200gr or 240gr for the 44 special?

[BenT]

I need some opinions on what shoots better the 200gr or 240gr in the 44 special for handguns. I am placing an order with Midway and was going add a 44 mold to the order. I 'm curious if the short fat 200gr shoots as accurate as the 240gr bullets. Pro's and con's. Thanks

[TedH]

I can't say about cast bullets, but the 200 gr. Speer shot just as good as any 240 that I ever tried in my Taurus 441 44spl.

[woods-walker]

I use cast Lyman's 429421 sized @ .430, they average 248 grains. Loaded over 7.5 grains of Unique. Excellent load developed by Skeeter Skelton. Very useful for anything I have seen or can imagine in my neck of the woods.

[Booger Bill]

I would stick with the heavier 240 grain. Isnt that what all the old guns were designed for?

[J Miller]

The original bullet for the .44 Special was a 246gr LRN at an anemic 770 fps.

Were I to own a 44 Spcl, I'd buy the Lyman 429421 and never look back. It's a proven design and from everything I've read about it, very accurate.

Joe

[stretch]

I've loaded Speer's 240gr. JHP #4453 with 6.3gr of WW231.
OAL 1.465.

My notes say 8 out of 10 shots in 1 7/8" @ 25 yards offhand out
of an old 44 Mag (8" barrel). Easy on the hands, mild recoil.
Your mileage may, of course, vary.

In general, I favor the heavier bullets in a given caliber.

To paraphrase the late Jeff Cooper, "Mass is constant, while
velocity is effervescent".

-Stretch

[Old Savage]

Stick with the 240 grain - it is a natural in the 44 Spl which is my favorite handgun cartridge.

[buckeyeshooter]

both shoot fine in my smith and wesson 44 special.

[Terry Murbach]

THE VERY REASON TO BE, THE ABSOLUTE REASON FOR EVEN OWNING A 44SPL, IS TO SHOOT 250gr 429421 KEITH BULLETS AT 950FPS...IMNHO....[ IF YOUR PISTOL LIKES 'EM AT 900 OR 1050 NO BIG DEAL...]
THE ONLY REASON TO EVEN CONSIDER LOADING 200gr 44 BULLETS IS IF YOU SIXGUN HAS A TOO LOW FRONT SIGHT, LIKE MY WIFE'S USFA SAA 44SPL.

[adirondakjack]

When I did a lot of paper punching with a .44 spl, it liked 240 LSWCs best for accuracy.

[Sixgun]

It really depends on what you want the ammo to do. For general shooting, hunting, and especially long range stuff (past 100 meters on out to 500) you want the 240+. For short range plinking or CAS, the 200 grain will do fine.

I have a Model 629 'Smith with a 2" barrel and fixed sights. With 250 grain bullets, the gun jumps out of my hand. As its a defense gun, I load it with a 200 gr. Hensley & Gibbs bullet @ 1000 fps.-------very controllable. -------Sixgun

[BenT]

Thanks Gentlemen, I will be going with the heavier bullet.

[Doc Hudson]

Ben,

YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHICH BULLET SHOOTS BEST IN YOU SIX-GUN UNTIL YOU GIVE IT A TRY. (Sorry for the Murbach moment there.)

With that said, I've always used either 240 or 250 SWC's in my .44 six-guns. The only 200 grain .44's I've used have been Winchester Silvertips. In general I get better accuracy with the heavier SWC's than I do with the lighter jacketed bullets. However YMMV, you will have to ask your six-gun to get the right answer.

[BenT]

Doc , I mostly wondering what purpose a 200 gr bullet has , besides plinking or cowboy action.

[O.S.O.K.]

THE VERY REASON TO BE, THE ABSOLUTE REASON FOR EVEN OWNING A 44SPL, IS TO SHOOT 250gr 429421 KEITH BULLETS AT 950FPS...IMNHO....[ IF YOUR PISTOL LIKES 'EM AT 900 OR 1050 NO BIG DEAL...]
THE ONLY REASON TO EVEN CONSIDER LOADING 200gr 44 BULLETS IS IF YOU SIXGUN HAS A TOO LOW FRONT SIGHT, LIKE MY WIFE'S USFA SAA 44SPL.

Terry beat me to it - I like the Keith boolits too. And they are great at 800 fps too.

[Buck Elliott]

I hate to sound redundant, but:

WHAT TERRY SAID...!!!

[Markbo]

Well I've crossed Terry before and will again. I say let your gun tell you. I got a couple of SAA copies a few years back and one of them I could not get to shoot 240-270gr bullets as well as I thought it should and certainly not as well as the other (different makers).

Being new to reloading (but gray in hair color) and not knowing any better I decided to try some different 200gr bullets. Well lo' and behold did I find a shooter! I personally - and no offense to the other side of the fence - would rather have a lighter bullet shooting smaller groups (and thus more likely to make hits in the field) that a larger bullet shooting big groups. Sights can always be altered - accuracy in a sixgun has to be found.... not demanded.

With all due respect to Skeeter Skelton and his peer in every way in my eyes Terry Murbach, I like for ALL my guns to tell me what they like to shoot by their accuracy. I never tire of an accurate gun even if it is less powerful than another, but I quickly fall out of love with inaccurate guns. And TO ME... again probably going against the grain, the raison pour amour the .44 Special is that it is a light(er) shooting small revolver round than the .45 or .44 mag. What's wrong with a light load if it is accurate in YOUR gun?

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Old Savage]

When Evan Marshall was publishing one shot stop data the 44 Spl was high on the list, 65% I believe, but of course, those using it likely could shoot.

[J Miller]

The original bullet for the .44 Special was a 246gr LRN at an anemic 770 fps.

Joe

ANEMIC???!!! How is a 246gr. .430" LRN at 770fps. anemic?

The 230gr. .452" fmjrn at 825fps. is supposed to snatch the soul out of bandits and cause their cadavers to defy gravity.

There ain't much difference between the two no matter how you look at it.

Somewhere in the back of a closet, hanging from the triggerguard on a dowel is a heavy sixgun loaded with those "anemic" loads. I better dig it out and render it safe lest someone get a booboo.

Ray,
If the 246gr RNL at 770 fps is so great, why did Elmer Keith state that if he had to use only factory ammo, he'd use the .45 Colt? It's because that pathetic round nose bullet with it's lumbering slow velocity IS anemic compared to many other standard loads.
Simply changing to a better designed bullet and bumping the velocity up a hundred fps makes a tremendous improvement.

Joe

[Arminius]

I do not want to hijack that thread, but what would be the same question in the .44 - 40?

200 grs L RNF or 240 grs L RNF ( round nose with flat )?

e.g. for Uberti´s LA and SA´s, with .429 sized bullets ( and hard cast and perhaps HPed for some field carry )

Hermann

[blackhawk44]

Armi, regarding your .44 WCF, stay with the 200's. They have been the standard from the beginning. 240gr bullets run up pressure too quickly in the WCF while leaving velocity low. For a WCF heavy bullet load, about 215 to 220gr bullets are about tops. When it comes to bullet diameter, the majority of chambers won't allow chambering a round with a bullet diameter over .428. My Colts and Winchesters won't. I know that the older Ubertis had groove diameters running from .426 to .428, but I have not measured one in years.

[ndcowboy]

I use both, but if you cast your own, for every 5 you cast of 200, it is like getting one free as opposed to casting 240s.