Need 44 Special Loads for 2.5" barrel

[Two Bit Charlie]

I have a Charter Arms Bull Dog 44 Special with a 2 to 2.5" barrel. I need a load that will completely burn in the short barrel. Or at least not spray unburned powder all over the place. I plan on using 200 gr. lead bullets. Would like to use Titegroup, as it's my go to powder for cowboy shooting as it's not case sensitive, and I have a lot of it. Does Titegroup burn fast enough for that short of barrel? I use Winchester WST in my 45acp target loads. I don't know if it would be case sensitive in the large 44 Special case. Would I be better off using something like Bullseye in my shorter 44 Colt cases? Any help will be appreciated.

This is a all round carry gun. I would use factory loads for self defense. Is there any factory loads on the market made for short barrels?

Reed "Two-Bit Charlie" Van Ness

[PJ Hardtack]

*Edit: I had the brass wrong in the original post* !!!

Now it's correct.


I've got a 4" M29 that I load with .44 Spl. loads. I also load .44 Russian for it, which might be your best bet.

- 200 gr RNFP/3.5 grs 700-X (.44 Russian brass)

- 200 gr RNFP/5 grs Tite Group (.44 Spl. brass)

Years ago I shot LOTS of .44 Spl. with 240 gr SWCs over 5 grs Unique. That would be a good stopper, but a little stiff for play in a light gun.

[Two Bit Charlie]

PJ, how does the Titegroup burn? Hodgdon goes down to 4.5 grains with 200 gr lead bullets. I will give this load a try. I'm still interested in Bullseye in 44 Colt cases. I shoot 44 Colt in C.A.S. so I have a good supply of the brass!

Thank you for the response.

Reed "Two-Bit Charlie" Van Ness

[Coffinmaker]

I use to load 44 Russian with 4Gr - 4.5Gr TightGroup and a 160Gr Bullet.  Solid crimp.  the guns were/are 4 7/16 inch barrels.  Good burn if I remember correctly.  Haven't shot Smokeless in a long long long time.  I'd load currently load 44 Russian with 11-12Gr APP and maybe a little Cream-0-Wheat.  FUN.

It is going to be a mite tricky to find a powder that will burn completely in a 2 1/2 inch barrel.  For "all round carry" don't know as I'd care so long as what ever I was shooting lost interest in me.

Hide and Watch

[PJ Hardtack]

PJ, how does the Titegroup burn? Hodgdon goes down to 4.5 grains with 200 gr lead bullets. I will give this load a try. I'm still interested in Bullseye in 44 Colt cases. I shoot 44 Colt in C.A.S. so I have a good supply of the brass!

Thank you for the response.

Reed "Two-Bit Charlie" Van Ness

If there is a problem with the Tite Group load, I'm unaware of it. It should suffice for CCW from a snub nosed .44.

With the .44 Russian I'd up the charge to 4 grs 700-X or Red Dot.

Any of the small charge pistol powders would be a good choice.

Have you tried any of the commercial CAS loads offered in .44 Spl. or .44 Russian?

Using a full WC .44 bullet would increase close range effectiveness if you can find them or cast them.

[Two Bit Charlie]

PJ, I bought the gun used. I got it with 2 commercial boxes of so called Cowboy Loads. Heavy bullets, 230 gr, which no cowboy shooter would use. Any way I get a ton of unburned white powder all through the gun. It got so bad that it gummed up the works. So I'm looking for something that will burn fast. I'm hoping that Titegroup will be the ticket.

Thanks again

Reed "Two-Bit Charlie" Van Ness

[Tascosa Joe]

TBC:
If I remember correctly when those things first came out Skeeter Skelton reviewed one.  With factory 44 Spl the rounds key holed.  WST is sorta like Bullseye.  Try WST with a heavy bullet and good crimp. 

[LongWalker]

Mine did well with WW231.  Usual bullet was a Lyman 42798 cast of stick-on wheel weights, sized to match the cylinder throats.  I used a fairly stout crimp, no problems with unburned powder.  I tried Red Dot but had the cylinder tie up a couple times due to fouling. . . and since I several pounds of 231 anyhow, I switched.

[mtmarfield]

      Greetings!

   I have an older Charter Arms 3" bbl .44 "Bulldog". For fun shooting, I've used the RCBS #44-200 with about 5gr
Unique, primed with a Std Lg Pistol Primer ( usually CCI or Federal ).
   Dad has a Taurus 431 .44Spl, and I loaded him up a box using the little 180gr Lyman #429348 wadcutter over
5.5gr Bullseye, fired by CCI #300 caps. His Taurus has a very low front sight, and heavier bullets hit rather high; I
thought that these would be dandy, and they were! He tried a few, gave me the remainder of the cartridges that I
had loaded for him, and insisted on borrowing my mould! Great little bullet.

                    M.T.Marfield