44 Russian reloads this past weekend

[Pony Racer]

Folks just thought I would share some info from this weekend's shooting activity.

I shot six stages of a 12 stage two day match with my Cimmaron OT's in 44 spec/colt/russian with 5.5 inch barrels.

They only got a little stiff at the sixth stage.  Thanks to Frio for the sweet action jobs on these guns!!

Curiously, the three loads I shot all handled about the same - I had Ten-x BP sub 44 russian,  and I had my own reloads with 1.3 or 1.6 cc of APP 2f and a 200 grain bullet.

The Ten-X loaded with triple seven sounded louder but all three produced about same recoil and shot about the same.  When you load 1.6 of 2f in the Russian cartridge with a 200 grain bullet you get a very good crunch when seating the bullet, when you load 1.3cc's you get just a little.

Anyway, due to powder prices being up - I will load 1.3 since there was no noticeable difference.  I use the lee seater die with crimp - your results may vary with other dies and or bullets.

PR

[Montana Slim]

Thanks for sharing!
I haven't tried any BP loads in 44 Russian that didn't perform reasonably. For powder, these have ranged from 1.09cc to 1.26cc using 2F or 3F, using various brands of "true" gunpowder. I've settled on 1.18cc of 3F for my recent batch. Using the MAV 44 bullet, I get light compression with this charge. As you Pony Racer noted, the bullet used makes a subtle difference in case capacity, compression, etc. My main concerns are to have (1) at least enough powder to fill the case, (2) not so much powder that the bullet seats without distoring the cartridge case and/or the bullet.

I've posted chrony data before....& will share when I get some more.

Regards,
Slim

[Grapeshot]

When I was shooting the .44 Russian with BP, I would try to duplicate the factory 246 grain Round Nose load.  I don't remember what my charge was, but I remember using a compression die to get the powder compressed enough to seat a Lyman 250 grain RN .430in bullet in that itty bitty case.

I went back to shooting the .45 S&W and .45 Colt just to get more bang and smoke.