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180gr or 240gr 44 mag?

29K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  funkymonkey1111 
#1 ·
I saw some Remington 44 mag in 180gr today at Wally mart. Does the 180gr 44 mag have less or more perceived recoil than the 240gr Winchester White box flavor?

regards
 
#5 ·
Took my deer last year with WWB 240 soft points and they do run a hell of a wallop! Pretty awesome recoil for a factory round, if i had to carry one load for everything this would be it. I saw one shoot through a large wounded mule deer buck end to end and thats enough for me given the fact that they do also expand reasonably.
 
#7 ·
Can't say about others. I normally roll my own .44's, just happened to have shot an old box of WWB when you posted the thread.

Try them and let us know.

IF IF you are looking for something mild you may want to consider buying cowboy loads. Thats if you don't load your own.
 
#8 ·
There is more felt recoil in most factory 240 grain than 180 grain. I thought that the Remmington had a significant wallop for factory stuff. When it comes to my handloads, I've found better accuracy with heavier rounds so I only load 240 and 300. Besides, nobody shoots a 44 mag when they want mild :D
 
#9 ·
Well, I've shot thousands of rounds in my 44 Mag SBH Hunter, and my experience differs. Before I started reloading, I shot CCI and MagTech 240 grain JSP's. As I recall, they ran right around 1150-1200 fps, with noticeable, but not severe recoil at all. My FIRST box of mfg ammo, however, was a box of 180 grain Rem-UMC JHP's; (Tan box). I bought them as I thought that the lighter bullets would let me 'ease into' the 44 mag world, in terms of recoil. NOT SO! Those cartridges, (and the similar ones from PMC) run right at just below 1700 fps from my 7.5" barrel!!! Yeah, that's over 1100 ft-lbs of ME, as I recall. THE hottest mfg load I have ever shot in that gun.

Now that I reload, I use 200 grain SJHP's running right at 1500 fps. That's right at 1000 ft-lbs of ME. Boy, do those guys do the job on a whitetail!

I know the 'conventional wisdom' says that heavier bullets have more recoil. But the factor that matters is the ME that they develop. The big bullets, (I have shot them up to 300 grains) give a big 'push', but those little guys at 'warp speed' are SHARP in the recoil department. Try it sometime: put a 240 grainer in the cylinder followed by a 180 grainer. Then give it to someone and ask them which is stouter.

Now there are surely other 240 grain mfg loads that are stouter than those that I have tried, but I've handloaded some up to around 1400 fps, and they were still not as 'sharp' in the recoil department as really stout 180 or 200 grain loads.

Just my $0.02 worth; YMMV.

P.S. I've shot 200, 240, 270, and 300 grain slugs from my Marlin 44 Mag levergun, and the ONLY ones that turned my shoulder blue were my 200 grain handgun hunting loads. I shot around 10 rounds of those and quit!
 
#10 ·
I do load my own and have looked at the difference in recoil based on bullet weight. With everything else being equal, a heavier bullet will give more recoil. A heavier bullet will develop more pressure (assuming the same powder charge) than a lighter bullet and coupled with other factors will produce more recoil. The difference between 240 and 180 grain bullets is substantial.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Quote: "A heavier bullet will develop more pressure (assuming the same powder charge)"

Yep, no argument with that statement. Problem is that one does NOT use the same powder charge with lighter bullets! To get maximum effect, the lighter bullet is chosen precisely because one CAN use more powder, and thus gain substantial velocity increase over the heavier bullet. As long as the lighter bullet has sufficient penetration, the higher energy it thus delivers is the reason for going to the lighter bullets. But they DO produce more ME, and thus more recoil, WHEN loaded to their full potential.
 
#12 ·
Raw recoil in any gun is based on three factors ... the weight of the gun, muzzle velocity, and bullet weight. The formula for raw recoil is: velocity in fps, times bullet weight in lbs, divided by the weight of the gun in lbs.

As an example, let's say you had a Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 4 5/8" barrel that weighs 45 oz empty (2.8 lb). A factory 180 gr 44 Mag round is rated at 1610 fps from a 4 5/8" barrel. A factory 240 gr 44 Mag round is rated at 1350 fps from a 4 5/8" barrel.

For the 180 gr load: 180/7000=.026 lb ----- .026X1610=41.86 ----- 41.86/2.8=14.95
For the 240 gr load: 240/7000=.034 lb ----- ..034X1350=45.9 ------ 45.9/2.8=16.39

As you can see with these two factory loads, the 240 gr will have about 10% more recoil. If you were to compare a mid-range 240 gr load @ 1200 fps, the raw recoil would be 14.57, which is about 2.5% less than the above 180 gr load. So the truth is, depending on the velocity of both cartridges you are comparing, either one could generate more recoil. Not all brands of factory ammo generate the same velocity with the same bullet weight and because there are differences in the gun itself (barrel length, B/C gap losses, etc), the only way to accurately determine velocity is with a chronograph. You would also have to weigh your gun on a scale.

Now if you really want to get technical, you must also add the weight of the cartridges to the weight of the gun and subtract bullet weight plus powder charge weight for each round fired. In other words, you will have slightly more raw recoil with each round fired.

Raw recoil does not consider the type of grips used or the grip angle. When grips and grip angle are added to the mix, it becomes "felt recoil", which we all know can vary from person to person depending on how the shooters hand fits/holds the gun.

Another factor for "felt recoil" is the type of powder used. Again another example: Let's say you had two 240 gr loads, one with fast burning powder and the other with slow burning powder but both cartridges produce the same exact muzzle velocity of 1200 fps. Mathematically, both would produce a raw recoil of 14.57. Recoil starts the moment the powder starts to burn and ends when the bullet leaves the muzzle. With a fast burning powder, chamber pressure and velocity increase much faster at the beginning so "felt recoil" will actually feel sharper at first than with slow burning powder.

Despite the above "math", the best way to judge for yourself is to load your gun with both loads, fire them one after another, and feel the difference.
 
#13 ·
Once again, thnx Iowegan for adding light to the discussion. Your math bears out my experience exactly. As I stated in my original post, the 240's I used had a MV of around 1150-1200 fps. For your 2.8 Lb gun, (mine is heavier, but it cancels out as long as I use the same weight for both), this gives: 240/7000 = 0.034; times 1200 = 40.8; dividing by 2.8 = 14.57.
For the 180 - for which I MEASURED the MV at 1700 fps:
180/7000 = .026; times 1700 = 44.2; dividing by 2.8 = 15.38. So for the cartridges of which I spoke, the 180 DOES give more 'raw recoil' than the 240.

And, if you take into account the fact that the gun, when loaded, has 5x60 = 300 grains more weight due to the greater weight of the heavier loaded ammo, it would be a bit more difference to boot; (only about .68 ounces more, but more.)

As you also pointed out, I think that the burn rate probably has a lot more to do with "FELT" recoil too, since the shape of the pressure vs. time curve is important to the subjective recoil experience.

Anyway, thnx again for the clear explanation, sir.
 
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