Reloading .44 magnum redhawk

mj30wilson · Jul 14, 2009

I am reloading for the .44mag redhawk and have a box of bullets given to me that are .300 grain and have two cannelures for increased load capacity. I believe they are hornady xtp's. My question is when do I use the bottom cannelure for a bullet like this? I know it is for increased case capacity but at what point do I know to seat the bullet at this depth?

Do the reloading manuals tell me?
I have Sierra,Hornady and Nosler reloading manuals.

.405 · Jul 14, 2009

The 300 grain is a really long bullet.You will need the bottom cannelure with full charges of 2400,110, 296 and other slow burning powders.

Huntbear · Jul 14, 2009

That is one of the biggest bonuses of a Ruger. The cylinders are long enough to seat 300 gr. bullets out where they belong for heavier hunting loads. The 300 gr. loads for my Redhawk will not fit in a S&W. They stick out past the front of the cylinder. I am running the 300 gr. Sierra JSP, over a full load of H110, and they are stout loads to say the least.

Ol` Joe · Jul 14, 2009

Load to the lenght the data was built around. The manuals will have that listed with the data for the bullet. The 300 gr is listed at 1.60" in the latest Hornady manual.

BTW it pays to check for the proper lgt when useing very heavy for caliber bullets to insure that they will fit the cylinder of your revolver. I have heard of poeple finding out after loading a bunch of rds that they are too long for the gun and tie it up.
The Redhawk is a big revolver and this likely won`t come up, but it pays to be aware of it anyway IMO.

Richracer1 · Jul 14, 2009

I load the Nosler 300gn in my 44 Super Redhawk. They only have on cannelure. I propel them with 17gn of 240. Never a problem with fitting in the cylinder and the revolver functioning.

FOTIS · Jul 14, 2009

Layne Simpson did a write up years ago about this.

He called it the 10.9mm Ruger magnum.
Rugers have a long enough cylinder to accommodate this setup. If you have a redhawk/super redhawk you simply seat the bullet and crimp on the bottom cannalure on top of 24 gr of H110. Please work
up ! He got close to 1300- 1400 fps or so.

.405 · Jul 20, 2009

Back in the 80's I spent an entire hunting season hunting with nothing but the Redhawk.I think I have killed seven or eight deer with it.Never lost one,but I got the distinct impression that my Keith type cast bullets killed better than the jacketed bullets that I used.I could shoot a deer count to five and hear them hit the ground just out of sight.I used Keiths old load of 22 grains of 2400.It hammers them.When I take the gun back to the field I will be using the newer Lyman 275 grain bullet.Maybe loaded with 296 or H110.

Huntbear · Jul 21, 2009

POP":3nz9b9j5 said:
Layne Simpson did a write up years ago about this.

He called it the 10.9mm Ruger magnum.
Rugers have a long enough cylinder to accommodate this setup. If you have a redhawk/super redhawk you simply seat the bullet and crimp on the bottom cannalure on top of 24 gr of H110. Please work
up ! He got close to 1300- 1400 fps or so.

That is almost exactly my load data.... and it is a wrist buster after about 20 rounds.