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Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 5:12 pm
by fortyshooter
Had loaded some MB 44 Mag 300 gr. Hammers using 14 gr. of Alliant 2400 powder but never got around to check the speed of the load. Also wanted to try 15 gr. of 2400 and compare the two loads.
Revolver would be my Anaconda and also brought along my S&W Model 25-7 45 Colt shooter....both very nice DA revolvers the best of what I have.

The 44 Mag Hammer bullets in red color are the 14 gr. loads with the black bullets being the new 15 gr. 2400 load. After running them over the Magna Speed the 14 gr. loads was faster than I had thought but as you can see the hotter 15 gr. load looked the best and at over 1100 FPS of a 300 gr. chunk of lead...that is as far as I will load it. If you can't take something down with that you better run fast!
As far as recoil the factory Colt Anaconda grip soaked it all up and it was very smooth shooting especially in double action where I do best.
Very pleased with results and will load more of these at 15 gr. of 2400.

The Smith 25-7 is a sweet one to shoot even thogh the DA might not be as slick as the Anaconda the SA is very good! Had the 3 plate dueling tree set up and had fun knocking the plate/limbs around with both revolvers. These two large bore shooters give you a lot of confidence in shot placement and really fun to shoot.
Had a great afternoon at the range today!

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:01 pm
by JEBar
nicely fired and nicely reported .... I haven't fired our Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag in so long that I'd probably need to find a YouTube video showing how to insert bullets into the cylinder .... :?

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:35 pm
by Vaquero
Nice shooting forty.
I need to load some of the 310 Lee's that I cast last weekend.
Was thinking about some 2400 with those.
I read earlier of a guy getting good accuracy from a Ruger SBH and 15.5 grs.
My Lyman cast handbook shows starting at 15, with a max of 16.6 for this particular bullet.

RP

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 8:43 pm
by fortyshooter
Yeah I could bump the load up a bit. These bullets seat at a 1.710 COL.

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2023 11:03 pm
by BigAl52
Nice Forty are you going bear hunting?

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:04 am
by fortyshooter
BigAl52 wrote:
Sat Apr 29, 2023 11:03 pm
Nice Forty are you going bear hunting?
Well there is one outa of cardboard that hangs around the place sometimes! :D I have about 100 of them in a sample bag I got from MB few years ago and wanted to load some of them up again. They hit the steel really good.

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 8:11 am
by Vaquero
fortyshooter wrote:
Sat Apr 29, 2023 8:43 pm
Yeah I could bump the load up a bit. These bullets seat at a 1.710 COL.
I like the looks of that bullet. ;)
Would make for a good hunting round.

RP

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 9:45 am
by fortyshooter
It's called the 44 Hammer by MB and seems to be a good one. The seated depth of bullet is same as that of the 240 gr. K bullet they sell and what I use also. The extra bullet weight sticking out above the case giving longer COL. Don't think it will feed well in a lever rifle with that length.
However I have loaded some in 44 Special brass that might work and of course at a lower powder weight.

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 10:11 am
by Vaquero
Forty, the 270gr 41 that I also cast, when loaded measures 1.70 and cycles just fine in my BBS.
So it just may cycle through.
Here is one compared to the 310gr 44.
20230430_090807.jpg
20230430_090807.jpg (1.87 MiB) Viewed 1275 times

RP

Re: Big bore double action revolver testing and fun........

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:50 pm
by fortyshooter
You should be good to go then!