[Carbon_15]

Got a set of lee .44 special dies to load my .44 magnum ammunition today. Its probly a dumb question, but how do I adjust the size die to allow for the longer length?
Thanks,
Jason

[Jim Watson]

There is no adjustment to the sizing die between Special and Magnum.
Leave it like it is and size from mouth to the top of the shellholder.

The expander and seat/crimp dies will of course have to be adjusted for the difference in length since they operate only on the mouth of the brass.

[Steve Marshall]

I've never heard of a .44 Spl. die set but who am I? For sizing, there is no difference. For belling and crimping there is .125" difference. So if your dies are set to reload .44 Spl., all you have to do is back out the die .125". In fact, I believe Redding sells flat washers for just that purpose. Also included, if memory serves, is a .062" washer. That is for your seating and crimping die. In practice what you do is set your die so that it crimps. Then when you are seating bullets, you use that 1/16th spacer. Then, in a seperate step, which is always good to do, you remove the 1/16th spacer and crimp your loads. The same deal works with .38 Spl and .357 Magnum loads with only a .010" discrepancy.

[Walkalong]

I used the Redding spacers (http://www.redding-reloading.com/pages/accessories.html) for years for both .38Spl/.357 Mag & .44Spl/.44 Mag until I bought a second die set. That worked pretty well.

[Ratshooter]

I've never heard of a .44 Spl. die set but who am I?

I have a Lee 44 special die set myself. I only load 44 mag. I bought the special dies in case I ever find a 44 special.

If I had bought 44 mag dies there is a chance that the crimp die would not crimp the special cases. My buddy had 357 dies that would not crimp 38 special cases. Getting the shorter dies and readjusting them or using the spacer is a smart move.

[navyretired 1]

I think the spacer thickness is 0.100" not 0.125"?

[Jim Watson]

Nope.
.44 Special to Magnum is .125"
.38 Special to .357 Mag is .135"

[Walkalong]

Yep. .125 for .44

The set is 3 spacers. It also has a "no crimp" spacer. It is about .100, but I am not where I can measure it.

[ranger335v]

No sizer adjustment but you will need to turn the expander and seater up a bit, a couple of turns.

There's no point in sizing handgun cases lower than maybe 1/2 or 2/3s of the way down and your cases will last a tad longer too.