I finally found some 44 Russian Brass through Dillon Precision. It seems Starline is not going to produce any more 44 Russian until who knows when.
If anybody has a solution other than the one I might try at the bottom of this post, let me know.
I figured that Dillon would have some pretty good stuff, maybe not. The brand is "Top Brass" and here's what I've found out. I loaded these for a Uberti Schofield Russian (Brand New). They are loaded with 23gr 3f Swiss Black Powder and I was expecting great results. What I found is that the head thickness varies on each case between .051 & .055 at the edge. I found it impossible to rotate the cylinder with 75% of these cartridges because the cartridge head will rub/strike the doubler on the recoil shield. The Russian uses a slightly raised doubler in the area of the firing pin that is machined into the recoil shield (high relief if you will).
Since the only brass that I have been able to get my hands on, loaded or empty has been this "Top Brass" brand I'm not about to take a stone to a brand new gun and mill that doubler down so that they work. If anybody knows where I might obtain some 44 Russian brass I'd like to try another brand. I couldn't care less if it was fired or new.
What I think I'm going to do in the interim is get some fine grit sandpaper (400 maybe?) and whilst I'm sipping an adult beverage some evening I'll see if I can knock off a couple of thousanths from the cartridge heads on a half dozen. Once that's done I'll prime those and make sure that the primer will still seat deep enough to not become my next problem.
Anybody got any other ideas or suggestions??
If anybody has a solution other than the one I might try at the bottom of this post, let me know.
I figured that Dillon would have some pretty good stuff, maybe not. The brand is "Top Brass" and here's what I've found out. I loaded these for a Uberti Schofield Russian (Brand New). They are loaded with 23gr 3f Swiss Black Powder and I was expecting great results. What I found is that the head thickness varies on each case between .051 & .055 at the edge. I found it impossible to rotate the cylinder with 75% of these cartridges because the cartridge head will rub/strike the doubler on the recoil shield. The Russian uses a slightly raised doubler in the area of the firing pin that is machined into the recoil shield (high relief if you will).
Since the only brass that I have been able to get my hands on, loaded or empty has been this "Top Brass" brand I'm not about to take a stone to a brand new gun and mill that doubler down so that they work. If anybody knows where I might obtain some 44 Russian brass I'd like to try another brand. I couldn't care less if it was fired or new.
What I think I'm going to do in the interim is get some fine grit sandpaper (400 maybe?) and whilst I'm sipping an adult beverage some evening I'll see if I can knock off a couple of thousanths from the cartridge heads on a half dozen. Once that's done I'll prime those and make sure that the primer will still seat deep enough to not become my next problem.
Anybody got any other ideas or suggestions??
