Handloading the Hornady FTX Bullet in .44 Magnum--Further Thoughts and Experience

This is a follow-up on my recent post "Handloading the Hornady FTX Bullet in .44 Magnum--Initial Thoughts" wherein I describes some of the issues and problems I had with using Hornady's flex-tip bullets for use in a lever-action carbine.

As I noted, even though the case must be trimmed shorter than is standard for the .44 Magnum, there is little information on powder loads using the FTX bullets. Since the bullets were 225 grain, I started with moderate loads of 2400 and Unique powders, using 20 and 12 grains, respectively. I knew from the get go that the loads using the 2400 were probably too much, since, with the shorter case required for the FTX bullets, I was actually compressing the powder charge slightly when seating the bullets.

This past weekend, I had an opportunity to test the rounds. Shooting a 5-shot group of each, the loads using Unique averaged 1546 fps at the muzzle, while the loads using the 2400 averaged 1734 fps. These were shooting out of a 24-inch barrel. Although the loads using the Unique were fairly stiff, cycling seemed fine. The 2400 loads definitely showed signs of too high of pressure, including some flattened primers and difficulty with extraction.

I had loaded additional rounds of the 2400, but I am going to pull the bullets and reduce the powder charge when reloading them.

Although I wasn't testing for accuracy (other than not damaging my chronograph), I had aimed at a target set out approximately 50 yards when shooting through the chronograph. The results were not that impressive. I expect it will improve when I get a correct loading.

Although I have been less than impressed with the using the FTX bullets for hand-loading, I will note one positive aspect: the pointed bullets made it noticeably easier to load the bullets through the loading gate and into the magazine.