Not trying t change anyone's mind about what they want to shoot - just relating an experience - adding some reasonably trustworthy "data" to the pool, even if I am not exact in quantifying some points. The 44 Special has been so much a part of my life that I rarely kept any serious level of records, because I've shot more 44 Special than all others combined, to include rifle. For many years, I remembered it all - it just stayed in my head. The older one gets, the bigger the pile of crap that accumulates in there and you just can't shut out all the BS without filtering it first, so eventually, there's just that much more BS to sort through to find the good stuff. I don't regret not documenting most of this except when sharing it - and I don't regret it that much even then. Most of this will likely ring a bell with most of you anyway.
In spite of everything I may say about 200 (or so)-grain 44 Special bullets, so as not to seem hypocritical, my A-number-one, go-to, no-fail bullet is the 429-421. Not to pay homage to Mr. Keith or to be part of the savvy 44 crowd, but gun after gun, load after load, year after year, that bullet is THE bullet for the 44 Special - at least for me. Sometimes that fact even irks me. I've even tried to get away from it, because at times, it just seemed cliche to use it and expound its "virtue." I still play with lighter bullets in the 44 Special, but if I had to narrow it down to one mould, I'd grab the 429-421 and not let go.
Back when the now discontinued LEE 208 grain WC was the only 44 WC commonly available, I struggled with one of the early 2Cs for years. It was marvelously accurate in the 624, Bulldogs, Rossi M720 and Taurus 44 Specials, BUT it was under-sized and I couldn't get it to cast any bigger than .428" even after having lapped it several times. I did not want to give up on that bullet, because it would shoot 5-shot, one-hole groups at 10 - 15 yards, off-hand and with little emphasis on strict marksmanship protocol, in any one of those guns, for the first cylinder-full, but then just start opening up and leading after that. Frustrating.
The point isn't to belittle LEE's moulds, but to emphasize just how desirable a WC is in a 44 Special - at least in my experience.
One caveat, which I do not find terribly troubling was that the 200 - 220 grain bullets shoot 2" to 3" low at 25 yards. You'll get a 2" group, but it will be significantly lower than the 240s and 250s. Just an observation - not a big deal. The 3" barreled guns tended to show this the most for whatever reason. I also, for whatever reason seemed to have less difficulty finding accurate loads in the 3" guns - like ANYTHING would shoot well in them, while in 4" and 6" guns, I might have to play with the load some (minor) amount to get out of them what I expected. MAYBE I just had lower expectations of the shorter barrels? I never kept records to that degree, just load data and some vague reference to how well a load shot in which gun - and never remember ever penciling anything less than "GOOD" for any 44 Special load.
All that said, if I "step it up" a bit in the Flat Top, I see this POI thing at 50 yards very clearly with a 5.5" barrel as well. Shoots 4" groups at 50 yards (bifocals suck), but 250s and 200s land a good hand-span vertically apart, on the groups' centers. I'm sure most know this is common and why it happens. I'm just restating/verifying that it holds in the case of the 44 Specials - many of which are 3" guns, which many less committed folks won't even bother to shoot at 25 yards or more. "Short," fixed-sight guns seem to be regulated to what we seniors would consider "traditional" bullets weights at "traditional" velocities for the cartridge.
I gave up on that particular mould, the LEE 208 WC, a long time ago, after many years of not wanting to give it up. I switched to the LEE 200 grain RFN (borrowed mould), which shot equally as low, but as accurately as the heavier ones, typically around 2" at 25 yards with the occasional "better" here and there. Still talking 3" guns mostly. Not willing to tempt fate, risking the acquisition of another under-sized LEE mould, I eventually settled on the Arsenal 432-210 RFN in 4C and it has been a marvelous mould and a wonderful 44 Special bullet, replacing the Lyman 429-215, as well as the LEE 208 WC. I requested my mould be .433" and it was bang-on, using my mongrel alloys.
Small sample alert - cylinder throats: All of the Bulldogs I own/have owned, as well as others' Bulldogs I've messed with had .433" throats. One Rossi had .432" - .433" throats, but the other had .428' throats. The 624 had .428" throats and the Taurus revolvers had .433" throats. My first Flat Top 44 Special had .432"+ to .433 throuts, and all the groove diameters were typically "good," at between .430" to .431" typically. My current Flat Top has .432" throats. The 624 showed the barrel stampings on the INSIDE of the barrel, to the point that you probably could have READ them from inside if I'd had a bore scope. Smith did replace the barrel for me.
One last thought - the only time I ever remember using Red Dot in anything is for a friend's 44-40, shooting 200 grain bullets at mild velocities and the 200 (or so)-grain 44 Special bullets. I've used Unique and W23/HP38 much, much more, with great results, but I remember Red Dot being the berries for light 44 Special bullets.
There I go with another long-winded tome... I wonder sometimes if anyone makes it to the end of one of these.
EDIT: Yeah, I know, I can't shut up. I get cranked up when anyone else expresses an interest in the 44 Special. Don't overlook HERCO for the 44 Special. For loads in the "Skeeter Load" realm, I have gotten very good results, which tend to hold at least to FIFTY yards. The 4" groups I mentioned above would probably be 4" groups at a HUNDRED, in someone else's hands, using someone else's eyes. Not saying anyone should switch from Unique to ( a little bit more) Herco, but with how hard things are to find these days - if you find some Herco, it's very useful in the 44 Special.