Unique in 44 Special?

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I was wondering about using Unique in a 44 Special Bulldog with 200 grain Speer JHPs.  case capacity is nearly identical to 44-40, if I remember correctly.  The only loading data I find for 44 Special with Unique is low velocity lead CAS loads or 240 grain JSP.  I was thinking it should be close to the 9 grains of the 44-40 with the 200 grain JSP.  Any feedback welcome.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Go to;   http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/RecipeList.aspx?gtypeid=1

I think you are being a bit optimistic. The top load from Alliant is 7.6 grains with the 240 gr SPEER.

My tattered & yellow copy of Cartridges of the World, 3d Ed. shows a Unique load for a 250 gr bullet (Not specified if Pb or jacketed.) that is a grain lower than your proposal, and I doubt it was pressure tested.  The blast in a belly-gun would be spectacular!

Ken Waters' PET LOADS shows 7.5 grains as "near max", and I know he did not have access to pressure testing gear. I am pleased that Alliant agrees so closely with his top load, in this case. Sometimes Ken was a bit over current recommendations.

Go to a recent source, and don't get get too adventurous! 

[Ranch 13]

 There's no finer powder for the 44 special than unique, but I don't think you're goingt to want to go anywhere near the top end loads in that belly gun.
Might slip by the local slobber shop and grab the Lyman 49th reloading handbook , or scoot over to loaddata.com , with credit card in hand. Tons of good solid load data there.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Handloads.com has a great article about loading for the short barreled revolvers like the .44 Bulldog.  Also Taffin has a good article about 44 Special.  They have 7.7 to 8 grains for 225s well under 14,000 max for 44 Special.  I may try about 7.7 under a 200 grain Speer Gold dot.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Just a side note:  I have bunches of loading manuals, BUT they are all packed in storage while we live in a studio apartment until our house purchases closes!

[Ranch 13]

I absolutley am stuck on unique in the 44 special, but if I were to take up the snubby's in that chambering, I'ld sure take a hard run at the faster powders ie bullseye,trailboss and reddot etal, just to try and overcome the velocity loss of the slower powders not getting to do most of their good work before they ran out of barrel length.

[Ranch 13]

Just a side note:  I have bunches of loading manuals, BUT they are all packed in storage while we live in a studio apartment until our house purchases closes!

Makes the 25$ spent on the loadata.com subscription worth all that much more.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Makes the 25$ spent on the loadata.com subscription worth all that much more.

I have a subscription for RIFLE, HANDLOADER, & Sucessful HUNTER.  They gave me entry to loaddata.com on the side.

[Crow Choker]

Unique will work in just about anything, but I've found that loading a handgun with it and loading it near or at the max grain loadings, not only does it have a alot of 'bark', but it has alot of 'bite' with it to. Your short barrel Bulldog will really let you know it to. Years ago while using a heavy dose of Unique with 125 grain HP's in 357, I shot the same load in 2 3/4, 4, and 6 inch barreled DA revolvers-the shorter 2 3/4" barrel really brought out the 'bite' vs the 4 and 6. Ditto's to Sir Charles post and to Ranch 13's post of using a faster powder vs Unique. But--if I were limited to just a few powders to load with, Unique would be one of them.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I also thought of ww231. But can't find any data for it.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I also thought of ww231. But can't find any data for it.

It is the same as HP 38

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/171598-hp38-hodgdon-ww231.html

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Well, I did it.  I just put a pristine 1970s vintage Charter 44 Bulldog with a 3 inch barrel on layawy for $350. It is identical to the. 44 Bullbog I carried as a LEO off duty gun (and back up in an ankle holster) from 1975 to about 1988. I have about 400 rounds assorted 44 special and lots of brass and slugs . Ill probably pick up some Speer gold dot factory for now.

[Trailrider]

The Lyman 49th Ed. shows 6.7 - 7.5 gr. of Unique behind a 200 gr. Hornady HP/XTP #44100. They used a 4" and a 7-1/2" pressure barrel, but don't specify which the data came from for this load. The 7.5 gr Unique chronographed at 854 ft/sec with 11,300 CUP, the lowest pressure for any of the powders shown.  However, I suspect a 2-in. barrel will exhibit a lot of flash with Unique.  You might want to try HP38/W231 (same powder, different label), which is faster-burning. They show 6.4 gr on the low end, and a max of 7.1 gr. at 13,800 CUP with the same bullet.  For cast bullet data, you might want to pick up a copy of the Lyman manual, as there is a lot of data for me to copy here.

[I can assume NO liability for the use of this data in any guns at all! Usual disclaimer.]

[44caliberkid]

I split the cylinder on a Charter Bulldog using 8.0 grains of Unique under a 180 gr. Speer JHP.  After a trip back to the factory for a new cylinder, I only load them with 7.5 grains.   I don't think you can push the Bulldog platform very far, they ain't Smith's or Colt's.   I like Clint Smith's idea for the Bulldog, a full charge of 3F Black Powder.   If the bullet doesn't slow them down, setting them on fire might and you can escape in the smoke screen that it leaves.
   The old Lee 44 full wadcutter bullet would be ideal.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Thanks guys.  I think I will try 7.0 grains of WW231 with the Speer 200 grain Gold Dot.  That is about the loading used with a 45 Schofield. It was a great load.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Thanks guys.  I think I will try 7.0 grains of WW231 with the Speer 200 grain Gold Dot.  That is about the loading used with a 45 Schofield. It was a great load.

Look at this from HODGDON:  Best to go straight to the manufacturer.

Cartridge:  44 S&W Special
Load Type:  Pistol
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Bullet Weight (Gr.) Manufacturer Powder Bullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
200 GR. CAST LRNFP  Hodgdon  HP-38  .430"  1.450"  4.5  743  8,300 CUP  5.6  918  12,500 CUP        
200 GR. NOS JHP  Hodgdon  HP-38  .429"  1.460"  5.5  806  10,100 CUP  6.0  898  13,100 CUP        

 

[cpt dan blodgett]

I have been using Nitro 100 and AA2 in 44 spec for years.  Couple of years ago Nitro 100 changed make sure to use new data.
When I called AA on the new formula a couple of years ago they recommended reducing old loads 15%.  Their website FAQ recommends a 10% reduction of both starting and max loads if using old N100 data for handguns.  Obviously one would use their new data if available for the caliber in question.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Alliant's reloading guide specific to the Speer 200 GDHP I am using lists 7.8 of Unique as max.I believe it is in the 13,000 PSI neighborhood, which is well below he 14,000 max.  I may also try some WW231, about 6.8 grains, which is midrange load according to Lymann.  I am really fond of Unique, though, and have lots of it.

[Shotgun Franklin]

In the mid to late 80s one of the Constables in Galveston Co Texas carried a .44 Bulldog. I would load a 200 gr LSWC over 7.5 gr of Unique. He liked it pretty good.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I found a PDF from Speer with recommended loads for the 200 grain GDHP:  Looks like 6.9 of WW231 or the 7.8 of Unique are the winners.  The hot loads will be for carry, and shot seldom.  For practice loads, I have 500 of the 246 grain RNL that I will duplicate factory loads with about 6 grains of Unique.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&ved=0CGAQFjABOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speer-bullets.com%2Fpdf%2FReloadingSupplementalDATA%2F44_200GD.pdf&ei=67i5T-nUM67JmAXgysHSCQ&usg=AFQjCNG7K7LEBeJgTf8mNsBj_gepXuaVtw&sig2=wqmX7SwqpJgUyNIc9dS-5g