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Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

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fortyshooter
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Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by fortyshooter » Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:38 pm

Got down to my range this morning to see how my .44 Mag BBS Carbine would handle these mild 300 gr loads in .44 Special case.
This idea was so I could try my MB 300 gr. bullets using the 44 Special brass for a shorter than 1.700 COL. which would feed thru the Henry.

The 10 gr. 2400 loads clocked out at 927 to 945 FPS in the Henry where the 11 gr. of 2400 powder loads were in the 1160-1230 range.
However the Henry seemed to like the slower 10 gr. load being the one that delivered a nice group from 40 yds.
The 11 gr. load was for some reason all over the place with a possible key hole from looking at one impact hole.

Both loads were on target when testing for FPS over the chrony thru my Ruger 7.5 SBH.

Another strange happening was when shooting the 11 gr. loads thru my SBH revolver I would always get a error reading on my chrono but when shooting other loads including the 300 gr. with 10 gr. of 2400 I would get a reading.
The 11 gr. loads looked to be in same target area with no key hole but would no register a speed.

Anyway what did this all prove??
Well if I wanted a real easy shooting 300 gr. bullet load that would feed thru the Henry,using this particular MB bullet, 10 gr. of Alliant
2400 powder might be one!
Attachments
44 special 300 gr bullet key hole.jpg
44 special 300 gr bullet key hole.jpg (102.68 KiB) Viewed 1597 times
300 gr. 44 special target.jpg
300 gr. 44 special target.jpg (98.5 KiB) Viewed 1597 times
300 gr. 44 special test.jpg
300 gr. 44 special test.jpg (209.32 KiB) Viewed 1597 times
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by Vaquero » Sun Aug 11, 2019 4:28 pm

Nice, what did your oal end up being?

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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by fortyshooter » Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:18 pm

The OAL was 1.575 using the factory bullet crimp groove. I made 29 of them total since that was all the empty .44 Special brass I had
at the time. I had wanted to shoot a few thru my S&W M69 5 shot 44 mag revolver but ran out.
The .44 Mag case loaded with these 300 gr. bullets measures 1.700-1.705 and come close to the end of the cylinder in the M69.
Might load up some more.
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by JEBar » Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:38 pm

interesting report .... did you have enough space in the 44 Spec case to seat the 300 grain'er didn't compress the powder .. :?: .. if so, with the extra length of a 44 Mag case, have you considered trying one and seat the bullet to the last crimp ring ....
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by fortyshooter » Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:37 pm

JEBar wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:38 pm
interesting report .... did you have enough space in the 44 Spec case to seat the 300 grain'er didn't compress the powder .. :?: .. if so, with the extra length of a 44 Mag case, have you considered trying one and seat the bullet to the last crimp ring ....
These 300 gr. bullets from MB have same crimp groove location measured from bullet base as the 240 gr MB bullet which I also use
for .44 Mag and Special so there was plenty of space with the 10 and 11 gr. loads. These bullets have one crimp groove location and the extra 60 gr.
of weight results in an extended nose length.
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by fortyshooter » Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:40 pm

fortyshooter wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:37 pm
JEBar wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:38 pm
interesting report .... did you have enough space in the 44 Spec case to seat the 300 grain'er didn't compress the powder .. :?: .. if so, with the extra length of a 44 Mag case, have you considered trying one and seat the bullet to the last crimp ring ....
These 300 gr. bullets from MB have same crimp groove location measured from bullet base as the 240 gr MB bullet which I also use
for .44 Mag and Special so there was plenty of space with the 10 and 11 gr. loads. These bullets have one crimp groove location and the extra 60 gr.
of weight results in an extended nose length.
Now there are other 300 gr. conical shaped bullets that result in a shorter length that will be in the 1.600 COL when loaded in .44 Magnum but they sit lower in case...less powder volume and load data is listed for those.
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by JEBar » Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:52 pm

as I recall from a picture you posted, they also have a ring above (meaning toward the tip of the bullet) the place where you crimped in the picture .... you would like, you can then seat the bullet deeper and crimp the bullet on the top of that ring
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by Omegaspeedy » Fri Aug 16, 2019 7:00 am

Similar findings to how I found heavier loads from the BBS .44

Mine were 260gr and run faster than yours. Mine chrono'd @ 1350 (SD 15) and they felt too fast so wasn't surprised to see sideways action. I am however surprised to see a possible destabilised impact at only 927!! Obviously the twist rate does not do any plus 240gr any justice.

My Miruko shot the 260grs no problem.
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Re: Testing the 300 gr. 44 special loads.......

Post by fortyshooter » Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:01 pm

The 10 gr. of 2400 powder 927-945 FPS loads seem to shoot fine. It was the 11 gr. load at over 1100 FPS that had some grouping and possible key hole issues.
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