44 special loads with H110 powder?

[kalen adamson]

hi new to this forum, i look forward to getting to know it better, does anyone reload 44 special? i have this H110 powder & some 200 gr XTPs i gotta get rid of, Iv been told to use the max powder load possible with that powder & that light of a bullet, so just how many grains can i cram into that special case? i was figuring somewhere around 20 gr. anybody have any ideas?

[SHR970]

1) welcome to the forums
2) this should be in the reloading section
3) You have the wrong powder for the application...completely the wrong powder
4) If you proceed in the direction you are going, you will most likely spontaneously disassembly your firearm.
5) buy a reloading manual or two and read them FIRST!
6) any questions?

[KEYBEAR]

Please Buy a real manual .
If you do not know do not guess .
Reloading is not a guessing game .
I load 44 Special but have a manual .
20gr. of H110 sounds like a bunch .
Never start with a max load of any powder.
A 44 Special is a great caliber but it is not a magnum .

[kalen adamson]

I have a manual, it does not list a load for this weight bullet with H110.
Iv been warned not to use reduced loads with this powder.
Iv been told by others to use the max load possible with that powder & a 200 gr bullet in my .44 magnum.
just a beginner, thats why I'm asking, I'm not guessing, just asking.
looking for advice from experienced reloaders such as yourselves.
thank you.

[WIL TERRY]

WHEN A PROPELLENT IS NOT---NOT !!!---LISTED IN A LOADING MANUALS DATA for a particular cartridge and componets you can take it to the bank IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE !!
QUIT asking.
Do it right.
And so it goes...

[kalen adamson]

i understand, no polite people on this forum willing to help someone out that has no experience loading this caliber without being rude. thank you for your time folks, ill try another forum that has people that are willing to work with me.

[KEYBEAR]

hi new to this forum, i look forward to getting to know it better, does anyone reload 44 special? i have this H110 powder & some 200 gr XTPs i gotta get rid of, Iv been told to use the max powder load possible with that powder & that light of a bullet, so just how many grains can i cram into that special case? i was figuring somewhere around 20 gr. anybody have any ideas

First sorry if your feeling are hurt .
Think before you ask a question . If a load is not in your manual do not use it . As for the use max powder thing never start like what . And yes you are guessing and that is never a good thing .

[kalen adamson]

that post does sound a little odd, & can be misunderstood. feelings not hurt haha, just have not had a good experience yet while trying to do this. its just that i hear horror stories about using minimum loads with H110, it says to use 20.5 gr. with 280 gr. JHP bullet, that is on the .44 mag. other forums people swear by using 28.5 gr. in the mag with a heavier bullet, others say the muzzle flash is so bad it feels like it comes back and thwacks you in the face when you use light powder charges, but heavier charges are fine. once I'm done with this powder, ill most likely be getting titegroup, or unique powder, my goal here is to find a cheep way to put rounds through my gun with decent accuracy. this powder was given to my by a friend for $5 unopened container, so i took it not knowing that it is defiantly not the best powder for my application. thank you

[HighValleyRanch]

Better be safe than sorry.

5.00 is what, a Carl's Jr. combo meal?
Just put the powder aside for its more intended purposes, quit hanging on to any attachment of the deal and buy more appropriate powder and be safe and then work light loads up until you are comfortable with the process.

Don't jump in the ocean and try an english channel swim just because you go fins for a good deal!

Sometimes it's good to hear a bunch of people telling you to drop the idea.
That's a sign!

[T. O'Heir]

H110 is a .30 Carbine and .44 Mag powder. You're not seeing it in manuals with the Special because it's never been tested. Do not use or even consider using .44 Mag data in a Special. The opposite is fine though.
The minimum load thing comes from .30 Carbine. Winchester always listed a max load only and said don't reduce it.

[Nick_C_S]

1) welcome to the forums
2) this should be in the reloading section
3) You have the wrong powder for the application...completely the wrong powder

^^ Well stated ^^

H-110 is not going to work in 44 Special; especially with light 200gn bullets. If I had 200gn bullets and was going to load for 44 Special (which I do occasionally), I'd turn to a much much faster propellant - like Bullseye or W231/HP-38 (they're the same powder, under different labels).

H110 requires a lot of pressure to run clean, consistent, and even safe. It is designed for full-throttle, magnum (357/44) rounds. Preferably with heavy bullets (158/240 respectively).

[KEYBEAR]

I use Unique in the 44 Special 7.2 GR. 240 lead . It shoots great and cases all out . I do use W 296 and 240 XTP 14.5 gr . And 15 is max .

[Buzzcook]

As others have said H110 is not a good choice for 44 special. 20 grains of any powder in a 44 special is probably not a good thing.

If you're just starting reloading stick to Unique or Universal, perhaps trail boss.

Get your reloading advise from a reloading manual. I do use the Hodgdon web site as a quick reference but having the book in hand is the real deal.
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

[Ozzieman]

I reload and shoot thousands of 44 special’s a year and agree with others, don’t try H110 for specials.
What kind of gun are you shooting them in?
Short barreled like a Charter bulldog, N frame S&W, Single action Ruger?
The gun will make a lot of difference on what will work. The bulldog likes 200 Gr and anything like of the faster powders will work like unique, W231, Herco.
For me the accurate loads for my longer barreled guns have always been heavier bullets and Herco which can be found in stores where I live.

i understand, no polite people on this forum willing to help someone out that has no experience loading this caliber without being rude

I don’t think people are trying to be rude, its just what you suggested can be dangerous, very dangerous. So give everyone a little slack.

[rclark]

I reload a lot of .44Special.... That said,

Powder is hard to come by now-a-days... So I understand why you may be tempted to use H-110/296 with the .44 Special if that is what you have. However as stated above H110/296 is an all or nothing powder and is not appropriate for the .44Special. Works great for full throttle .44Mag or .357 type loads though. With a 200g (light bullet), you want a faster burning powder such as Unique , 20/28, Universal, Titegroup, etc. class of powder. If you want upper end .44Special loads, go to the 240g bullet and use 2400 or 4227 to meet your needs. You can get to the lower end of the Magnum range with these powders... but it will depend on the revolver. No way would you want to go there with the CA Bulldog for example, but a Ruger .44Special will easily digest the Keith load. I load 6.0g of Unique under 240g SWC for my Bulldog, and the Skeeter Load (7.5g Unique under 240g SWC) for my other .44Special revolvers. That said, if you are new to reloading, please stick to what is in the manual and always cross-check with at least another resource (another manual, etc). You'll never go wrong reloading this way.

Note that a manufacturer will never have EVERY possible powder tested with a particular bullet. Would be to costly. For example, I like Green Dot a lot, but you won't find many manuals to reference it, yet it is a perfectly fine powder for many pistol/revolver cartridges. 20/28 is a great Unique substitute like Universal, but you won't find it in many (if any) manuals. Do your research and again, when first starting reloading ... stick with the recipes in the manual(s). Plenty of time to research other powder usages down the road.

Hope that helps a little bit.

[kalen adamson]

I have a Ruger, new super blackhawk 44 magnum. 7.5" barrel, the only thing i dont understand, is why i could load mag cartrages with this, but if i reduce powder a little & load specials, & still shoot out of my 44 mag, it is unsafe, i dont own a 44 special, just a mag. i was shooting special cartrages cause they were cheeper to buy at the range i shoot at.

[shooter1911]

My standard loading in 44 Magnum and 44 Special is a 250gr HC Keith bullet over either Unique in the special and H110/296 in the magnum. It sounds like you don't like the advice of the folks on this forum so I recommend you call Hodgdon Powder Company directly and talk to them. They are very helpful, and maybe you will believe them when they give you some direction.

The reason everyone is giving warnings is because you obviously don't have an understanding of what generates pressure in various loads. Just because you shoot a 44 magnum doesn't mean you can load a 44 special case up to 44 magnum pressures. Nor can you load a 38 special case up to .357 magnum pressures. You need to do some reading and understand why each and every caliber has a maximum pressure allowed. That pressure is unique to each caliber case length, bullet depth, and type of powder used. If you have a manual read the reloading section and don't just look at the loads. By the way, this is not sarcasm, it's called sound advice. Good luck.

[SaxonPig]

Not every powder works for every cartridge. If a reloading manual doesn't show that powder for that cartridge there's a reason. Guessing or going on hearsay is a bad idea.

I did a quick check for 44 Special loads and NONE of the sources recommended H110. My feeling is that it is simply not a good choice.

BTW- Being brand new here, not liking the answers to your question, does NOT give you leave to start insulting people. Going to another forum won't help with skin as thin as yours appears to be.

Good luck in your future endeavors.

[spacecoast]

If he crams a .44 special case full of H110 and sets it off he may not have a long reloading career.

[sw282]

Kalen-- l spent a lot of years with the US Army as an instructor...0ne we always stressed.. The ONLY DUMB question is a question not asked..l just looked thru 4 different loading manuals containing 44 Spec data and could find NO loads using H110 powder. The Hodgdon website doesnt list any either. H110 is a Magnum powder. 44Spc is not a magnum cartridge... Dont mix them friend.

Welcome to the forum

282.

[buckhorn_cortez]

If he crams a .44 special case full of H110 and sets it off he may not have a long reloading career.

Not true. Elmer Keith developed the .44 magnum using .44 Special cases. The .44 magnum cases are longer so that you cannot load a .44 magnum into a .44 Special gun.

If the OP is using a .44 magnum gun, he can load the.44 Special as hot as a .44 magnum.

I've been loading both .44 magnum and .44 Special since 1980 - and you can use H110 in both cartridges - which is what I do, although I use 240 grain bullets in both cartridges.

From the Sierra Reloading Manual, the recommended H110 loads for the .44 Special are:

180 grain bullet: 15.5 gr minimum and 17.7 grains maximum

210 grain bullet: 15.2 grains minimum and 16.5 grains maximum

240 grain bullet: 11.6 grains minimum and 13.3 grains maximum.

I load 12 grains of H110 with the 240 grain bullet - works for me. I've shot thousands of 240 grain bullets in my S&W .44 Special. They chronograph at about 860-865 FPS.

Another piece of advice is to make sure you have a really good crimp on the bullet - as has been pointed out - H110 needs pressure to ignite properly. I also use magnum pistol primers with both the .44 magnum and the .44 Special.

Regardless of the information I have provided directly from the 5th Edition of the Sierra Reloading Manual - the OP needs to check this out for himself as he is responsible for verifying the information is correct.

[orionengnr]

If there were a divided opinion, you might have a reason to question it. In fact, the responses have been unanimous.

The level of experience on this board is substantial. Ignore it at your peril.

Five bucks worth of powder is not worth your life, your vision, or the loss of use of your hands, etc.

Find an appropriate powder and press on.

[buckhorn_cortez]

If there were a divided opinion, you might have a reason to question it. In fact, the responses have been unanimous.

The level of experience on this board is substantial. Ignore it at your peril.

Five bucks worth of powder is not worth your life, your vision, or the loss of use of your hands, etc.

Find an appropriate powder and press on.

The responses have not "been unanimous," as I have provide information for using H110 in the .44 Special.

Speer, Hodgen, and Hornady reloading manuals (I have all of them) assume you are loading the .44 Special for Cowboy Action shooting and lower pressure .44 Special guns.

The Sierra Manual gives loads for modern, higher pressure guns. The loads are for use in Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 magnum revolvers, and modern S&W .44 Special and .44 magnum revolvers.

I load for a S&W M624 using the load I have given. The cartridges show no signs of excess pressure like tight cases in the chamber, primers pushed, case stretch, etc.

Just because YOU personally don't know about loading the .44 Special for a modern gun doesn't make the information incorrect. All you have to do is buy the Sierra Manual - they're $28.95.

[hartcreek]

I have used 296 for .44 magnum for more then two deckades. I tried using 296 for my .44 Special since it is a limited production 624 and will handle the loads. What I found is 296 acts erratically when there is an air pocket in the case.

THIS DATA IS IN EXCESS OF ANY SUGGESTED LOADING DATA

With a 200 grain jacketed bullet I was using 22.7 grains of 296 with virgin cases. I worked the load up using virgin cases to 22.7 grains

I was using an Aimpoint red dot mounted on top of the barrel.
After 20 some shots I sheared the red dot mounts. When I reloaded my spent cases and tried again with the same loading the cases would not eject and showed over pressure signs. I tried backing down the powder charge but the over pressure signs did not go away even down at 14 grains so I gave up.

What I found out is that 296 and air in the cartridge do not mix which is why 296 works for .44 magnum.

If you have a lesser .44 special which is what I suspect if you try to duplicate what I did you will be missing fingers.

I now use Unique for my .44 Special and 296 for my .44 Magnum.



WV Mountaineer....what you do not realize IS that H110/296 HAS been listed in reloading manuals in the past for .44 Special.

Page 19 in my 4th printing Hodgdon manuals shows

16 grains of H110 with a 200-210 grain bullet.

[WVMountaineer]

If you are looking to reload 44 special, get a powder listed in your manual ad use it. H110 isn't listed for a reason. And those reasons have been pointed out. God Bless