Making 44 Russian out of 44 magnum -

bandit86

bandit86

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Need some 44 Russian brass. Internet say you can make them out of 44 magnum or 44 special brass. I tried. 44 sellier bellot brass is tapered on the inside, I spent hours cutting down 50 cases, trimming, deburring, resizing. Put the lead bullets in, push down and the side of the case bulges. WTF. Do 3 more all the same. Out comes the caliber, the case is 12 thou thicker 1/4 inch down form where I cut it. Short of drilling out the taper it will not work, and I'm not about to leave the bullet too far out.

I love the brass, it's great for high power loads but it blows for Russian conversion.

Just FYI.
 
That's a pia. Does it still chamber with the bulge? Try it and if it fits, shoot is. I trimmed 44 special brass to 44 russian length and didn't encounter that. I guess it makes sense that 44 mag brass would be thicker.

You can order Starline 44 russian brass from CGN sponsors Mystic Precision and Double Tap. It is very nice stuff.
 
Have successfully trimmed many a .44 mag case back to 1.150" .44 special length for use in my Reichrevolver, without issue.
Sounds to me like the extra .190" or so coming off to get down to .44 russian length is getting you too far down into the tapered case wall ID.
Nothing for it but to buy yourself some Russian brass, or maybe .44special carries the taper deep enough down in the case to work at .970" trim length?.

x2 on starline brass from Mystic, Jerry's been a total pleasure to deal with.
 
I ordered and received 44 Russian brass, 240 gr .430 Elmer Kieth bullets, 44 special dies and a Lee mold From Henry @ Budget Shooting. His website say's he will be open again Sept. 2
 
jethunter said:
You can order Starline 44 russian brass from CGN sponsors Mystic Precision and Double Tap. It is very nice stuff.
Click to expand...

Starline 44 Russian is also available from Prophet River and Rustywood Trading.

65cutlass said:
I ordered and received 44 Russian brass, 240 gr .430 Elmer Kieth bullets, 44 special dies and a Lee mold From Henry @ Budget Shooting. His website say's he will be open again Sept. 2
Click to expand...

Are those hard-cast bullets, though? You'd be better off with soft cast for 44 R.
 
bandit86 said:
...Put the lead bullets in, push down and the side of the case bulges. WTF. Do 3 more all the same. Out comes the caliber, the case is 12 thou thicker 1/4 inch down form where I cut it. Short of drilling out the taper it will not work,.....
Click to expand...

Okay, but will they still chamber? If so, forget about the bulge, and go shooting!

Ted
 
No it will not chamber. I bought a drill it to drill into the case but I think I'm done screwing around, I could trim special cases easier. Only the bottom 1/8 inch of the bullet bulges, it's noticeable thicker. I could avoid it by not seating deep enough but not doing that. Ill look into proper Russian brass maybe if price is right.
 
Because you say that only the bottom 1/8" of the bullet is bulging the case I'm guessing that a Lee 44 factory crimp die would remove the bulge and not affect accuracy. I loaded a bunch of 38 wadcutters in Winchester 38 Special +P nickel cases and they bulged at the bottom (+P nickel must be thicker than standard brass 38 cases which don't bulge). I ran them through a Lee factory crimp and it removed the bulge and had no noticeable effect on accuracy. YMMV. The die is only about $25 so it might be a cheap solution to your problem as you will be able to use your trimmed brass instead of junking it.
 
If you tried to remove the bulge by pushing it in you would put too much pressure on the bullet, like over crimping it.

I only started this project because I had the re magnum brass already and though trimming it was enough. Prophet river has 100 brass for $24 it's not worth the hassle and labour I went through. I bought 200 that should last a while.

Is the star line a thick brass, would it new resizing after every shot with a nice moderate load?
 
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