[Philmo11]

Well, my new chrono is screwed. I managed to clock 1 round, wind took the chrono to the concrete and now it’s toast.

240gr Berry’s Jacketed Target HPs
23.8gr Lil’ Gun
Henry Big Boy 20” Barrel

Unfortunately, those are about 400fps faster than max velocity of these bullets. After I clocked them I went and double checked. Some bullets like 45-70 and 500 mag have a 2000fps max. These only have a 1250fps max. Going to have to do this over again.

The chrono now reads 2444, 2424 and 2442 instead of the 1600 range. I double checked with the 45 Colt loads I just tested. The chrono is screwed.

 

[Coalcracker]

I have some 250 grain Hornady XTPS. Loaded with ramshot enforcer for the woods. I forget the load exactly. But it's close to the top.

 

[AgedWarrior]

240 grain with 24 grains H110 is hard to beat. You want to work up to it, but it is really hard to beat H110 in 44 Mag. I could not even guess how much H110 I have used over the years...used to shoot a lot of .44 Mag. AA#9 is pretty good too, and Lil Gun works admirably too. I was just out shooting my 1894 earlier today. It performs really well with N110 using 180 grain XTP’s, but 240 on top of 24 grains H110 is just sweet. Super Blackhawk likes em too.

 

[deputy]

it has been literally decades since i reloaded the 44mag.......can not even recall the recipe.....other than it called for generous amounts of hercules 2400

 

[Philmo11]

I will tell you this much, that 44 magnum Henry used to pur like a kitten when firing factory ammo. She kicked like a donkey with those Lil’ Gun loads. I had a heavy leather biker jacket on and the extra zip out coat liner in it and felt it the kick. I’m considering stepping outside my norm and getting some FMJs just for hot 44s. I liked her spunk.

 

[Philmo11]

This is the factory load I was comparing to.

 

[AgedWarrior]

I will tell you this much, that 44 magnum Henry used to pur like a kitten when firing factory ammo. She kicked like a donkey with those Lil’ Gun loads. I had a heavy leather biker jacket on and the extra zip out coat liner in it and felt it the kick. I’m considering stepping outside my norm and getting some FMJs just for hot 44s. I liked her spunk.

You said you used 23.8 of LilGun? Where did you get the data from?

 

[Philmo11]

You said you used 23.8 of LilGun? Where did you get the data from?

Lee manual

 

[Philmo11]

 

[Philmo11]

I got my chrono working again. Verified with the 45 Colt loads I did earlier.

The last 3 I clocked were 1724, 1704, 1736

This is the high end

 

[deputy]

on the other end......how are the 44 specials working out for accuracy in the henry?

 

[Philmo11]

Never tested a 44 special. After getting a 38 special squib, I really saw no point in them.

 

[AgedWarrior]

View attachment 120321

That is a pretty generous amount of LilGun, compared to other data i have available. Interesting.

 

[Philmo11]

20grs produced 1537, 1557, 1573

 

[Philmo11]

16gr produced 1201, 1253, 1358

The lower the charge and more air space in the case, the more unpredictable the pressure/velocity.

 

[AgedWarrior]

Reduced loads with LilGun or H110 can be unpredictable and hazardous...TBA

 

[Philmo11]

I figured it would have that effect due to the 2gr min to max recipe. Those loads are screaming fast from that Henry. I’ll have to find something else for these bullets. 1600-1750 FPS are just too fast for the bullets.

At least I know that Lil Gun is very case volume sensitive.

 

[gvaldeg1]

240 grain with 24 grains H110 is hard to beat. You want to work up to it, but it is really hard to beat H110 in 44 Mag. I could not even guess how much H110 I have used over the years...used to shoot a lot of .44 Mag. AA#9 is pretty good too, and Lil Gun works admirably too. I was just out shooting my 1894 earlier today. It performs really well with N110 using 180 grain XTP’s, but 240 on top of 24 grains H110 is just sweet. Super Blackhawk likes em too.

H110 was my favorite for 44 mag. My loads were similar to yours. Felt fine in the Super Blackhawks but a bit violent in my little Uberti 1873 colt replica.

 

[Philmo11]

With what powders I have on hand, Unique seems the next best. There was no 240gr load data in my book but there was 225gr and 250gr lead cast data. Both say 11gr maximum load.

10gr Unique 1130, 1188
11gr Unique 1383, 1368

I don’t like the 50fps swing in the 10gr, however, it is better than 150 FPS variance we saw with reduced Lil’ Gun loads.

1383 is still 133 FPS faster than bullets are rated for, but better than 400-500 FPS faster. I still need to slow them down a little. 1250 is the max speed.

 

[Philmo11]

Ok so now I’m all the more confused. Unfortunately, Berry’s documentation has that effect. It changes on you as I’ve found in the past with 500 mags and 357 mags.

I found a 2019 post where someone contacted Berry’s Manufacturing over a discrepancy on their sight between the 1250 FPS on the box and the 1800 FPS on the site (which is no longer there). The quote from the email stated:

"Sir,
Upon further testing that was done in house on this bullet we did come up with the higher and correct velocities of 1850fps than the 1250fps.
Thank you"

I looked in the barrel for evidence of separation/leading and found only carbon in the barrel, despite the numerous rounds at 1300,1500, 1600 and 1700 FPS velocities.

It’s time to test accuracy and see what the real story is. It’s supposed to rain starting 2:00 and high winds until then.

I’m going to load 10rds at the high velocity with Lil’ Gun and do the same with Unique. There is a 400 FPS difference between those 2 loads. I will sight it with factory jacketed ammo and clock those as well as a baseline. Check the barrel after each set of rounds for indicators or fragmentation/leading and see where we are with each load.

As they say, the proof will be in the pudding.