My dies are RCBS and I have an extra expander button that has been turned smaller for use with the .428" bullets. This same powder charge with the Keith 250 to 260-gr. Lyman's #429244 is used sparingly with 17.0 grains of #2400 but mostly with 7.5 grains of Unique for 950 feet per second while its somewhat smaller brother is a great performer at 1050 feet per second over 8.5 grains of Unique. Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Agency: The second bullet type was represented by the 240 grain The only reason I load the .44 Special to 1200 fps these days is to re-live history, to feel with my own two hands what Elmer Keith felt as he experimented in those long-gone days, to understand where the .44 Magnum came from, and to hunt with the loads that Keith hunted with back in pre-WWII Idaho. Trying to make a 0.430-inch bullet work for every one of these would be an exercise in futility if I was concerned about accuracy. This load, while performing more than adequately, does not have the bone jarring qualities of a full house .44 Magnum. This load … The .44 Special with heavy loads in the early Smith & Wesson and Colt Revolvers was the first true hunting sixgun cartridge and remains an excellent choice today for deer-sized game at reasonable ranges. Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources, State Agency: Box 856 It is truly one of the finest forty-fours ever assembled. SWC, 240 gr. The four-inch find was sent off to Bowen for a complete bead blast and re-bluing and I now have a double action companion .44 Special working sixgun to my single action Flat-Top conversion that is one of my favorite sixguns. from my 8 3/8" Model 27 and is the most accurate load I have found for it. (800) 811-0548 www.rcbs.com, Speer Bullets https://gunsmagazine.com/handloading-2/reloading-the-44-special The former owner was right. At first he had No. Sign-up now to to keep your GUNS Magazine content coming every week — no matter what! The ammo companies, however, were really worried about what would happen to some of the older handguns with this new high-pressure .44 load. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, State Agency: Now most, at least those who are not devotees of the .44 Special, would immediately say no way the .44 Special could compete with these three magnums. Most of my .44 Special shooting these days is through what I call Perfect Packin’ Pistols. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, State Agency: My standard loads are assembled with 7.5 grains of either Unique or Universal, 17.5 grains of 4227, or 8.0 grains of Power Pistol. In guns like the SAW Magnum. of Unique is one of my standard loads at around 800 fps, however my most used .44 Special load is the 260 grain Keith bullet over 7.5 gr. Sure keeps things interesting. That, however, is only part of the glitch. 1105 FPS. For the mild .44 special loads, I recommend all lead bullets and loads that produce 700-850 FPS speeds. Bullets should be sized to fit chamber throats, and I have American-made .44 Specials whose chambers throats are as tight as 0.427-inch and as large as 0.433, as well as a Spanish copy of the old Smith & Wesson Triple-Lock, which has 0.437-inch throats. is also an excellent bullet for use in the .44 Special (below). This is one of the first “jacketed” bullets offered by Speer nearly 50 years ago. 605 Oro Dam Blvd. We can easily say without the Special there would not have been the magnum. The factory .44 Special load is little more than a squib, with a velocity of 800 feet or less and owing to the shape of its round-nose pointed bullet, gives very little killing power. Except for his urgings we would probably have never seen the advent of the .44 Magnum. Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, State Agency: The .44 Special may be well over a century old, but for the reloader it is still brand-new. The Skeeter Load (7.5 grains Unique and a 250 -260 grain cast bullet) is widely used because Skeeter Skelton promoted it in many articles. Doesn't cut & paste as original, but you should be able to figure it out: 44 S&W Special 225 gr cast SWC GC Remington 1.5 5.5 CCI 300 Bullseye 5.5 903 - 44 S&W Special 200 gr Speer GSHP Remington 1.49 5.5 CCI 300 Bullseye 5.9 884 - 44 S&W Special 240 gr Speer LSWC Remington 1.475 5.5 CCI 300 Bullseye 5.2 793 - 44 S&W Special 250 gr cast (Keith) Remington 1.58 5.5 CCI 300 Bullseye … Performance was perfect. Keith spent thirty years extolling the virtues of the .44 Special until we finally saw the birth of the .44 Magnum as a direct result of his campaign for a " .44 Special Magnum". For a long time now I have tried to take care of Ruger's oversight by grabbing up every reasonably priced Flat-Top (1955-1963) or Old Model (1963-1973) Ruger .357 Blackhawk I could find to have them converted to .44 Special by someone like Hamilton Bowen or Andy Horvath. and the 359429 loaded into .38/44 loads at 1100-1200 fps was far more effective than any of the existing .38 Special loads of the day. This is their 225-grain SWC-HP. They holster easy, carry all day without weighing me down and shoot very pleasantly with minimum felt recoil. Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, State Agency: New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife, State Agency: The .44 Special Keith load pre-dated the .357 Magnum and when the latter arrived Keith said his bullet at 1,200 fps was still a much better choice for game than the new .357 Magnum 158-grain bullet going 200 or 300 fps faster. Middletown, CT 06457 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, State Agency: 80 powder to work with and got up to 1,100 fps with his bullet. Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, State Agency: I have pretty much standardized at .428" and .430" diameters when sizing cast bullets for the .44 Special. bevel-base machine cast bullets from Rushmore(P.O. "Why is this gun so cheap?" This was The .44 Special: It’s a classic cartridge, one that suggests sixguns, the Old West, and Dirty Harry.Elmer Keith, Remington, and Smith and Wesson created the .44 Magnum, but Clint Eastwood is the guy who put it on the map. Pennsylvania Game Commission, State Agency: Ruger never has made a .44 Special although the original plan was to offer the .357 Blackhawk that first saw the light of day in 1955 in both .44 Special and .45 Colt. hollowpointed (above, left and middle) and the hollowpoint version John recovered from Of course, the bottom is totally flat with no bevel. The solution is simple; use Remington brass for reloads with .430" bullets and Winchester or Federal brass for the smaller bullets. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, State Agency: Alliant Powder West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, State Agency: I see no need to 'magnumize' the .44 Special when the .44 … With a 5-1/2-inch-barreled sixgun such as the Colt New Frontier or Freedom Arms Model 97, 9.0 grains of Unique is just under 1,150 fps. Next, we cover the .44 Special. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, State Agency: (800) 379-1732 As the reliable reference book, Cartridges of the World, points out, as an accurate and powerful big-bore revolver cartridge, the .44 Special was never factory loaded to its full potential.“It was left to the handloader to develop truly effective hunting loads … Experiments to maximize the .44 Special’s big-game hunting potential by men like Elmer Keith culminated in the .44 Magnum.” Keith bullets, here shown standard and Factory 44 Special loads with 240 grain lead bullets are already pretty docile if not downright pathetic. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, State Agency: Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, State Agency: It is a natural outgrowth of the half-jacketed bullets of the time, and unlike traditional jacketed bullets, this one consists of a full-length copper cup with a lead core. Loadings of 7.0 to 7.5 grains of Universal were used in Remington brass with CCI #300 primers and three bullet types. Left to right:-- 250 gr. With 6.0 grains of Unique and a 5-1/2-inch sixgun, the result is a very pleasant shooting, and accurate, load of 825 fps, or slightly more than the original .44 Special loading from more than 100 years ago. Two superb cast bullet designs for the .44 Special were designed by Ray Thompson back in the early 1950's. The Keith bullet has been the standard for loading the .44 Special For the recently offered lightweight .44 Specials sixguns, such as the 3-inch S&W Model 396 and the Charter Arms Bulldog Target revolvers, I use the Speer 200-grain Gold Dot HP designed for the .44 Special over 7.7 grains of Universal. How can store-bought shoot better than home cast? His two .44 Special bullets are by Lyman and are #429244GC and #429215GC. This is the same Thompson whose name is attached to the famous #358156 gas-checked bullet designed for the .357 Magnum. JHP-SWC 7.7 gr. The Keith load is WAY too hot to put into my lil .44 snubby. Keith used 18.5 grains of 2400 in old style brass only. A recent session with the relatively new Universal powder from Hodgdon's points up the joys and frustrations of shooting a sixgun. During the 1920’s. However, it is a +P 44 Special load at 20,000 psi. New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, State Agency: Unique 1089 FPS, Speer 225 gr. Some three dozen plus .44 Specials have been in my hands at one time or the other over the last thirty-five years with barrels or frames marked Charter Arms, Colt, Cimarron, Great Western, Hartford, Rossi, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, and Taurus but the one gun I lust over now is CCI's Allan Jones' Colt New Service Target .44 Special. The traditional load that any aficionado of the .44 Magnum can name without reference to any loading manuals is Elmer Keith's famous 250 grain cast SWC propelled by 22 grains of Alliant 2400 for an average of around 1,400 fps. I don't think I'd want to stoke the Charter Arms Bulldog up with any .44 Special handloads cranked up to "Elmer Keith" levels but there's some good factory loads out there (the Federal 200 grain lead SWC-hollow point comes to mind) and any good handloader could do a great job making equivalent moderate yet capable .44 Special ammunition. Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Rhode Island Department of Fish & Wildlife, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Mississippi Deptartment of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks, Minnesota Deptartment of Natural Resources, Michigan Deptartment of Natural Resources, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources. Enter To Win A Walther PDP Compact 4" Prize Package! Wesson guns. Lewiston, ID 83501 However, it is a +P 44 Special load at 20,000 psi. Lubed, sized and with gas check applied, it weighs around 220 grains. I've heard that before. Nonetheless, the new cartridge was developed directly from the .44 Special design by simply lengthening the older case by .125 inch. The great grand difference was the new sixgun, the first N-Frame from Smith & Wesson. This same bullet over 6.0 gr. There are many bullets and bullet designs offered bearing the name Keith, which has become somewhat generic, however, just because a bullet is of the semi-wadcutter design does not make it a Keith bullet. HP, .44 with 225 gr. I suspect #2400 has gotten hotter over the past forty years and one would do well to drop back to 15.5 grains and work up slowly. I recently read a declaration of the “fact” for reloading the .44 Special a cast bullet is standardized at 0.430-inch. Keith tested his new bullet on all manner of critters (jack rabbits, grouse, porcupines, etc.) www.oregontrailbullets.com, RCBS When I wrote my first book, Big Bore Sixguns, I put forth the idea the .44 Special was the Cartridge of the Century—20th century of course. SWC, 240 gr. When the new solid brass arrived in the 1950’s, Keith cut his load down to 17.5 grains of 2400. At this stage of my life I am not looking for the most powerful loads possible. 17 Caliber.172” Diameter. It turned out to be a re-chambered .357 Magnum Highway Patrolman fitted with a Smith & Wesson Model 24 barrel. www.hodgdonreloading.com, Lyman Products 6430 Vista Dr. State Agency: In the late 1920’s, Keith, after blowing up an old black powder .45 Colt Single Action Army, switched to the .44 Special to get the power he wanted. The .44 Special is now nearing its ninetieth birthday and has been hopelessly outgunned by the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, and the Linebaughs and Maximums. New Hampshire Fish & Game Department, State Agency: Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, State Agency: Bill’s personal sixgun and has cylinders in .44 Special, .44 Magnum and .44-40. I like Power Pistol in .44 Special. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, State Agency: www.alliantpowder.com, Hodgdon Powder Not too long after the arrival of the .44 Special sixgun and cartridge, a man by the name of Heath in Massachusetts designed what would become known as the semi-wadcutter bullet. It has died many times but always seems to resurrect. www.lymanproducts.com, Oregon Trail Bullets Oroville, CA 95965 Officially it was the 1st Model Hand Ejector, also known as the New Century and best known by collectors and shooters alike as the Triple-Lock. I calculated that I am getting around 529 ft-lbs and about 965 ft/sec. Keith's suggested designation for the proposed .44 caliber round was the ".44 Special Magnum," but when Remington Arms developed the cartridge they chose to name it the .44 Remington Magnum. For the mild .44 special loads, I recommend all lead bullets and loads that produce 700-850 FPS speeds. This is not a true Keith bullet and even has a bevel base; however, it often amazes me how well it shoots. If the chamber mouths are also sized accordingly, that is, tight when mated with .426-428" barrels and larger with the barrels that mike out at .430" or more, then the best accuracy is delivered with bullets sized accordingly. I did use this load a few years back to take two feral pigs one of which weighed over 500 pounds and the other right at 650 pounds. Going up to my standard load of 7.5 Unique registers just over 1,000 fps from a 4-inch S&W Model 1950. The Triple-Lock was a beautifully made sixgun and got its name from the fact it locked at the front of the ejector rod, at the back of the cylinder, and then with a third meticulously machined lock where the yoke meets the frame. If President Biden gets his way, there's a good chance the federal government will make AR ownership difficult, if not impossible. 429421 cast bullet to a muzzle velocity of 1,200 fps. soft cast HP @ 1000 fps out of a 2 inch revolver, (Item 20A) but with a 190gr. For a short time there was a .38/44 cartridge, simply a .38 Special … Very pleasant to shoot and will shoot right at one-inch in a good sixgun at 25 yards. SWC-JHP, .44 with 250 gr. Cast from my alloy, which is normally old-style wheelweights or a 50-50 alloy of pure lead and type metal, all Keith bullets weigh approximately 250 to 260 grains. Now let’s get down to why I consider the .44 Special the Cartridge of the last century. I only go above this level with lighter weight bullets. Outgunned maybe but never outclassed. It was a rather strange looking sixgun with its dull blue finish overall except for the contrasting four-inch barrel which was bright blue and was marked ".44 S&W Special". They had been chambering their top-break sixguns in the magnificent .44 Russian since the 1870’s. Keith's original load in .44 Special balloon head brass went right at 1200 feet per second from a seven and one-half inch barreled sixgun. This is a powerful loading that will give a full 1200 feet per second but is one I use very sparingly anymore. I read the article by John Taffin, one of my all-time favorite gun writers, regarding the Ruger Bearcat. Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, State Agency: Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources. I also especially like the Keith bullet as it drops from both the RCBS 44-250KT and the NEI Keith 260.429 molds. dard .44 Special load consisted of 7.5 grains of Alliant Unique combined with the 250-grain Lyman cast bullet 429421 at about 950fps. Elmer Keith came up with what is universally known now as the Keith bullet. Michigan Deptartment of Natural Resources, State Agency: This is still a very hot load, and especially with currently produced 2400, I normally use it only in .44 Special brass to be fired in .44 Magnum sixguns. It's best to shoot all lead bullets outside to avoid lead fumes. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, State Agency: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, State Agency: First, one of my all time favorite .44 cast bullets, NEI's duplicate of Keith's original design, the 260 grain #260.429. When I duplicated his load using the older style brass and 2400, I got just over 1,200 fps from a 7-1/2-inch barrel. I have shot sage hens with Western factory .44 Specials and wounded them through the bodies, and then have them run off and hide themselves in the brush. I have taken some large feral pigs in the 500- to 650-lb. And the time was ripe to take the cartridge to its ballistic limits. Muzzle velocity is 750 to 775 fps and groups under 1-inch for 5 shots at 20 yards in the 5-inch Charter Arms. North Dakota Game & Fish Department, State Agency: A four to five and one-half inch .44 Special in an El Paso Tom Threepersons holster on a two and one-half inch lined belt with twelve cartridge loops on the off-side, a day in the Idaho mountains, foothills, or desert, well it just doesn't get any better than this.
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