Alternate loads

[kevindsingleton]

I have a Rossi 92 stainless in .44 mag. I'm wondering what the risks are in shooting .44 Special through this gun. Will it crud up the chamber, and prevent magnum cartridges loading? Are there any dangers with cycling, or other risks?

The reason I ask is, my grandson is young and small, and the .44 magnum rounds are more than I think he'll be able to handle, so I was hoping to let him shoot something with a little punch, but that doesn't make him flinch from the recoil.

Thanks for any advice.

[akuser47]

Do you reload? if so just load .44 special loads in the .44 mag brass and you will not get the normal carbon ring formed in the chamber that occurs when firing the shorter rounds in the chamber it does the same with .38 special as well in a .357 mag. I load .38 special loads in .357 mag brass to avoid this problem cause it is hard to clean and remove the ring in the chamber and after a while of biuld up yes you can have issues with the .44 mag loadinto the chamber but with proper care and cleaning all that can be avoided. get a good borecleaner and brushes and scrub away after every shooting.

[kevindsingleton]

Do you reload? if so just load .44 special loads in the .44 mag brass and you will not get the normal carbon ring formed in the chamber that occurs when firing the shorter rounds in the chamber it does the same with .38 special as well in a .357 mag. I load .38 special loads in .357 mag brass to avoid this problem cause it is hard to clean and remove the ring in the chamber and after a while of biuld up yes you can have issues with the .44 mag loadinto the chamber but with proper care and cleaning all that can be avoided. get a good borecleaner and brushes and scrub away after every shooting.

Thanks, akuser47. I'll take a look at the loading manuals, and see what the differences are. I guess I hadn't really thought about just loading .44 mag cartridges with much lower pressure loads, figuring that the case size might result in incomplete combustion. I suppose the difference in case volume isn't that dramatic, in the long run.

Looks like the high end of the .44 Special is just above the low end of the .44 Magnum, so it should be ok.

I appreciate the great idea!

[akuser47]

You are correct in most cases the high side of special is the low side of the mag rounds. Be aware if you choose to do a very light load I would stick to the manaul specified info but with special loads near their max in your mag cases you get great performance and no carbon ring.
The main thing is it keeps it from leavin the nasty carbon ring and I've had great performance doing light loads for target shooting with my .44 mag revolver pistols. I always load light loads(.44 special) in my mag cases same with .357 brass loaded to .38 special loads for target and plinkin fun. Saves money and keeps you from haveing a hard time removin a nasty carbon ring in the chamber. Or chambers when it comes to revolvers. Yes there is a slightly larger volume in the case. As you stated , but I have never had any issues with This as I have some pretty good groups and I know that the gun and ammo I roll shoots better than I ever can. Just a heads up it is not easy to clean the chamber like you would on a revolver that can be soaked in bore cleaner and scrubbed you have to really work hard to get to and work the biuldup in the 92 action not fun in my opinion. Also if you shoot thousand rounds a season of special .44 or .38 rumors are that it can scare the chamber as well this has only recently been brought to my attention when I was cleaning a revolver for a customer and he thought it was rust once the carbon was removed I saw what looked like pitting but was scorching of some kind and it was scarred into the cylinder walls. I have no info as to what ammo he used that caused this, but I do not want to ever worry about this on my guns. This guy never takes care of his guns so may just have been him. Lately though this has been poppin up in other forums as well I wish I had documented it with pics so I could show you. Don't get me wrong I still load .38 , .44 special cases and shoot them but only in guns I can soak the chambers easy and scrub easy. All will work fine just have to weigh your options for what results best suit yourself.

This is only my opinion and not facts I cannot prove this as fact. It is just what I have seen. Do with this info as you wish.

[WyrTwister]

I also load for .45 LC . I bet standard .45 LC loads / powder charges ( I use Unique ) , in .44 Mag brass , would be good ?

And home cast bullets .

Would probably be similar to .44 Special loads ?

God bless
Wyr

[twobitokie]

I speciffically do not recommend my light loads of 6 grs of unique under a 200 gr cast. this sub cas level, and a mouse phart load with llittle or no recoil.

[Missionary]

Greetings
Just did a quick look at an old Lyman book and it shows 5 grains Bullseye and 8 grains Unique as the lowest starting load for all the different weights os cast bullets from 180 grains up to 250 grains. The Bullseye load gets about 950 fps and the Unique load is running abou 1180 fps with all weights. That 5 grain Bullseye load with 180 grain bullet would recoil very little. Even the 8 grains Unique would be very mild.
Mike in Peru