.44 Special Ammo Availability

I would see if you can find another die set, and then look for a press to accept those dies.

I am not sure that .44 Special ammo has ever been widely available. Factory loads, for practical purposes, have always been either LRN stuff at extremely low velocity (which is fine for what it is, but enormously overpriced) or boutique stuff from places like Buffalo Bore.

The only reasonable approach to the cartridge has always been handloading - and casting, as far as I am concerned - and of course we all know how that has been going, lately.

Amazon currently has dies available for the .44 Special, and for the .44 Magnum, which work just fine for the Special. They also have several different single stage presses available, though at inflated prices. The bullet manufacturers are all horribly behind, so far as I know, but appropriate molds are available from several places at the moment. Lead still is available, though electric casting furnaces seem to be in short supply. Propane powered burners and cast iron pots can be easily found, though.

Powder, primers, and cases remain an issue, and probably will into the foreseeable future.

Tl;dr you picked a hell of a time to get started loading for a new cartridge. Doing it "your way" probably won't happen until 2022 or so. Making it happen any way at all is probably possible, but would take some doing.

If the usefulness of the guns to you depends upon a steady supply of factory cartridges then I believe you are barking up the wrong tree. The cartridge is probably my favorite on the planet, but it is a handloader's proposition from start to finish, and it sounds like the 10mm may be a much better option for you.

Oregon Trail has bullets looks like ~~~~> https://oregontrailbullets.com/xcart/laser-cast#pageId=3

Your 550B will take any brand of dies; the 7/8x14 thread die body has been standard for many years.
All you would need from Dillon is the Conversion kit with shell plate and "powder funnel."
Bullets can be had. Brazos Bullets has coated .44s and not too long delivery time.

I don't know about brass. I have seen reports of powder here and there.
Primers are the hangup; most of the past year's production released into the reloading market and not used for factory loads have gone to scalpers who are asking outrageous prices.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101119737?pid=875273

Midway has dies in stock for 44 Magnum and Special.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2046539567

And bullets in stock. Something to start with.

CodeSection said:

Damn...it is looking like I will need to go with a 10 mm that only will give roughly 703 fps......

Click to expand...

Did you mean 703 ft/lb ?

Have you considered 45 Colt?
Just as versatile as 44 in an appropriate gun such as the big Rugers, and can be loaded to 44 mag levels.

I just bought 200 gr RNFP .430 diameter bullets in their Patriot Pack (red, white and blue) for my .44 Spl. from Eggleston bullets last night. If you want one (max of two) hurry, they go fast.

https://www.egglestonmunitions.com/shop.html#!/Patriot-Packs/c/51353961

I load them with 7.2 gr of Unique for a great practice load in a .44 Spl. A bit warmer load is 7.5 gr.

Just a suggestion that may help in tight times .

Stay safe.

Amazon has Lee .44 Special dies

Lee Deluxe Carbide 4-Die Set https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000O7HCDW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_FTTFHQ50FQ1XEAHZRBE4?psc=1

No Bull Tactical has unprocessed.44 Spl range brass. I have bought unprocessed brass from them and I am very happy with what I received. You must call to order. Their online order system isn’t being used.
From their webpage:
Due to Corona virus, please call to place all orders
M-F 8A-4P
https://www.nobulltactical.com/product-page/44-special-unprocessed-brass

These folks have .44 Spl Hard Cast bullets, which is what I would load your situation. I have never used their bullets so I can’t say how good they are.
http://www.acmebullet.com/bullets-reloading-brass/44-CAL-Lead-Cast-Bullets

I sold my factory cbc 44spl ammo at the height of the plandemic for nearly $3 a shot, just cowboy action shoot ammo, so like 240 gr swaged (not cast) lead round nose. It does about 700fps out of a 8 inch barrel, very no thrills.
Yeah 44 ammo has been pretty hard to come by.
You will have to pay gouge prices or load your own.
Since I don't own a dedicated 44spl, I load my 44spl hot. Faster burning powder some where between the 44spl max load and the 44mag start load. They're tame enough to shoot all day and burn cleaner than the industry std 44spl loads with faster burning powders like unique, HP38, universal, general dynamics CBI, ect.

Yeah 44spl/mag dies are sold clean out at all the retailers. You might be able to get some off ebay, used, for more than what you would pay for new ones. That sucks.

If you find some dies I might have some new primed and/or unprimed winchester 44spl brass I could sell. I know I have new winchester 44 brass I didn't load, I'm pretty sure they are 44spl, don't remember if I primed them all.

You’re not going to get 783 ft lbs from .44 special.

You can load .44 Special with the .44 Magnum Lee Loader. Just don't use the load data and dipper included with the loader unless you're using .44 Magnum brass.
http://leeloaderdata.com/index.htm

I just sold a Dillon SDP set up for 44s/44m!

Sent a PM, have dies and molds and brass.

Lefty

Riomouse911 said:

I just bought 200 gr RNFP .430 diameter bullets in their Patriot Pack (red, white and blue) for my .44 Spl. from Eggleston bullets last night. If you want one (max of two) hurry, they go fast.

https://www.egglestonmunitions.com/shop.html#!/Patriot-Packs/c/51353961

I load them with 7.2 gr of Unique for a great practice load in a .44 Spl. A bit warmer load is 7.5 gr.

Just a suggestion that may help in tight times .

Stay safe.

Click to expand...

Great load!

Hoosier Bullets have/had 44cal bullets in last week. They are pretty good on keeping stock in, if every so small.

Lefty

CodeSection said:

My bad, yes ft-lbs. and I meant to type 783 ft-lbs.

Click to expand...

Either way that's like full power 44mag.

One good thing about Dillon 550s, you can use other dies and powder measures in their tool head. Then you need another tool head, and can scrounge pins and shell plate for it individually if need be.

I run 40SW and 45ACP/SPP on my BL550 with just a mash up of dies, mostly Lee, and the Lee Auto Drum on a Lee Powder Thru die. Pretty cheap for a Dillon caliber change.

Just another option in this time of shortages.

I just found these when looking for bullets for myself.
https://www.xtremebullets.com/Lead-Bullets-RN-FP-RNFP-SWC-WC-s/5463.htm

http://www.acmebullet.com/44-CAL-Lead-Cast-Bullets

@CodeSection
Re: Primers
I recommend you frequent this thread in the Handloading Forum here on The High Road
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...iscussion-thread.883031/page-26#post-11944339
currently there are 27 pages. Be sure to go to the last page first for the latest info.

Sportsman’s Outdoor Superstore seems to get primers more often than all the other sites I check.
https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com/

Also, there is always Ammoseek.
https://ammoseek.com/
If you set up a Login on their page you can get alerts when items become available. Look to their “Reloading” section for primers. There are no bargains right now.

CodeSection said:

Due to black bears coming to my yard weekly as I live in a mountainous area in CO, I wanted a .44 for a defensive solution. My SIL fishes and hikes in the CO mountains and is in need of something as well.

Well, both my SIL and I bought the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 and expect to pick them up next week. In the meantime, I quickly learned there is practically zero training type ammo (.44 special) available. Whereas, I can easily buy the Buffalo Bore defensive ammo.

Since I have a Dillon Precision 550B, I called DP to inquire about .44 dies and was told they were back-ordered and I should expect 48 weeks. Yes, forty-eight weeks before they come in. While .44 cases are available on some sites, the bullets are not. You can imagine how disappointed we are. The good thing is that we can cancel the purchases right up to the very moment we arrive at the sales counter. Thus, unless we find .44 training ammo from a respectable vendor, plan B (10 mm) will be our next choice. It appears there are many vendors that have 10 mm FMJ, etc. in stock.

So, does anyone have any ideas where one can buy .44 special ammo today?

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to say but, given you can find both target and hunting/defensive ammo, you may be better off with the 10mm. .44Spl and .44Magnum are great rounds for hunting and heavy self-defense like you're talking but, @Jim Watson is right, "Primers are the hangup." Without them, you're stuck with whatever factory load is out there and .44Spl just isn't popular enough for target and cheap plinking for the big makers to run large lots of ammo. Best I can tell you is, 200gr. and 240gr. lead is available at good prices if you don't mind bargain hunting. Ditto for brass and I've even found new, unopened, Accurate No.9 at less than $30/pound on the online auctions. That's a really good magnum powder for what you're wanting to do. But large pistol primers... there's the problem.

This might help.

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/44-special

-Stan

CodeSection said:

Thanks for the responses! Yep, what a time to try reloading a new cartridge. I have plenty of handgun commercial ammo, powder, cases, primers, and bullets in 9mm, .38, .357, and .40 cal.

The lack of components for the .44 is disappointing. If I am going to use the Alaskan as a defensive solution, I need to at least train with it and would rather train with a lighter load as compared with a Buffalo Bore .44 Outdoorsman load.

Here is a video from last Sunday morning about 1:00 AM https://ring.com/share/8d83cbf2-3866-497d-9866-b04ddd14235c. A different black bear comes into our yard weekly anywhere from roughly 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM the next morning. We take out our dogs in that time period so the chance of a bear encounter is rather high. To add to the situation, due to the yard layout, my visibility may only be 15-30 feet. Therefore, I wanted a larger diameter bullet that produced over 1100 fps as I probably would only have a one-shot capability since if an attack occurred, it would be so close.

Damn...it is looking like I will need to go with a 10 mm that only will give roughly 703 fps......

Click to expand...

The good news is, black bears aren't particularly aggressive. The bad news is, if they're coming around people it's because they're hungry, sick, or both and that makes them skitchy. A skitchy bear startles easily and may do something stupid instead of stopping to think. Odds are these are bears that got pushed out of their traditional hunting grounds and they are looking for an easy meal. They'll be malnourished eating the garbage humans feed themselves.

They're smart creatures but, like any wild animal, you just never know how they'll react when threatened. I've seen them run off mostly, especially from dogs. Bears don't seem to like the smell of dogs.

Six rounds of 44 Spc from a 2.5" bbl vs. how many rounds of 10mm? 15? I'll stack the deck with the 10mm.

Get plenty of DA trigger-time on the Alaskan.