44 Mag 265gr Rifle Load suggestions

[Old Time Hunter]

Ok boys, besides load'n for my favorite carry gun ('94 Trapper, fast twist 1-18 I believe), my son has asked me to load for him also. He has a '94 Black Shadow w/24" barrel, then along comes a hunt'n buddy who has decided to use his 94 Marlin Cowboy chambered for .44 Mag. Question is, what is the best load for all three? My guess is 21 grains of H110 with the 265gr Speer JSP, but will the Marlin handle it (twist and all)? Or should I just go with my std. 24 grains of H110 and a 240 Speer JSP? Figure I'll prime a hundred or so cases while I wait for an answer.

[meanc]

Old Time,

This is what I have:

Win94 Trapper 16"

Win94 Legacy 24"

Marlin 1894 20"


All three shoot a 240gr JSP w/ 20gr of 2400 prety darn good.

I haven't used H110 in a while, but I'd stay with what I know works, and 24gr of H110 under a 240gr worked equally well in both Win94s and the Marlin.

[Old Time Hunter]

Oh well, guess going to the old tried and true is the way to go. Meanc, 24gr of H110 and 240 Speer JSP has been my go to load for at least 10-15 years, just thought I would try something different since I have a choice of bullets. I found an unopen box of 265 grain Speer JSP's, thought I'd try 'em, 'spose they'll have to wait other 10 years or so.

[meanc]

Old Time,

I don't think there'd be a problem with the MArlin and 265gr. My understanding is that the 300gr and over are the only ones that might not stabilize due to the twist.

Since you're loading some cases up anyway, why not do about ten and sling them thru the Marlin. At 50yds I'd just see what they'd do. Don't really need to sight them in, just make sure they group well somewhere on the paper.

I'm kind of curious, as that's probably as heavy as I'd try in the Mag44.

[Hillbillygunsmith]

Old Time Hunter;

I happen to load the Hornady 265 gr. JSP for a early model,1970's, Marlin rifle. My rifle likes the load and will shoot 1" -1 1/2" groups at 50 yards with it. It is my load for "hog" hunting. Here are two loads, one with Win. 296 and the other with H110. These two powders seem to be identical twins in performance.

22 gr. Win. 296, Hornady 265 gr. JSP, velocity-1620 in 20" rifle barrel. Max load in Ken Waters "Pet Loads".

21.5 H110, Hornady 265 gr. JSP, velocity-1630 in 20" rifle barrel. Max load per Hodgdon powder web site.

I have not used the H110 load, only the Win. 296 and it is one accurate load that I obtained from Ken Waters reloading book titled " Pet loads". He also obtained very good accuracy with it in a Browning B92 carbine.
I will be using this load for a upcoming hog hunt, but for deer I prefer 240 gr. bullets as the Hornady 265 bullet has a heavier jacket that should hold up well on the trougher shoulder of a hog.

[Hobie]

I've used the 240 gr. bullets on hogs and they're just fine. I now load the 300s for the rifle but I know I don't need to, just want to. If I were you I'd stick with the tried and true.

[jd45]

I have used 21 or 22grs H110 under a HORNADY 265FP in my B-92. Shot real good, too. 1-1/2" @ 100yds off the bench, but my rifle had a REAL slow twist barrel.....1-in-38", I believe. jd45

[awp101]

22 gr. Win. 296, Hornady 265 gr. JSP, velocity-1620 in 20" rifle barrel. Max load in Ken Waters "Pet Loads".

21.5 H110, Hornady 265 gr. JSP, velocity-1630 in 20" rifle barrel. Max load per Hodgdon powder web site.

What primers? Those sound interesting for a Win 94 carbine I have...

[Hillbillygunsmith]

On the win. 296 load CCI-350 primers were used.
On the H-110 load, Hodgdon listed Remington 2 1/2 primers.

[Borregos]

Have always used a 240gr with 22gr H2400, but sounds like the 265gr could be interesting!