HD load for .44 magnum

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Willie Lowman

New member
While talking to one of my cousins after Christmas dinner he showed me a Taurus .44 mag. It is his first handgun, and it is his only handgun. (He's 6'4" and 350, he can handle it.) He isn't learning to shoot on this gun, it's just the first one he has bought.

Anyway, I find out that this .44 is his HD gun (his other gun is a .243) and he keeps it loaded with 240 grain JSP. Yes, he lives in town. Yes, over penetration issues. Yes, I know it is a bad idea but that is the gun he has and those are the bullets in it.

Now I come to you, my TFL brothers and sisters to ask, what if any decent .44 mag or .44 special loads are there for HD? There don't seem to be any +p .44 specials for some reason.

And no, getting a different gun is not an option. Finding a more suitable round is.

Thank you.
 
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Winterhawk56

New member
Load in .44 special range if you are worried about over penetration. Perhaps with some testing you may come up with a "house load". I am cautious about placing reload information in this forum.

I would start with the bottom chart loads for Hornady .44 Mag in the 200 or 240 grn XTP, speer also. They work great and with most center mass hits may partially eliminate the chances of having high exit velocity and perhaps will greatly deminishes the chance of exiting your intenden target.

Interesting question.
 
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Shotgun693

New member
Both Winchester and Federal make .44 Spl ammo that would do for defending the castle. Something close to a .45 Acp or .45 Colt round will do nicely.
 
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Winterhawk56

New member
In that case I would look for a 240 Grn Lead or semi jacketed .44 special rounds. Most are sub sonic and usually have the characteristics he may be looking for.:D
 
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Technosavant

New member
I'd probably go with a Federal Hydra-Shok or a Winchester Silvertip. Hornady also has three different weights of their XTP bullet available too.

Any way you cut it, you're not going to find a defensive .44mag load that will allay fears of overpenetration. If you step down to a .44spl, you might save some of that, it's still a competent round for defense (the .44spl +P is called the .44 Remington Magnum; that's why you don't find any). That would also open up the CCI/Speer Gold Dot, and that might take enough of the edge off to make it worthwhile.
 
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Hook686

New member
At the low end I have found Blazer 240 grain JHP

At middle ground Speer Short Barrel 200 grain GDHP, or Buffalo Bore Heavy .44 Special 180 grain JHP.

Then there are the barn burners.

I do not think it matters much what round you pick, you are going to get penetration. The above Buffalo Bore .44 Special has the muzzle energy of a lot of .357 magnum loads.
 
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Hal

New member
Blazer .44 Special.
200 grains - ~ 900 fps.
Shoots like a "big .22" - well maybe not that easy - but - it's a soft load on the recoil and flash side that packs a good punch.

I use it's virtual twin, the .45 Colt Blazer in my Winchester Trapper sometimes as a HD gun.

In that case I would look for a 240 Grn Lead or semi jacketed .44 special rounds. Most are sub sonic and usually have the characteristics he may be looking for
Click to expand...
Actually - you want to avoid anythig under 1100 fps. that has a semi jacket.
@ that low of velocity, it can shed the jacket in the barrel.
It happened to me with a 240 gr half jacket load I was working up.

Semi jacketed bullets should always be driven at the highest possbile velocity - which would defeat the OP's purpose.
 
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the357plan

New member
Some More Choices...

These are not too bad:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/527065/federal-premium-personal-defense-ammunition-44-remington-magnum-240-grain-hydra-shok-jacketed-hollow-point-box-of-20

If I were to use a 44 Mag for HD, this is what I would use:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/649873/speer-gold-dot-short-barrel-ammunition-44-remington-magnum-200-grain-jacketed-hollow-point-box-of-20

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/606574/winchester-super-x-ammunition-44-remington-magnum-210-grain-silvertip-hollow-point-box-of-20

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/379565/glaser-silver-safety-slug-ammunition-44-remington-magnum-135-grain-safety-slug-package-of-6

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/313476/glaser-blue-safety-slug-ammunition-44-remington-magnum-135-grain-safety-slug-package-of-6
 
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Crazy88Fingers

New member
From my own searches into .44 Special ammo it seems like Winchester and Speer are your two best bets. Buffalo Bore makes some as well that you may want to look into.
 
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Webleymkv

New member
Some good self-defense loadings in .44 Magnum and .44 Special are as follows:

.44 Special
Winchester 200gr Silvertip
Federal 200gr LSWCHP
CCI/Speer 200gr Gold Dot (available in both the premium and Blazer lines)
Cor-Bon 200gr DPX
Cor-Bon 165gr JHP

.44 Magnum
Winchester 210gr Silvertip
Federal 240gr Hydra-Shok
Hornady 180gr XTP
Remington 240gr SJHP
Cor-Bon 165gr JHP
Speer 200gr Short Barrel Gold Dot
Speer 210gr Gold Dot
Speer 240gr Gold Dot

As a note, all of the .44 Magnum loadings listed with the possible exception of the Speer Short Barrel and Cor-Bon loadings are still very penetrative and will easily pass completely through an erect biped and/or multiple interior walls. All of the loadings I've listed, however, do still expand aggressively and reliably. Please realize, however, that overpentetration is still possible with nearly any centerfire handgun bullet under the right circumstances and your tactics should take this into account regardless of what caliber you choose.

My personal choice is Speer 240gr Gold Dot and that is what my 4" S&W 629 is loaded with currently. While I no longer own anything chambered exclusively for .44 Special, when I did my loading of choice was Federal 200gr LSWCHP although I might lean more towards the Speer Gold Dot if my gun had a barrel shorter than 4" (the Federal sometimes has trouble expanding from short barrels).
 
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Shotgun693

New member
I carried the Winchester 200gr Silvertip and the Federal 200gr LSWCHP on duty. I never shot a person with'm but did shoot all kinds of other things including live targets. Having carried a .45 ACP at one time, I consider those two Special loads as about equal to the .45 ACP. If I were going to carry a .44 again I feel confident in either round.
I didn't worry that much about over penetration, it was the muzzle blast and being able to make a quick follow up shot that concerned me.
 
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