Today was a perfect day to go to the shooting club. I decided to take along some .44 magnum high power rounds. Alost all my shooting is with .44 magnum target rounds which are quite pleasant. I had decided that I need to stop being a weenie and shoot some of the big stuff. Well, that intention was completely done with after the first couple shots. I finished the string of 10 but then put the rest of those rounds back in the van. I was happy to get back to the target rounds.

So what is the difference? Today's photo is of a 240 grain target round (left) and a 240 grain high power load. They look similar. They have the same dimensions. They can be fired in the same gun. What you can't see is the powder charge. The one on the left has 5.5 grains of IMR Target powder and the one on the right has 21 grains of Hodgdon H110 (a pretty hot load!) I have used my chronograph to determine muzzle velocities. The target load clocks about 875 feet per second while the hot load rings in with 1407 feet per second.

OK, now what? You can calculate the felt recoil of a cartridge if you know its velocity and the weight of the gun (3 pounds). For these two, the felt recoil is 10 and 16 pounds respectively. That is quite a difference. Just to put it in perspective, the felt recoil in my Winchester model 94 .30-30 is 6.6 pounds (less bullet momentum and higher gun weight, 6.3 pounds.) Additionally, you are firing the rifle from your shoulder. I will tell you that is a lot more comfortable than a high power round from a .44 magnum.

You can be certain that I will be using a majority of target rounds out at the range.