44mag shoots high with sights ajusted down ?

[Metal god]

I load all my handgun cartridges on a Lee classic turret press . Brass needs to be to length before you start or I’d need to stop after sizing , trim then finish. The Lee is an auto indexing press kind of like a progressive so trimming after sizing would really slow things down .

I also prime off press before sizing . I have my decapping pins removed from my sizing dies . This allows me to size a primed case . I decap , trim , tumble then prime handgun brass first thing . This allows me to run through all stations on the press without stopping. The press has a on press priming system that I’ve never set up , I may try it out in the future .

[zeke]

Makes sense for what ya want.

[jetinteriorguy]

I too load pistol on the Lee Classic turret, but I size/decap on a single stage then trim just the first time they are fired. After that I do the same as you, size without the decapping pin, prime, powder, seat, and crimp. I only bother trimming.357 and .41, 9mm and .38 I don’t bother. The weird thing in my case is most revolver brass shrinks with multiple firings. I crimp with the Lee collet crimp die, I have found it’s easier on coated/plated bullets and more forgiving of slight variations in length.

[Ruger45LC]

My 629 Deluxe 3" shot a bit high, rear sight was bottomed out so I ordered a Dawson Precision front fiber optic in a taller height, installed it and all is well.

[Geezerbiker]

Try lighter bullets. I seem to recall reading that a heavier bullet leaves the barrel slightly later allowing the gun more time to rise with recoil...

Tony

[Metal god]

FWIW - I hear you all that are recommending lighter bullets ( really ) . I stated earlier I don't want to over stress this firearm because it's an older model with some value . After more research although worth more then a new 629 even in todays prices . It's really not all that valuable .

Why say all that ? I've decided , why have a 44mag if you're not going to get the wow factor out of it . I have a 357 and likely more in the near future that I can load down for light pew pew revolver plinking . For now the the 44 is going to be for BOOM BOOM holy crap that's awesome shooting . Reason being is as stated above if I want to plink a revolver I'll shoot a 357 . I wont be shooting the 44 all that much but when I do I want to know I'm shooting a magnum revolver :-) .

Haha why say all that in the context of bullet weight ? If anything I'll be going up in weight , I'd really like to find some 300gr coated lead bullets to try out . For now I have about 500 each of 240gr lead and plated bullets to work with which should last a little while for now . I don't go through nearly as much ammo when shooting a revolver as I do shooting a auto loader .

I'll be changing that rear sight blade out today which is significantly shorter then the factory blade . Based on the height my guess is the new blade will fix the problem of shooting high .

[44 AMP]

If anything I'll be going up in weight , I'd really like to find some 300gr coated lead bullets to try out .

I've never been a fan of the uber heavy bullets in revolvers. There's no free lunch and increasing the bullet mass some 20% over standard weights IS going to have drawbacks.

You will get increased recoil and increased momentum, that's basic physics. You could get increased energy numbers, but might not be what you expect, due to the reduced velocity of very heavy slugs and velocity squared's role in the energy calculation formula.

Heavier bullets are longer, and your S&W's cylinder is not the longest of available .44 mags. Some bullet designs simply may not fit and still allow acceptable room for powder.

Less room for powder (and SAAMI deciding that the 43,000psi of the 70s now must be 36,000 psi today) means you might be getting less "boom" from 300gr bullet loads than you get from 240/250gr loads.

I'd recommend testing with a small batch before ordering 500 or 1,000, if possible. They might be what you're looking for, but then again, they might not be, so its best to know before you invest in quantities of something you might not be able to use the way you want to.

[pete2]

I've found that lighter/heavier bullets can make a big difference in revolvers, not so much in the semi auto. Practically no difference in my 9MM EZ(115/147). Will prolly end up filing the front sight. It'll mess up the dot but you can't hit what you can't see.

[Geezerbiker]

Originally Posted by Metal god

FWIW - I hear you all that are recommending lighter bullets ( really ) . I stated earlier I don't want to over stress this firearm because it's an older model with some value.

How would lighter bullets cause more stress?


Tony

[44 AMP]

Something I forgot to mention before, and kind of in line with your situation, wouldn't heavier bullets (such as 300gr) shoot even higher???

[Metal god]

No , I don’t care to load light bullets because I want the heavier recoil . I mentioned all the stress on the gun because earlier in the thread I indicated that I did not want to stress out the firearm. However now that I know that it’s basically a shooters grade Smith and Wesson 629 . I have less concerns about that and I’m now more willing to push the firearm harder .

Another reason for not wanting to shoot the lighter bullets is right now all I can find is plated and lead bullets at "decent" prices . If I push the lighter bullets hard . I will likely be getting velocities generally not optimal for lead and plated bullets . All this is not to say I will never use lighter bullets it’s just not something I want to do to correct the original problem of shooting high .

[Metal god]

Something I forgot to mention before, and kind of in line with your situation, wouldn't heavier bullets (such as 300gr) shoot even higher???

Yep , just another reason to correct the sights rather then changing to lighter bullets or holding low . Holding off intended POI is something I've never liked doing . I understand this is sometimes necessary but I only want to do that when it "is" necessary which to me means after exhausting all other option to get the firearm to shoot to POA .

I've found that lighter/heavier bullets can make a big difference in revolvers, not so much in the semi auto. Practically no difference in my 9MM EZ(115/147). Will prolly end up filing the front sight. It'll mess up the dot but you can't hit what you can't see.

My XD45 compact shot really low , I had to hold so high I literally could not see the POI area because the slide covered it completely . I switched the sights out to some fixed fiber optic sights but that did not help . I HATED that gun because of the sight issue . I ended up sending it back to Springfield after a couple years of it collecting dust with a drawing of what my sight picture looks like and where I want the bullet to impact in relation . They sent it back with no paperwork just the gun in the box . Nothing stating what they did if anything . Took it out and it shoots perfectly to my POA now , I like shooting that gun a lot now , glad I didn't just give up on it .

[JustJake]

What's the barrel length?

[Metal god]

6”

[JohnKSa]

I've found that lighter/heavier bullets can make a big difference in revolvers, not so much in the semi auto. Practically no difference in my 9MM EZ(115/147). Will prolly end up filing the front sight. It'll mess up the dot but you can't hit what you can't see.

This is because during the phase when the bullet is in the bore, a typical semi-auto has very little muzzle lift.

The slide and barrel are recoiling, but since they are only loosely coupled to the rest of the gun by the recoil spring, that recoil is straight back, it doesn't cause muzzle lift.

In contrast, a revolver is all one piece. So the recoil will immediately start to torque the gun and cause muzzle lift given that the shooter's hand is below the bore in a typical revolver design.

Here's a bit more on the topic.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=586602

[Metal god]

I shot these early before fully sighted in but it's finally shooting to "my" POA .

12 yards





35 yards



There's just something about a gun shooting where you want it to FWIW I do have a flinch when shooting this firearm and although the above groups were hitting to the left . Once I had the gun truly zeroed , it appears when I flinch my POI is also to the left . I changed my finger placement to be more the tip on the trigger rather then the full pad and that seemed to help some resulting in more consistent groups later in the day .

[JustJake]

Not horrible groups, but you're pulling your shots left. Too much leftward trigger pressure is indicated.

Try for more directly-backwards pressure during trigger manipulation.

[FlyFish]

Thanks for coming back to let us know the "fix" worked for you.