.44 Russian Load Data - 240 Gr JHP?

[RoyceP]

Well I think the first try was so successful it will be time to load the next 40 rounds the same way. I am using a Lee Turret press with the factory crimp die in the fourth hole. The recipe is 4.6 grains of Bullseye and standard large pistol Winchester primers. The 240 gr lswc plated bullets are crimped in the most forward crimping groove. This load is cleaner than the factory rounds I shot previously and it also has less recoil. It shot about the same at 4 - 5" low.

I ended up modifying my point of aim to compensate and was rewarded with fairly tight grouping around the bullseye of the target despite the awful sights on this revolver. I last shot anything with Bullseye powder about 20 years ago. It seems the new recipe is indeed much cleaner.

 

[Unclenick]

Glad you got something you like. As you've rediscovered, it is, indeed, principally the bullet weight that determines POI.

I always hate suggesting filing a front sight down, but it can be done nicely and with a good job of following the original contour by draw filing. If you've never done it, you hold a common mill bastard single-cut file (the kind with the straight diagonal teeth) sideways and with the handle tang in your left hand and draw it toward you over the work. You can also put the tang in your right hand and push, but I find I have more control and can see the file is square to the work better by drawing it toward me. I always sharpen lawn mower blades this way because of the straight, clean edges it produces.

You have to be on the lookout for pinning, which is when the filings stack up in the teeth and the file then drives them into the work, marring the surface and gouging it. An old trick for avoiding pinning is to load the file teeth up with chalk by filing a piece of it. The chalk blocks the swarf from finding its way into the tooth recesses. It also makes the file cut more slowly, but it leaves a very smooth finish that can often be cold blued with no further polishing. Alternately, you can clear the teeth with a rag or a file card (a file brush) every stroke and it will cut faster. Just don't follow the bad online advice to pull and push the file without switching which hand the tang is in. That method cuts in one direction and ruins the sharpness of the file teeth by bending their edges over against the metal in the other direction.

 

[RoyceP]

If I were to alter the front sight I would probably use a handheld high speed motor with a 100 grit disc. The front sight is brass which is super easy to work with but it tends to clog files. For now I am going to try a few different loads to see what I like best without altering anything on the pistol. I still have dreams of using the 44 Russian brass which would also eject easier. The ejector is not quite capable of sending each and every 44 Special case clear of the cylinder. If I flick it just right they come all the way out.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

My local reloading supply had some 240 grain copper plated SWC bullets in stock so I got a bag of 100 to experiment with. I've loaded ten cartridges using Winchester standard primers, Starline 44 Special brass and the starting load for Bullseye. We will see how well the first ten shoot and go from there.

This is the second time you have mentioned Winchester "standard" primers. In large pistol, Winchester does not have "standard" and "magnum" primers. All Winchester large pistol primers are standard/magnum.

(Unless something has changed fairly recently.)

 

[44 AMP]

I still have dreams of using the 44 Russian brass which would also eject easier. The ejector is not quite capable of sending each and every 44 Special case clear of the cylinder. If I flick it just right they come all the way out.

Are you doing it "right"?

The "proper" way to unload is with the gun pointing muzzle up. This allows for cases pushed by the rod to fall free (and they usually do) and also allows debris (ash, unburned powder, or other crud) to (mostly) also fall out of the gun rather than in to it.

Now, the rod should be long enough to push the cases all the way out, for those times when you just can't point the muzzle up, but that isn't always the case.

Since you are using a revolver, and a round that does not headspace on the case mouth, there is no mechanical reason you cannot use shorter cases

 

[Unclenick]

The front sight is brass which is super easy to work with but it tends to clog files.

The chalk trick helps with brass, too. But blackening brass requires a different chemical mix than cold blue (assuming you don't want it brass colored; I don't know what is "period correct" on that gun design).

 

[RoyceP]

Yes I am doing all that. The ejector rod is not long enough to push 44 Special cases clear. 44 Russian cases, which are closer to the same length as the .44 Rimfire cases this revolver was originally designed for, should clear completely.


Quote - "Are you doing it "right"?

The "proper" way to unload is with the gun pointing muzzle up. This allows for cases pushed by the rod to fall free (and they usually do) and also allows debris (ash, unburned powder, or other crud) to (mostly) also fall out of the gun rather than in to it.

Now, the rod should be long enough to push the cases all the way out, for those times when you just can't point the muzzle up, but that isn't always the case.

Since you are using a revolver, and a round that does not headspace on the case mouth, there is no mechanical reason you cannot use shorter cases" - End Quote

 

[RoyceP]

I think originally the sight would have been blued on an old original version but my old eyes like the shiny brass so it's going to stay that way.

Quote UncleNick - "The chalk trick helps with brass, too. But blackening brass requires a different chemical mix than cold blue (assuming you don't want it brass colored; I don't know what is "period correct" on that gun design). " - End Quote