44 Special vs 44 Magnum

[JEBar]

a bit of an oddity, the specs loading the same bullet :

44 Special's OAL is 1.615" and its case is 1.160"

44 Mag's OAL is SHORTER at 1.610" but its case LONGER at 1.285"

[fortyshooter]

That is interesting! Which manual did you find that load? Was the powder and amount used the same? Would like to see a picture of that Magnum load with the bullet really deep seated.

[fortyshooter]

Longest COL .44 Special I can find in my data is with the 307 gr. gr. Keith bullet at 1.600 and that is a long bullet at the top end of 44 Special +P 25000 psi.
Do you have any link on that data?

[JEBar]

the specs came from Nosler .... the bullet is a 240 JHP

my light load 44 Mag are 7.7 gr of Unique

in developing a light 44 Special Nosler calls for 6.5 to 7.5 gr of Unique .... I'll probably go with 6.5 for the first ones to be fired in our derringer .... depending on how it feels I may adjust a bit up or down

[RanchRoper]

How is 44 mag supply right for reloading or factory? I came very close to buying the 44 mag big boy when I first bought the Henry. Could have sent me down a whole different path instead of 45 Colt.

[JEBar]

from what I've seen, 44 Mag components are about as scarce as the vast majority of other calibers .... Starline is out of cases but then they are out of most others as well .... Ammo Seek does show some bullets, primers and cases for sale but as with others, at inflated prices

[fortyshooter]

How is 44 mag supply right for reloading or factory? I came very close to buying the 44 mag big boy when I first bought the Henry. Could have sent me down a whole different path instead of 45 Colt.

Well around here I haven't seen any .44 Mag or Special ammo on the shelves since the ammo shortage started. I did see 4 boxes of .357 ammo last week. Components for reloading....bullets can be found but still an issue with powder and primers.
If you shoot .357 Sig there is plenty of that sitting on the shelf at the same LGS!

[Shakey Jake]

I'm using the Nosler 200 gr JHP with an OAL of 1.495 using 4227 powder. My .44 mag load using the same powder is 1.610. Trim length for spcecial is 1.150 and magnum is 1.275

[Rifletom]

How is 44 mag supply right for reloading or factory? I came very close to buying the 44 mag big boy when I first bought the Henry. Could have sent me down a whole different path instead of 45 Colt.

Naw, you did just fine with the .45 Colt. You two were made for each other.