44 Webley, 442 RIC, 44 Bulldog reloading?

[Fox]

Does anyone roll their own for these old revolvers?

I am about to pick up what I believe is a 44 Webley/44 Bulldog pistol, I had pictures of it up in the antique forum, it is an Iver Johnson.

I wanted to know if anyone knows where I can get molds, dies and potentially brass (I doubt that) for the round.

Anyone have any reloading recipies for it? It has no real marks on it, so I assume no Nitro proofs. With this in mind I was thinking blackpowder, but would pyrodex or other substitues be safe to use?

Thanks everyone

 

[Clotho]

Double Post

 

[Clotho]

I don't reload for those calibers yet but according to the Handloaders Manual of Cartridge Conversions 44 Webley / 44 Bulldog brass can be made from .44 Magnum. Turn rim to .503" dia. and thin to .048". Trim to length. (.57) F/L size.

44 Special and 44 Russian brass should also work as it is the same case just different lengths so brass shouldn't be too much trouble.

I don't know if Jethunter makes bullets in this caliber but you might give him a try. According to the HMoCC the bullet diameter is .440. It may be a heeled bullet, I'm not sure. You will want to slug the bore to verify the diameter of course. If you decide to cast your own I would recommend Bernie at ht tp://www.oldwestbulletmoulds.com/ best email for Bernie seems to be: allisonmonument@aol.com

I can also recommend h ttp://www.accuratemolds.com/ tom@accuratemolds.com Tom will make a bullet mold for a custom diameter or even a completely new profile.

44 magnum dies will probably work. Even 44 Russian. If you want the real thing then you might try CH4D.com as they make dies for everything it seems.

I wouldn't recommend Pyrodex but BP is very easy to reload with. For revolvers I use GOEX FFFG Black Powder. Your minimum load with BP is always a full case uncompressed. That is filled to where the bottom of the bullet will be when seated. You don't want an air gap. Air is a bad thing in a BP cartridge and is to be avoided. If you really do have to download (usually only with a BP rifle cartridge) then you have to use something like oatmeal as a filler. Air can cause detonation which is very bad. BP can be compressed a bit if you feel you need a bit more power. Another nice thing about BP is that you are basically recreating the original cartridge so not only is it the safest but you get the full experience of shooting the firearm just like it was when made. If you haven't tried BP yet I highly recommend it. (providing you have a suitable range, preferably outdoors). It is a wonderful experience.

I don't have a recommendation for a smokeless load. I have found short squat cartridges like this to be very load sensitive. When you do find a load you have to be sure to be very consistent as the large surface area seems to be sensitive to variation.

Good luck with your project!

 

[MaxKW]

If your going to cut down cases use 44 Russian cases, the web on 44 mag cases is a lot thicker and higher in the case so when you seat a bullets the case with bulge out from seating the bullet into the thicker brass case that far down. Make sure to slug the bore before you do anything, I've seen them between .411 and .447, with the bigger bores you will need to use heeled or hollow base bullets depending on the chambers, some you can use standard .429 bullets from conventional 44's and the small bores are the hardest to work with, most likely needing to size bullets down and sizing the first part of the case way down to hold the bullet almost creating a small bottleneck case. I don't play with these little revolvers anymore but personally I would stay away from anything with a bore tighter than about .427, it's just not worth the headache.

 

[Fox]

I finally got this gun home. The bore is right around .429, 44 webley and bulldog rounds from a gun show drop in perfectly. I spoke with one old guy there and he said a lot orf the old 44 bulldog guns did not use heeled bullets, which is a bonus. The heradspace on the gun is a lot larger then the old webley rim thickness, so I think it was trimmed. Grandpa always said it would take shortened 44 russian, which seems to be accurate now.

Well at the time being I do not have a reloading space but I know what I will be making first once I get the space again

 

[bobdbldr]

I have one also, a Belgian and haven't made ammo for it yet, I also have some smith and Wessons in .44 Russian they will fit well after trimming to length. Jethunter has or is going to make prjectiles for these, he and dingus have good info on the guns and rounds to fit!