I borrowed a 8 inch 44 mag barrel for my G2 to see if i wanted a shorter barrel that the super 14 i have. i shot winchester 240gr jacketed soft nose off hand. As far as recoil goes how does this compare. use a 1-10 scale or what ever. The recoil was lighter than i expected as was able to shoot15-20 rounds in a row at 21 yards. My weak had is more sore from getting tapped from the trigger guard than my strong hand is.

Thanks
Damon.

I try and not shoot any more factory loads than I have to myself. Infact I have several guns that have never had a factory round fired in them after leaving the factory.

I have had several 44 Magnum S&W revolvers over the years, and I have shot some factory ammo, and lots of handloads in them.

Several years ago I had a box of 240 grain Soft Point Winchesters (20 Round Box) given to me with a 29 S&W I traded for. They were fierce in the Model 29 4". No fun to shoot at all. They were by far the hardest kicking 44 magnum loads I have ever fired.

Try Hornady 180 gr loads. Nearly ripped my hand off. Scared my wife (who is a very good shooter) to death with the cylinder and muzzle blast. Very hot load. Must be for lever guns. I bought a box of 20...still have 16

I had someone tell me the 240 grain Winchester Soft Points in a 20 round box were rifle ammo also. The ones I fired would have put plenty of mileage on a S&W pretty quick if you could have stood to shoot many of them.

it was a box of 50. it said hunting bullet. had a pic of a deer on it. mabey is just the 8 inch bull barrel making it tolerable.

Call Winchester and ask if they were loaded for rifles,I tend to think not but I don't really know.

So it could ruin my barrel? Don't plan on shooting any more factory. Just wanted to try factory so you guys could tell how they rated on the recoil scAle

Any 44 mag ammo from the big name companies like Winchester are going to be laoded for pistol pressures. NO, it will not ruin your barrel.


In some cases like the 45 Colt and the 38 special there is ammo loaded above the "standard" pressure of the cartridge but it is always marked +P, and should only be fired in newer guns built to handle the pressure. You will also see laod data for TC and Ruger guns ONLY for these cartridges. Always read the box or load data carefully.

just looked them up there rated for handgun. so would this be considered a moderate or stout round

Handloader Magazine had some HOT Loading Data for the 44 Magnum a while back. It was all within established pressure limits for the 44 Magnum. This loading data was much hotter than what you will find in most modern reloading manuals.
I am sure no ammunition company would put out any 44 Magnum loads that were not safe in all factory chambered 44 Magnum rifles and handguns.
Now if you are reloading using a modern manual you are probably well under a Maximum Load. Factory ammunition which is assembled in a plant with close quality control over lots of powder, etc can be loaded to much higher pressure, or not depending on the bullet and intended purpose of the ammunition. A 240 Soft Point would be considered to be a hunting bullet for deep penetration with controled expansion. A cheap box of Hollow Points or full metal jacket ammunition might be loaded much lighter. I am guessing here, but factory ammunition for the 44 Magnum may not all be loaded to full power, unless it is intended as Full Power Hunting Ammunition.

It would be interesting to buy a box of several different 44 Magnum loads and compair them for speed, expansion, and penetration. However as high as factory ammunition has gotten I think I will pass, and continue to handload.

I did some extensive testing of 40 S&W and 10mm several years ago. Back then the ammunition companies had not went Nuts on what they charged for ammunition, like they have the last couple years. What I found at that time was most 40 S&W ammunition was pretty well maximum loads. On the other hand 10mm was all over the place. I had some Remington that 40 S&W was going faster than 10mm in the same bullet weight. Go Figure
My guess is when it was determined that Full House 10mm was hard on Colt Deltas and S&W automatics, the ammunition companies started backing off on velocity and pressure.