Unique and Cast in the .44 Magnum

Hi all.

Some years back my dad had bought a Ruger stainless Vaquero in .44 Mag for a woods-walking gun. He loved the pistol but was afraid of full-snort loads in in it, so I loaded him up some Lyman 429421 Keith SWCs over 10.0 grains of Unique for a nice easy-shooting load that would still be effective against critters should the need arise.

Since he passed I have inherited the pistol and three 20-round boxes of those handloads. It's a lovely combination. It occurred to me to wonder what velocity I'm getting with it? Extrapolating from existing load data I think I'm just shy of 1000 fps, which puts this load firmly in .45 ACP territory. Which, there are no flies on that you might say.

My only quibble is that Unique is a sooty powder, and I'm wondering if I can replicate that load with some Blue Dot. Blue Dot burns cleaner for me.

-AaronB

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Warning: I've only noodled around with this tool a bit so....FWIW

Gordon's Reloading Tool shows 10gr. Unique under a Lee 240gr. bullet produces 26,649psi and 1143fps from a 6" barrel. Changing to 15gr. Blue Dot produces 24,767psi and 1181fps. It also warns of low burn rate and inconsistent combustion.

The components were chosen from the existing lists and not tailored in any way. I would use these results very cautiously. But my guess is BD is a tad slow for the application.

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I have put up some Blue Dot loads in .45 ACP with 200-grain SWCs with very good results... of course the shorter, fatter case probably helps with consistency. I've been pleased with the results in my 25-2.

This tells me that there are likely consistent loads using BD under the Keith 240 in .44 Mag, but they'll be hotter loads than what I'm looking for.

-AaronB

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that you don't want, I would gladly take it off your hands and help keep your guns cleaner. :-D

--
Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

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And I’ll take all I can get!!

--
https://facebook.com/M2bKydex/

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I'm very blessed, it's true, but I'm not so blessed just yet as to give away good smokeless powder.

That stuff's spendy. :-D

-AaronB

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--
Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

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Which barrel length on the Vaquero? I've shot thousands of 10gr Unique with the Keith bullet and Magma machine 240's. With the Keith bullet they do an honest 1000 fps from a 4" M29. The Magma bullets run 1050, probably due to the deeper seating. IIRC they do well over 1100 from a 7 1/2" SBH.

Going with a firm crimp with this load cleans it up considerably, but yeah, it's still gonna be a bit dirty.

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Being low on Unique at the time of getting my Flat Top .44, and tried some W231. I had good results with 6.5gr and a 429421 in special cases and 11.0 in magnum cases. It was before I got my Garmin so I don’t have chrono data with me at present.

ETA some quick googling shows others chrono day of around 950 fps with the special load and 1280 with the magnum load.

--
https://facebook.com/M2bKydex/

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Blue Dot was one of the first powders I used in the 44 magnum when I started loading it in the early 90s. It works well but it probably will produce more velocity than you are looking for.

Unique was my go to mid range powder for a long time. About 6 years ago I stumbled on to a great deal for several jugs of Universal and it works well. Grain for grain it is almost identical to Unique in most applications. People say it is cleaner but I have never noticed. I mainly shoot cast bullets with a soft lube so every load leaves residue that is easily wiped off.

Power Pistol might be another way to go. I have never used it in the 44 magnum but it is a very versatile powder in many cartridges..

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