OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

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Paraord
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OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by Paraord »

HI everyone,

I'm new to reloading and following the books pretty closely. I am making a load as follows for my Ruger sbh.
Matts bullets cast 265 grain gas checked (Lyman 429244 mould)
17.5 grains AA#9
WLP
OAL 1.680

I guess my question is would the .070 increase in overall length on these vs the SAAMI 1.610 be OK to shoot through my r92? In Lyman 49th rifle section they don't show the 429244, however there is a 240 grain cast with an overall length of 1.645"

I have Lyman Cast handbook 4th edition on its way as well. Hopefully this will help lessen my confusion. Like I said I'm new to this so I am loading on the light side for my Ruger. I just want to do the same for my R92, and be able to make up a load that will work well with both weapons for deer hunting in western NY.


Thanks guys!
Andrew -M92 44 Mag 20" Oct Barrel with just about every possible problem fixed-Western NY-
Ohio3Wheels
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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Any thing safe in the BH should be safe in the Rossi. You may have to adjust OAL to get reliable feeding. As a rule of thumb if you avoid shorter than spec'd OAL you should be okay. Shorter can and will raise pressure how much depends on powder among other things. Work up changing one thing at a time until you happy and with in established criteria. You can never have too many loading manuals.

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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by mr surveyor »

I load 265 gr gc LeadHead bullets out to 1.675 (to the crimp groove) for my R92 .44 mag. I've had no feeding problems at all.

Also like your choice of using AA#9 ... my favorite magnum powder.

jd
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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by Paraord »

Ohio3wheels, Great sounds like everything should be fine then, I was just worried I would be roped into a 1.610 SAAMI spec OAL for some reason.

mr surveyor, any suggestions on the charge of AA#9? Im starting out completely in the dark but thats not such a bad thing, gives me plenty to learn. Im hoping 17.5 grains will get me over 1000fps or there abouts with the 7.5" barrel SBH, and obviously will be much more in the 20" M92. I also have a pound of IMR 4227.
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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Happy to help, I don't load much 44 Mag these days as my only firearm is a Contender with the 44 Mag/shot barrel and I've got plenty loaded for that. Once the budget rebuilds I want a 92 in 44 Mag with a 20" octagon barrel.

The closest thing I have capacity wise is my 45 Colts (M92 and BH convertable). Right now I using a lot of H110 and 300+ grain cast boolits. I've got some H4227 but haven't tried it to much. I'd have to dig out my old notes to see what I did use it for, I might have tried it in the 357 Herret.

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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by mr surveyor »

Paraord

Just from my perspective and limited experience, I've found 17.9 gr of AA#9 with the 265 gr LeadHead bullets to be my best accuracy load in the 20" R92 (.44 mag). Tightest, most consistent groups at 50 yards with the factory sights .... I really haven't had the time to work with the gun/load combination since having mounted the Weaver Scout Scope, but I'd expect nothing but even tighter groups. Looking back through my notes, the 17.9 gr load of AA#9 (with the 265 gr LeadHead bullet) was averaging 1570fps over the chrony. As I increased the load the groups opened up. With that bullet weight/mass, I'll take accuracy with sufficient velocity any day over the idea of just being able to drive the bullet harder for the sake of higher velocity.

just my opinions and observations


jd
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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by Paraord »

Ohio3wheels,

My M92 is a 20" octagon barrel with case hardened look on the receiver. Got it for a pretty decent price too. Ill post a picture of it when I get my sights changed around. Im thinking about eventually getting one of those Merit adjustable peep sights for it too. Let me know if you come across any load notes you would be willing to share!

Mr Surveyor,

20" is same as what I have. I'll shoot these 17.5's and go up to 17.9 and see what happens! I am 100% about accuracy and sufficient velocity. No need to shoot lasers through a whitetail. That's my main purpose is whitetail with these loads. Hoping to scoop up some casting gear at some point. In the mean time I have some 300 grain sjhp and 240 sjhp's to go with those 265 gcswc's. Again any load suggestions are super welcome!

Thanks again guys!
Andrew -M92 44 Mag 20" Oct Barrel with just about every possible problem fixed-Western NY-
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Re: OAL and load suggestion for 44 mag

Post by Paraord »

I finally chronoed those 17.5-17.6 (rcbs digital scale was having an issue and going from 17.4 to 17.6, missing 17.5) grain AA#9 and the 265 grain Mattsbullets.
10 round average 1285FPS, high was 1367, low was 1201. Blame it on novice skill and a digital scale. I'll be redoing this load with a balance beam scale. Probably do
10 rounds, each at 17.6, 17.3, 17.0

That's running fast out of my 7.5" BBL Ruger Super Blackhawk, I can't imagine what it would get to out of an additional 12.5". I was thinking about backing it down to about 1200-1250 top end out of the SBH, maybe more alon the 1100-1150 mark. I love that gas check, didn't see any leading but only shot a dozen rounds. And really it didn't shoot bad, no excessive recoil, I'm just not sure I want to be running that hot if it's not necessary.
Andrew -M92 44 Mag 20" Oct Barrel with just about every possible problem fixed-Western NY-
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