Hey fellas been doing quite a bit of shooting with my 44 mag. i have been using all factory stuff and the most recent box was from buffalo bore. so far I can keep all the shots in a 6 inch square out to 50 yards with open sights. My question is two parts. 1st part is I want to load a a round that is more or less a light mag or even a heavy special with a 200 grain swc-hp for the places I roam I think it would work nicely and also be a bit easier to shoot a lot more of it. 2 nd part, am I wasting my time trying to do this?

Thanks

No I don't think you are wasting time at all. All your shooting does not need to be, or should be full power loads.The milder loads let you work on form, sight alignment and trigger control without beating you up. Dry firing can be a big help also.I shoot a lot of .22 in a similar gun for the same reason.You still need to shoot a few rounds of the stuff you will hunt with but not a steady diet of it. JMHO

Never hurts to experiment, try Titegroup, or IMR 4227.

What bullets will you be using?

Depending on the bullet you are using, you may not need full power to get the job done. HS-6 is a great powder for midlevel loads that would do fine for deer with WFN or Keith style bullet. Even XTPs expand pretty well at less than warp speed. True Blue is another powder that performs similar to HS-6. If backing down the recoil makes you a better shooter, by all means. Placement is key.

A famous mid-load that works well is 10gr of unique and a 240 cast. Check out the video section ( christening an OM Super Blackhawk) and you can see what that combo will do. If medium size game is on the menu, this combo works and is very pleasant to shoot.

Thanks guys, yes I m looking for a load I can shoot a lot more of on the range to get better at actually shooting my 44, I was wanting basically a heavy 44 special or light to mid level 44 mag. I was thinking a 200 grain bullet either cast or jacketed. I m planning on banging the steel targets then caring the same load for deer and bear under 50 yards. I m picking up a set of new dies for the 44. it will be the only handgun caliber I will reload as of right now. I do about a half dozen rifles, so one more aint a big deal

For everyday 44mag shooting I use a 250K bullet and 10 grains Universal Clays. I prefer hunting with jacketed bullets, but the 250k would do the job.

I like 2400 you can load it up close to 110 and down to close to Unique. Use the mag primers for best results.

Missouri Bullets has an inexpensive 240 gr SWCBB coated bullet that is great for practice. I load 10 gr Unique or 10.6 gr of HS-6 with a regular primer. Both are accurate and midrange.

I agree with a 240gr SWC and around 10gr of Unique.

I can shoot these all day long without fatigue and while not being at the top of the pile power wise they are more than formidable enough for self defense.

I think that when you starting getting into really light for caliber bullet weights the bullet tends to get very short and accuracy begins to suffer. At least that has been my experience.

I use a lot of the 250-255 grain cast with 10 grains of Unique. That load can do a lot. But since you mentioned the 200 grain bullet,,, I know just what you would like. That is the Lyman 429215 bullet. If you do not cast your own then Montanabulletworks.com has them. They say that they drop around 215 grains. I have some that dropped around 230 grains. SO 210-230 hope that suits you. They can be loaded mild to heavy and I will make these suggestions. If you want to load 44 SPL velocities then use a 44 SPL case and load them with 7.5 grains of Unique. If you feel that you would like to stay with the magnum case then start at 8.0 grains of Unique and you can go to 10 grains. Standard primers work here.
Now for steel or anything else at 50-100yds I like to switch to 2400 and I go with 21.0 grains. I have to use a rest to get my 2" groups at 50,, and I again with a rest I can do get 4-6" groups at 100yds. But I do not get to shoot that often lately and need practice. This load kicks pretty good, and it is not your carry around at the farm or ranch load. But wanted to offer it to you so you will know about it. It works better with magnum primers.
This is a good accurate bullet that gets overlooked very often, in favor of 240-250 grain fodder. To give an example of this, A friend and I shot Sunday, and He had never shot at 50 yds. He also had never shot the 44 mag. He shot a 4" group at 50 yds using the 2400 and the Lyman 249215 bullet.