Converting 44mag cases to 44spl
- Thread starter mac100
- Start date
troutseeker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Prince George, BC
If you are shooting these in a .44 mag, no trimming required, just use .44 special load data.
If in a .44 special, yes trim and load. Just remember which ones are trimmed in case you try to load them to .44 mag later...
If in a .44 special, yes trim and load. Just remember which ones are trimmed in case you try to load them to .44 mag later...
Absolutely. Just be sure to clean and deburr the case mouth after trimming. Some friends and I experimented with trimmed .357mag brass in 38 Spl's. The thicker brass let us cook up loads that would be, for lack of better words, 38 Spl +P++.
We were confident the brass would help the revolver's cylinder take the pressures and it did. Those would have been super street rounds for us armed guards at the time. Kind of .357 miniMAG's,If you look up Elmer Keith he was the father of the 44 Mag. He experimented with 44Spl cases and drove very heavy cast bullets to unreal velocities. His work led to Remington and S&W to make the 44Mag and the Model 29.
But this is probably a bunch of useless infrmation, I'm bored! You can load your 44 Spl's in the mag brass. Take note that the thicker brass near the bottom of the case means a smaller internal volume so back off a tiny bit to match true 44Spl velocities. But if you load your regular powder charge no worries. You might gain 100 fps and the brass can more than take it.
"...just use .44 Special load data..." Yep. Eliminates the lube gunk ring from cast bullets(far less expensive than jacketed) in the cylinders too. You can do the same thing with .357 cases. Mind you, .357 brass is not thicker than .38 brass. Just longer.
So I dont need to even trim the cases, I can just load a 44spl load in a magnum case.
Wouldn't that be dangerous because couldn't the primer flash over and ignite the powder quicker because of all the empty space. I know in a rifle you wouldn't do that, so why is it OK to do with a pistol round.
Wouldn't that be dangerous because couldn't the primer flash over and ignite the powder quicker because of all the empty space. I know in a rifle you wouldn't do that, so why is it OK to do with a pistol round.
Pistol and shotgun powders are extremely fast burning and contain way more nitroglycerin by weight. You can use very small amounts of pistol powder in pistol cases. A normal target load in a .357 or 38 Spl case is close to 2.5 grains of fast powder like 700X or WW231. It takes up a very small amount of space in the case.
- Location
- Niagara Region, Ontario. For now
I load 6 grains of Bullseye in my plinkers and have loaded as low as 3 grains. Thats with a 180 grain bullet so their is tons of empty room in the case. You can barely even see the powder in the bottom of the cases.
P.S. Dont go lower than 4 grains of Bullseye. The bullet didnt even make it through the target backer. LOL
P.S. Dont go lower than 4 grains of Bullseye. The bullet didnt even make it through the target backer. LOL
Even if you bought modern 44spl brass, it's exactly the same as 44mag brass, just shorter. It's cheaper for the companies to just trim down the magnum brass, than it is to have machines to make special brass. I do believe, it's been such since the 70's, at least. Definitely use the chamfer/deburr to clean up the mouth if you decide to shorten some, but you do that with all brass that you ever trim, I'm fairly certain (I know I do).
I just use Unique in magnum cases, off the top of my head, I'm gonna guess 6 grains, don't feel like going downstairs to check my notes. Like has been said, don't bother trimming if the gun is a magnum, or you'll get a gunk ring in the cylinder that might cause problems when shooting magnums afterwards.
I just use Unique in magnum cases, off the top of my head, I'm gonna guess 6 grains, don't feel like going downstairs to check my notes. Like has been said, don't bother trimming if the gun is a magnum, or you'll get a gunk ring in the cylinder that might cause problems when shooting magnums afterwards.
- Location
- Niagara Region, Ontario. For now
Trim???????? LOL
Thats something else I have never done to a pistol case!
Dont bother! Most people dont trim straight walled pistol cases.
Thats something else I have never done to a pistol case!
Dont bother! Most people dont trim straight walled pistol cases.
Really, I never new that. I do more rifle reloading than anything else and I know that the cases stretch and need to be checked after every firing. Do pistol cases not stretch? Seems to me that trimming them keeps them uniformly the same, would this not help in accuracy?
Most people who shoot 44 mag never trim the cases.
I have never trimmed the cases, since the straight sided cases don't grow. And the brass seems to last forever, if you do a very minimum of belling, to get the cast bullet in.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
While what you say is true in most instances, if the reloader was to use 44 mag cases, in a chamber cut for the 44 special, and was able to chamber the round, the pressure levels could be dangerously high.
The too long case could be jammed into the bullet ogive, by the short chamber.
Conversely, no problem using 44 mag cases, at 44 special loadings, in a 44 mag chamber, or for that matter, using 44 special cases in a 44 mag chamber.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Anything is possible, and I'm sure you're well aware of that. There are guns out there with just enough throat.
