymmv
 
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Best bullets I found for 44mag rifle are 300 grain jacketed. 2400 of the powders you have. Alliant says 19 grs.
 
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BatteryOaksBilly said:
20 grains of 2400 will do you fine!!!!! For loads with much Less recoil and report try 18.5 grains of the same..
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That’s what I was reading.

Brass is tumbling now while I try to remember how to setup this Dillon.
 
Tested about 20 rnds of 240gr lswc over 7.1gr HP-38 & I was ringing steel with iron sights at 100yds 8 for 8.

More like a 44 special, but accuracy in an 18"bbl was fine by my standards.

EDIT: HP-38= Win 231, why I mentioned it.
 
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I posted my results a year or two back. Same exact gun. I was using 220gr JHP though, I believe. VV N110 was hands down the winner.
 
I never tried lead bullets in my 44mag Rossi rifle. I had great luck with the Zero bullets 240 JSP bullets though. I pushed them hard with 300mp powder. The loads with 2400 were much softer.
 
Here's my 44 Special mouse fart load, shoots fine in my Marlin 1895 also.

Gun: Ruger Redhawk (7.5” barrel) 44 Special case not Magnum

Load: 240 LSWC/HP with 3.5 Clays powder & Wolf LP primer

FPS: 664, 669, 675, 676
 
Been using cast in 44mag Win94 for several years and killed several deer with it. Industry standard leaves lots of manufacturers with boring their rifles larger, so don't be shocked if you need a larger diameter slug. Mine loves 310gr Lee cast at .432" dia. If cast is under size you can powder coat it - it will grow about .002" per coating. Jacketed is no problem. Of the powders you listed, I'd go with 2400.
 
I've shot LSWC's out of my Marlin .44 Mag with good accuracy. Cast hard (I have micro-groove), and I didn't try to push them too fast. Biggest problem is not running out of bullet lube and thus generating leading. Coated bullets pretty much eliminate that concern.
 
I recently ran some coated 240gr SWC Missouri Bullet Co. bullets with different amounts HP-38 through my 629 and Marlin 1894SS (20" barrel). Here are the results with the 1894 SS. Since HP-38 and W231 are "identical", the results should be similar.

Marlin 1894 SS .44M
HP-38/MBC 240gr SWC

8gr HP-38
1220, 1200, 1211, 1209, 1213

8.5gr HP-38
1237, 1251, 1237, 1242, 1244

9gr HP-38
1305, 1303, 1312, 1317, 1309

9.5gr HP-38
1344, 1342, 1340, 1347, 1339
 
Looks like the extreme spread dropped as the charge went up. It would be interesting to know the accuracy at the highest charge.
 
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Toprudder said:
Looks like the extreme spread dropped as the charge went up. It would be interesting to know the accuracy at the highest charge.
Click to expand...
It would be interesting. I'm thinking about loading up some more of the 9.5gr to see how they do. Keep in mind, it will be my 61 year old eyes and a Williams peep sight. It will probably be more accurate if I strap it down in some sort of shooting rest. ;)
 
bkv said:
It will probably be more accurate if I strap it down in some sort of shooting rest. ;)
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I always try to take myself out of the equation as much as possible. I always use a rest, even when testing handgun rounds. I would mount a laser on my 45 and adjust it a couple of inches low, so I was less likely to shoot away my aim point. (Lesson learned the hard way - :) )
 
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