Bi-annual check-in, and revolver stuff.

JasonMPD

Hello, everyone.  Lots going on and little motivation to type it all, but all is well.

Me and my woman are going to WV in mid-october for our annual Appalachian trip.  We plan to hike and walk trails in a few remote areas.  I'll be toting my G19X for frail stuff and I made up a load for the 44mag for stuff that don't know when to quit.

It's 14.5gr A2400 under a 320gr FN hunk of lead.  It's rolling out about 1150-1200 fps.  All that is good.  What is odd (odd to me because I know diddly about wheel guns maybe?) Is at 25 yards it's 20" high, 15 yards about 15" high, 7 yards about 6" high.

And I'm not sure my rear right has enough downward movement left to regulate the sights.   I presumed to get them on at 15 yards, but I'm re-thinking that now.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Smart-alleck remarks?  I'm all ears.

Six-Gun

Taller front sight is in order. Excellent bullet choice, but 6” high in close?  Yeah, time to get on Brownell’s and make that puppy hit where it should.

Bigslug

Bottom out the sights and get back to us, BUT. . .

Personally, I think there's zero call for a bullet that heavy.  Sticking with the same roughly .32" meplat, dropping the weight to about 250 grains, and keeping the recoil level the same will get the bullet out of the gun before the muzzle has had a chance to rise so much, will greatly flatten the trajectory, and with a harder alloy, it will still penetrate enough to end your problems with very large creatures.

joeg52

Bigslug has the answer. The 320gr is too heavy to get out of the barrel before it rises that much. A good hard cast 240-250gr will do all you need and not require replacing sights.

GunNut

The fixes have already been explained.  Taller front sight or lighter bullet.  I just wanted to say hi and happy all is well with you.

earlyagain

Good powder for 44mg cast lead bullets. I think I charge up with 18 to 20 grs under 240 gr LSWC's. Oregon Trail brand bullets. 

Have a good trip. Guy named Bill Bryson wrote a book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. I recommend it.

JasonMPD

Thank you all for the information.  I had a suspicion recoil was playing part in the high shots.  320gr just seemed fun, haha.  And they are!

Most places are out of bullets, unfortunately.  I have some factory 240gr stuff that I'll test and some 44spl loads I made up that I'll test as well.

And I'll check out Bill Bryson's book about the Appalachia. 

Spk

JasonMPD said:

...
And I'll check out Bill Bryson's book about the Appalachia. 

If you don't have time for a book, watch the movie it's funnier. 😁

earlyagain

Wow!
I didn't even know there was a movie

Spk

earlyagain said:

Wow!
I didn't even know there was a movie

It's a fun movie, nothing depressing about it. Just fun! 👍

NN

Nice to see your still kicking

Bigslug

Some physical data for ya.

230 grain LBT .45's with a .32 meplat.  Cast and water quenched to about 22-24 BHN.  Unfired left.  Fired at 830 FPS and recovered from NINTH milk jug on the right.  This is basically what the Army was looking at as a means of "decommissioning" the other guy's cavalry horse.

A 250 grain .44 will have more weight, more speed, and higher sectional density, so again not really sure on the requirement to top 300 grains.

Now, if you're gonna play subsonic loads - YEAH! - super heavy and pooted out at 800 fps is a crazy fun thing to do!

CHIRO1989

Came across you in an old thread and was thinking about you last week, how is the civil unrest treating you, are you still working as an LEO?

JasonMPD

Bigslug said:

Some physical data for ya.

230 grain LBT .45's with a .32 meplat.  Cast and water quenched to about 22-24 BHN.  Unfired left.  Fired at 830 FPS and recovered from NINTH milk jug on the right.  This is basically what the Army was looking at as a means of "decommissioning" the other guy's cavalry horse.

A 250 grain .44 will have more weight, more speed, and higher sectional density, so again not really sure on the requirement to top 300 grains.

Now, if you're gonna play subsonic loads - YEAH! - super heavy and pooted out at 800 fps is a crazy fun thing to do!

Excellent, and thank you.  When I can find those bullets (Cast Performance makes bullets I like using) I'll grab some and load em up.

JasonMPD

CHIRO1989 said:

Came across you in an old thread and was thinking about you last week, how is the civil unrest treating you, are you still working as an LEO?

No rioting in my area yet, but also we haven't shot anyone in the catalyst group this year, so we'll see!  I'm a detective now, so I'm in comfy clothes now.

GunNut

JasonMPD said:

CHIRO1989 said:

Came across you in an old thread and was thinking about you last week, how is the civil unrest treating you, are you still working as an LEO?

No rioting in my area yet, but also we haven't shot anyone in the catalyst group this year, so we'll see!  I'm a detective now, so I'm in comfy clothes now.

Good for you!  Congratulations 🍾 🥂

Japhy

JasonMPD said:

Thank you all for the information.  I had a suspicion recoil was playing part in the high shots.  320gr just seemed fun, haha.  And they are!

Most places are out of bullets, unfortunately.  I have some factory 240gr stuff that I'll test and some 44spl loads I made up that I'll test as well.

And I'll check out Bill Bryson's book about the Appalachia. 

The book is “A Walk In The Woods”
there is a passage that is my absolute favorite. a large party of hikers commandeers a sleeping platform from our heroes. Not to let the jerks off they stage an early morning raid take all the boot laces and head down the trail.