44 Magnum chamber issues

[Randy1911]

Tuesday I got my first 44 Mag. A Ruger Super Redhawk. I took it to the range today to try it out. I cleaned it first to make sure all the oil was out of it. I fired about 30 rounds in fairly quikck order(less than 5 minutes). When I went to load it again 3 of the shells wouldn't full seat. I thought the chambers were dirty, but they weren't. So I packed up and went back to the house to clean it. When I got home I tried loading some rounds again before cleaning and they easyly fit in the chamber. By this time I got home the gun had cooled off. Could a hot gun been the reason for the chambering issues? I thought it might have been my reloads and planned on putting on a little more crimp. My load was 240gr. LSWC, 18.5 grs. of 2400 and a WLP. Anyboby have any thoughts on this?

 

[GRIZ22]

When I went to load it again 3 of the shells wouldn't full seat.

When I got home I tried loading some rounds again before cleaning and they easyly fit in the chamber.

Were these the same rounds you used both times. You may not have fully resized some cases that were fired in a gun with a larger chamber.

 

[uf-engineer]

If it gets hot, the chamber should expand.

 

[Slamfire]

Maybe this is related to your overlength cartridge case question.

 

[MMCSRET]

Ruger SRH revolvers had a reputation for elastic cylinders. It was brought to public attention when they started chambering the 454. I don't know if a recall was issued but I know they replaced many cylinders that had been heat treated improperly. It stands to reason that some of the improperly heat treated cylinders could have been bored for 44 Magnum. I suggest you do a little research and gain some information that may help explain the problem and lead to a solution.

 

[Randy1911]

GRIZ22, Yes they were the same shells. The problem just started all of a sudden. When I got back home and the gun had cooled off but before I cleaned it, there was no problem loading them. I just don't understand. The gun was fairly hot. Next time I go I plan on taking a cleaning rod/brush and scrub the chamber if it happens again. I am going to load up some shells with Unique and see if changes anything. I will let it cool first and see if that helps. If not, I will clean it.

Slam Fire, None of the cases were over the max length in my manual. They just varied a lot.

MMCSRET, The gun is a new manufacture. The date of manufacture is Aug.20, 2009. I just bought it.

 

[billybob44]

No problem with mine??

1911, I too have a .44 SuperRedHawk=91/2". Have put many 240 Hard Cast through it, and a pretty good amount of JHP, without any problems. Actually, last Spring, when my youngest Son, and my Son-in-law were in town, and wanted to shoot, we went to my range with several handguns. They really got into shooting the Super so I let them have-at-it. Now this is 2- 25-32 year old boys, that ARE very safety conscious, but not really that gun savvy. They probably burned up 150-175 rounds in an hours time. Other than a very dirty Super, there were not any issues at all. They were shooting some pretty good 50yd. groups also! I would guess that you had load problems. With reading some of your previous post, I would recommend that you get a .44Mag. cartridge gauge, from Midway or Dillon, and check your loads for cambering. I started using case guages last year for my 9mm+.45acp., and eliminated some of the problems that I was having with my semi-auto loads.:banghead:

 

[Walkalong]

Very strange indeed. I have never heard of this problem. I wonder if the cylinder was warping under the heat. As poster have said the cylinder should expand while hot and the chambers become larger, unless it warped as well, making the chambers a hair out of round.

MMCSRET may be on to something in post #5. I would try it with some factory rounds, or some very carefully crafted reloads, and try it again. If it still did it, I would call Ruger, but not mention reloads.

AC

 

[Randy1911]

I am going to the range this morning to try out some different types of powder loads. The only thing different will be the powder. I will also try jacketeed rounds.

 

[Randy1911]

I just got back from the range. I fired over 100 rounds and got the gun pretty hot. 95% of the rounds chamber with no problems. I kept the ones that wouldn't and when I got home checked them very closely. Problem, the crimp was bulged due to excess crimp. I think that SlamFire1 got it right in post #4. When I loaded the longer cases the crimp was excessive. Next step is buy a case trimmer and a case gauge. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[rcmodel]

Looks like you got it sorted out.

rc

 

[MMCSRET]

Glad to hear it is an easy fix.
Good shooting!!!!

 

[lgbloader]

And people call me anal about trimming my revolver brass. Thanks for proving a valuable point in processing revolver brass, Randy.

LGB

 

[Randy1911]

lbgloader

I'll be trimming my revolver brass from now on. Lesson learned.

 

[bluetopper]

I wouldn't try another powder than 2400 in trying to solve your problem. No other powder you try will run any cooler. The 18.5gr you're using is a great tack driving load and not max.

 

[243winxb]

"I never trim brass for my revolvers, never have never will"

This is why you should trim brass.

Problem, the crimp was bulged due to excess crimp.When I loaded the longer cases the crimp was excessive.

This is why i always trim revolver brass. If you set up the crimping die on the longest case of the lot, this may not happen.

 

[Walkalong]

And people call me anal about trimming my revolver brass

Yea, I know the feeling. Post that you trim revolver brass, and a dozen folks will say they don't, and it works fine.

You can get away with .010 and more difference in case length with a taper crimp and they won't buckle, but you can not get away with it with a roll crimp, especially a heavy roll crimp.

If you set up the crimping die on the longest case of the lot, this may not happen.

It won't, but your crimp will be inconsistent, just how much depending on how much your cases vary in length of course.

 

[Randy1911]

I took the time to measure all the cases to see which one needed to be trimmed. Over the whole lot I got lengths from 1.259-1.287. I plan on trimming to 1.270 as the majority were 1.268 or longer. I set aside about 15 shells that measured a perfect 1.270 and loaded them. They were perfect after I set my seat/crimp to that length. I know rhat the book said to trim to 1.275 but over 70% were under that length.

 

[Walkalong]

Same here. I trimmed my .44 Mag brass to 1.270 for the same reason. No worries. 1.270 will work just as well as 1.275, or 1.280 for that matter, just as long as your dies are set up for whatever case length you are using.