Shooting .44 Specials out of a .44 Mag 1892?

[steve817]

When I mentioned in a post a little while back that the 240 gr magnum soft points I was shooting out of my 1892 were beating me to death, someone mentioned trying .44 specials out of it which I did. My shoulder was thankful however the bullets were hitting way high at 50 yards. By way high I mean about 8 inches. Is this normal? Is it the overall length of the cartridge affecting the bullet path or what? I did expect some change but nothing like this. After moving my rear sights down as far as they will go, it still shoots about 2 inches high at 50 yards, I can deal with that but when I threw some magnum rounds in again, they were shooting about 6 inches too low as a result.

In that same post JohndeFresno suggested magnum hulls using lighter loads. I guess that will be my next step. But still want to hear what others think about what is going on here.

[Griff]

More than likely, it is the slower bullet is taking longer to travel thru the barrel... resulting in recoil have more effect on your trajectory than the much faster magnum rounds.

[steve817]

I expected if anything at all the special rounds to hit lower than the magnum rounds.

[Pisgah]

What you are seeing is the result of lower velocity. It means a whole new trajectory, caused by several factors, and will occur whether you use Special cases or Magnums for your .44 Special-level loads. If you settle on the slower load as your chosen standard, you'll need to readjust your rear sight lower, and possibly switch to a higher front sight if there's insufficient adjustment in the rear.

[Griff]

I expected if anything at all the special rounds to hit lower than the magnum rounds.

Aye, it's counter-intuitive, but... that time in barrel is just enough longer that it allows the recoil to have a major effect on the trajectory.

[alnitak]

Out of my 1894 Trapper, I saw hardly any change to POA/POI between .44 mag and .44 specials at 25-50 yard ranges, if anything the specials were a hair lower (though within the margin of error for my shooting abilities). Now, for plinking, I load my mag cases to special levels and am GTG -- no sight adjustment necessary.

[Grizz]

here's another possibility. with the magnum loads you are anticipating recoil and moving the barrel down as you touch off the shot. recently saw a super slow-mo video of someone doing exactly that. at 1200 frames per second the playback is long enough to see every phase of the process. he pulled the muzzle down at every shot.

I don't know what the difference in lock time is in the first 20 inches of movement, anyone have that info?


I agree that using mag brass for the lighter load makes sense.

Grizz

[Old Savage]

Faster loads shoot lower in many guns, pistol and rifle. Barrel is pointing at a higher angle when the bullet exits the barrel as Griff said. Lock time refers to the time for the firing pin to strike the cartridge after the trigger is pulled I believe and irrelevant here.

[86er]

Maybe the Specials are losing velocity as the bullet jumps to get into the rifling and gas escapes by. I think trying the Mag cases with light loads is a good place to start and then if you cant move the sights more you may have to adjust the projectile weight to get the impact where you want it.

[Nath]

Yep, I tailord a rabbit load at 38special levels in 357 cases to the point they are a similar height at 50 to the magnum loads.
Super sonic trials shot to low so I kept trimming back untill muzzle lift gave the bullet some help so to speak (longer barrel time).

You are witnessing the effects of longer barrel time!

Nath.

[Grizz]

sorry OS, I was thinking of the travel time in the barrel. For clarity I'll just refer to it as travel time in the barrel.

normally, in my carbines, the heavier bullets print higher at close ranges, all else being equal, meaning without altering the sights. I don't know what the travel time in the barrel is for the various loads that I have observed this with. I see it with hand guns too. I don't know what the travel time is in those barrels either.

I am sceptical that recoil can alter the POI of a bullet much at all because, in the high speed videos I've watched, the bullet is away before the gun reacts. It would help if we knew the travel time in the barrel though...