[Rick Armatage]

Hi I’ve recently bought an 1894 in .44 magnum. I’ve been loading for my rifles for about 15 years but never done straight wall cases or pistol calibre.

I have 500x 200 grain cast and pre lubed GM bullets and intend to use them with Viht N320 as I already have 3 cans. Is there anyone out there who can point me in the right direction on powder charges for this combination

Thanks Rick

 

[mr surveyor]

First, Welcome again!

Second, what re-loading manuals do you have available?


jd

 

[paulo57509]

Hi I’ve recently bought an 1894 in .44 magnum. I’ve been loading for my rifles for about 15 years but never done straight wall cases or pistol calibre.

I have 500x 200 grain cast and pre lubed GM bullets and intend to use them with Viht N320 as I already have 3 cans. Is there anyone out there who can point me in the right direction on powder charges for this combination

Thanks Rick

You don't state where you're at in your search.

I would first look here:

https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading-data/handgun-reloading/?cartridge=47

And then here:

https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading-data/cowboy-action-reloading/?cartridge=48

 

[Maineiac]

Welcome to MO from Midcoast Maine! I hope the links point you to the information that you need.

 

[256WinMag]

Welcome and enjoy your new rifle.

 

[rob42049]

Rick A:

Diameter of Marlin .44 Mag barrels is SAAMI specced at .431+" in the grooves,different(larger) than a .429" pistol barrel. If your bullets are undersized they may not shoot well and leave leading. I say may because there's a possibility they'll target just fine. You won't know until you try. I shoot .432" cast 200 grain bullets and get excellent accuracy with minimal or no lead deposits.

What diameter are your cast slugs?


Rob

 

[Rick Armatage]

Hi forgot to say I’m from the UK which is why I’m going for Viht as it’s always avail here unlike some of the more popular powders from the US. The cast bullets are .429 as below

https://www.henrykrank.com/reloadin...-lead-bullets-429-44mag-200gr-rnfp-pk500.html

I’ve looked at the Viht load data and it gives min 10.0 to 11.3 and the Lee book agrees with this but it’s all for jacketed bullets and a 7” barrel. When I had my 222 rem barrel shortened I lost about 45 FPS per inch of barrel I took off so would I be correct in thinking the quoted speeds from the books will increase quite a lot over the extra barrel length?

I’ve seen a couple of things suggesting a load of 6 or 6.5 grains of the N320 with a 200 grain cast bullet but being new to this kind of reloading I wanted to get other advice before jumping in.

Thanks Again Rick

 

[RiflemanGB]

Welcome from Kent UK , as others have said look on the Vihtavuori load data site , they have a Cowboy action data section which might give you pointers at starting loads ,also depends what velocity your looking to get for best accuracy.

 

[Rick Armatage]

Wanting to use it indoor at 25 and everyone and then outdoor at 100 but still struggling to get my head round the Viht data for 7” barrel and applying it to a 20” barrel

 

[rob42049]

Hi forgot to say I’m from the UK which is why I’m going for Viht as it’s always avail here unlike some of the more popular powders from the US. The cast bullets are .429 as below

https://www.henrykrank.com/reloadin...-lead-bullets-429-44mag-200gr-rnfp-pk500.html

Thanks Again Rick

I'm sorry,can't help you with a powder charge. I searched all my manuals and cannot find any lab tested data for N320 and 200 grain cast bullets.

If you get poor accuracy,bullet keyholing,and leading,you'll know the .429" diameter is too small for your barrel. In the future try to find .432" slugs,they shoot very well in Marlin .44 Mag rifle barrels.


Rob

 

[mr surveyor]

Several years ago when I first started re-loading for my (former) .44 mag Super Red Hawk, I had a good friend that had given up on his .44 mag loading endeavor and passed along some well used brass and a couple of boxes of cast lswc's to me. I loaded up some moderate starting test rounds and came home from the range with a nasty leaded up barrel. Then found he had set me up with .429 cast bullets. That caused me to really pay attention to details and not take for granted that my supposed "mentors" always knew what they were doing. I suppose those .429's had a lot to do with him giving up on the .44 mag.

jd

 

[UKShootist]

I have a Marlin 1894 microgroove in .44 and hand load. At present I'm using commercial hard cast 240 grain bullets with 5.5 grains of GM3, a shotgun powder that as far as I can tell is about similar to Red Dot. It's great for 25 yard targets, very accurate, i.e. more accurate than me! Quickload shows 5 grains of N320 behind a 200 grain Lee cast bullet will give a MV about 1017 fps out of a 22" barrel. Your 10 grains will give around 1,500 fps. A bit quick if you want to avoid leading IMO. My data from QL, your choice about using it.