The SSK .44 Magnum Heavy

[JimT]

This is another one that I wrote back in the 1980's. All the standard warnings apply.

by Jim Taylor and Jim Mork

I have always been a believer in heavy bullets in sixguns. Especially since I read Elmer Keith while I was young! I found out early on that the heavy bullets were the way to go. In the .357 I liked the heaviest bullet that I could safely run around 1300-1400 fps out of my old Ruger. It did nice work out to 300-400 yards, but I noticed that the bigger calibers took over at those distances. Eventually I worked up some heavy loads for the .45 Colt using 300 gr. slugs and stayed with it for years. My dad shot the .44 mags but I never did. Not that I had anything against them, it’s just that the .45 did all I needed and I was satisfied.

Then, a few months back, I was talking with J.D. Jones of SSK Industries and he mentioned that he was redesigning his heavy .44 mag bullet and it got me interested. The first one had only one crimp groove and several small rounded grease grooves. The "improved" version had two crimp grooves and a wide, shallow, flat-bottomed groove. The reason for the two crimp grooves was to take advantage of the longer cylinder in the Ruger Redhawk.

J.D. asked me if I had a .44 and I didn’t, but my friend, neighbor and hunting partner Jim Mork had two Redhawks! (I had corrupted him away from rifles earlier, and when he started buying pistols, he did so with a vengeance. A fact that his wife still holds against me.) I knew that Jim would be glad to experiment with some new bullets. I borrowed a 10 -1/2 inch Super Blackhawk from another friend and we were set.

In a few days the mold arrived, and we went to casting. The molds are made by NEI exclusively for SSK and are available only through SSK. They are the usual fine work that NEI does. Out of wheel weights the bullets cast right at 320 gr. – a real heavyweight for the .44 magnum. To me the grease groove looked kind of shallow, but we began to size them and get them ready to load. All were sized to .431- inch, the diameter of the guns we used.

As we began working up loads it became apparent that the bullets were running out of lube. At around 1300 fps leading would begin to appear about a third of the way up the barrel and get progressively heavier toward the muzzle. As velocities got nearer 1500 fps the only way to control the leading was to use the Freechec made by Hanned Precision, or to heat-treat the bullets, or both! Heat-treating lead bullets really increases the hardness, but is a lot of work for most people. By heat-treating you can make wheel weight bullets harder than linotype. But to be honest, most re-loaders do not cast bullets and of those who do, few ever try to heat-treat theirs.

Accuracy was from mediocre to lousy until we added the Freechec or heat-treated the bullets. By careful weighing, heat-treating, using the Freechecs and watching the loading closely we were able to shoot some good groups. Most averaged around 1-1/4 inches at 25 yards, with the best running under an inch. (This was off sandbags using the scoped Redhawk, both of us taking turns shooting.) Two hundred yard groups ran from 16 inches to under 12 inches, with the 150 yard groups going 10 inches and under.

I talked with J.D. and told him what we had run into, and he said that he had come to the conclusion that the grease groove was too shallow. He had redesigned the grease groove and was shipping me another mold! I couldn’t wait to get the "new improved model."
As soon as it arrived I hit the shop and warmed up the lead pot. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand having a mold around that I haven’t run some bullets through! I love to see what they look like after they have come out of the mold. After casting a few I weighed and measured some of the bullets. The grease groove was deeper by almost .025 inch and the overall length was shorter by almost .040 inch making it cast right at 305 gr. out of wheel-weight metal. (Approx. 285 from Linotype).

To my way of thinking it is almost the perfect bullet for the .44 magnum. The length was apparently taken off the base of the bullet, making it take up less space in the case. This has the effect of lowering chamber pressures with loads of identical powder charges. (Hercules put out the chart some years ago showing that a 1/8 inch charge in seating depths could in some situations double the pressures of the load.) The crimp grooves were deeper also. You get this baby up near 1500 fps and you need to crimp it! We began to load some up for all the guns.

On the range it told to story. Fifty shots fired through the SBH rather rapidly with the velocity near 1400 fps, and the barrel stayed clean. Accuracy was great, too. In the Redhawk, with its longer cylinder, we pushed the bullets over 1500 fps with ease but I don’t recommend it!

Now, I don’t mind using the Freechec on bullets, and I don’t mind heat-treating them, but it sure is nice to have a bullet that drops from the mold right at the diameter that you want it, be able to lube it, then load it and go out and shoot it at high velocity and get groups that make riflemen look twice!

At 1400 fps out of the Redhawk groups of 1-1/2 inches at 50 yards were shot fairly easily (I say "fairly," although you still have to work for them. At 150 yards I watched Jim shoot a palm-sized group that didn’t seem too hard for him. Out of the SBH my favorite load has become 17.5 gr. 2400 for 1380 fps. I shot some real tight groups with this combination. The best was 3/8 inch center to center for four shots. Dad says I should have stopped there, but I went ahead and fired the fifth shot. I pulled it out and made the group of 1- ¼ inches over all.

Shooting this heavy bullet in the different guns showed how they took the recoil. The 7-1/2 inch Redhawk with the scope on it was pleasant to shoot, even with the heavy loads. All that weight dampened the recoil considerably. The SBH would hurt you if you held it wrong when the velocity got up there. The 5-1/2 inch Redhawk will take a big bite out of you if you don’t watch it. It’s light enough that it wants to get frisky when the velocity climbs up there.

While shooting some 1500 fps loads out of the SBH, I noticed a "funny" feeling in my gun hand. I changed hands on the gun and found that the right hand grip panel had broken. The recoil had split it through the locating pin hole and the whole corner of the grip had come off!

As I said earlier the 305 gr. bullet is almost perfect to my way of thinking. You can run it to fairly high velocity easily, it is accurate, it doesn’t lead and it is heavy enough and long enough that if you get it over 1300 fps it will retain that way out there! Sighted in 2 inches high at 50 yards it hits almost dead on at nearly 150 yards. Killing rocks at 300 yards is not a problem. If you miss it’s your fault. Who needs a rifle?

At this writing it is the opening of black bear season here. Jim and I have been out once so far without connecting. If we do we will let you know how the bullet performs. I am sure it will be just dandy!

[Ray]

https://americanhandgunner.com/our-expe ... a-stalker/

[KWK]

In the .357 I liked the heaviest bullet that I could safely run around 1300-1400 fps out of my old Ruger. It did nice work out to 300-400 yards, but I noticed that the bigger calibers took over at those distances.

I would like to read about your experiences with the 357, Jim.

edit: Whoops, I see at least some of it is recorded in Articles section of the main site.

[JimT]

In the .357 I liked the heaviest bullet that I could safely run around 1300-1400 fps out of my old Ruger. It did nice work out to 300-400 yards, but I noticed that the bigger calibers took over at those distances.

I would like to read about your experiences with the 357, Jim.

edit: Whoops, I see at least some of it is recorded in Articles section of the main site.

yes ... that would be my choice. when I say "heavy" I am referencing "heavy for caliber" which in the .357 handgun FOR ME tops out about 180 grains. There are heavier bullets used but I prefer not to. The Keith 173 gr. is about ideal as far as I am concerned. Not trying to convert anyone or argue it's "the best" ... it's my preference.

[Bill in Oregon]

I tip my hat to the two Jims for being able to shoot those heavy bullet loads well. I took a 5 1/2-inch stainless Redhawk and handloads with a commercial 320-grain RNFP over a bunch of 296 to Alaska about 1998 or so. Wore it in a chest holster above my waders while Dad and brothers and I fished a tributary of the Stikine out of Wrangell. We saw fresh brown bear and wolf tracks every morning. I was glad to have it. But it was a workout just sighting in that sixgun and I was 25 years younger. I just don't want to get pounded like that anymore. Boy am I old!

[Grizz]

I tip my hat to the two Jims for being able to shoot those heavy bullet loads well. I took a 5 1/2-inch stainless Redhawk and handloads with a commercial 320-grain RNFP over a bunch of 296 to Alaska about 1998 or so. Wore it in a chest holster above my waders while Dad and brothers and I fished a tributary of the Stikine out of Wrangell. We saw fresh brown bear and wolf tracks every morning. I was glad to have it. But it was a workout just sighting in that sixgun and I was 25 years younger. I just don't want to get pounded like that anymore. Boy am I old!

Hey Bill, let's not have any "old" talk, OK? If you tune down that 320 to around 1050 it will be a whole other animal, but it will still be a terrific deer load. You will be surprised at how easy that load can be. As far as a bear-stopper, the issue can come down to a hard enough bullet to not deform, and enough momentum to break all the bones it will encounter from any angle without stopping. Although, I know of three bears that were stopped with the stock 240 Gr JSP round.


My 5 1/2 Redhawk load is 405gr at 950-ish right now, want to get 1010 out of it, just because I like ones and zeros . . . LOL

[Grizz]

Jim, I also like the 10 1/2 inch SBH 44 for accuracy and results. It was like shooting a carbine in a lot of ways. I'm looking for a photo of it. Looks just like yours but different.

[JimT]

I tip my hat to the two Jims for being able to shoot those heavy bullet loads well. I took a 5 1/2-inch stainless Redhawk and handloads with a commercial 320-grain RNFP over a bunch of 296 to Alaska about 1998 or so. Wore it in a chest holster above my waders while Dad and brothers and I fished a tributary of the Stikine out of Wrangell. We saw fresh brown bear and wolf tracks every morning. I was glad to have it. But it was a workout just sighting in that sixgun and I was 25 years younger. I just don't want to get pounded like that anymore. Boy am I old!

Bill ... I was in my 40's when I did that. I would not even begin to try it these days!

[Ray]

Lots of folk in the sport of handgun hunting find the common 2x long-eye relief inadequate but mister kelly did great work with them.

think-Chasing-a-Mag-11.jpg

[Scott Tschirhart]

Tank Hoover wrote an article about a heavy bullet designed by Mic McPherson for the .454 Casull last year. Shooting it over 10 gr of Longshot for about 1100 fps or 1300 from a Rossi carbine.

The bullet was over 400 gr and I’ll bet it wouldn’t stay in any animal on this continent.

[Ray]

https://americanhandgunner.com/discover ... t-buddies/

[Bill in Oregon]

Wow. A 420-grain slug moving at 1300 fps out of a six-pound Rossi. That has to be a hammer on both ends!
Thanks for that link Ray.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Sounds like fun at 1000 fps though