I've had the .44 Mag Vaquero for a little more than a year now. I had to work on the sights to move the point of impact, and I think it is right where I want it now. This revolver started out shooting left and low with all the loads that I normally use, so I had to widen the rear sight groove to the right, and lower the front sight to raise the point of impact. Settling on a load had to be done before I could finish the work on the sights.
I like shooting the 9 grain Herco load under Hornady's 200 grain XTP bullet, but a .44 Magnum should have loads a bit warmer than that. 9 grains is really a .45 Colt load, or not quite a maximum .44 Special load. I moved the load up to 10 grains, which is above .44 Special, but still under the beginning loads listed for .44 Magnum. Interpolating from Lee's manual, 10 grains should be in the 1000 to 1100 feet per second range. It is still easy to shoot in the short barreled revolver, but has plenty of power for dealing with coons and coyotes I might encounter in our woods.
I used a bottom hold on the figures above, with the front sight centered, and level with the top of the rear groove. It is shooting just above the front sight at 50 feet. You can see what the 9 grain load does with the same hold. I am cranking out more of the ten grain loads to have on hand so I can be confident when aiming small with my little hand cannon.
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