El Rojo
Member
I am selling a Star Universal Progressive Press with a .44 Special toolhead and Lifetyme dies. Will someone be able to load .44 Magnum with the .44 Special dies? I appreciate any clarifications you might have on this.
Can you load .44 Magnum on .44 Special dies?
- Thread starter El Rojo
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griz
Member
Yes. They will have to back off the crimp die to compensate for the additional length but that's about it other than normal setup adjustments.
SASS#23149
Member
griz,if they are specail dies
do you thing the sizer will be deep enough to fl size the longer brass?
I suppose it could depend on the die,right?
do you thing the sizer will be deep enough to fl size the longer brass?
I suppose it could depend on the die,right?
El Rojo
Member
You know they say that the .40 S&W dies will reload 10mm, but the 1000 I reloaded never seemed to work in my buddies guns for them. There might be merit to not being long enough. Anyone else want to chime in?
Archie
Member
Yes....
I have done so. And probably will again.
One must adjust the seater and crimper, and possibly the belling tool, depending on how the dies are made, out a bit (one-eighth inch, to be precise) but that's it.
It is possible to over-crimp and bell out the cases so they don't fit in the chamber. But one can do that with 44 Magnum dies, as well.
Rojo, if the .40 S&W rounds won't chamber, a small adjustment should correct the problem.
I have done so. And probably will again.
One must adjust the seater and crimper, and possibly the belling tool, depending on how the dies are made, out a bit (one-eighth inch, to be precise) but that's it.
It is possible to over-crimp and bell out the cases so they don't fit in the chamber. But one can do that with 44 Magnum dies, as well.
Rojo, if the .40 S&W rounds won't chamber, a small adjustment should correct the problem.
I`d try sizeing a half dozen cases and try to chamber them before I went ahead and loaded any. The brass from the same gun may chamber OK and the SPCL sizer will size enough of the case to hold a bullet but I don`t know about the lower end of the brass (unsized portion) fitting in a chamber it wasn`t fired in. Especially from a high pressure magnum round like the 44 mag. The cylinder of a revolver is acually 6 different chambers and may cause a problem.
Check to make sure your sizeing die is acually a SPCL only sizer. The 44 mag will work for both mag and SPCL cases and might be what you have, my old Lyman is marked "44 mag/SPCL".
Check to make sure your sizeing die is acually a SPCL only sizer. The 44 mag will work for both mag and SPCL cases and might be what you have, my old Lyman is marked "44 mag/SPCL".
El Rojo
Member
Thanks for the help guys. I most certainly need to check the die again and will do so after work today. Like I said in my auction, I never realized there was a Special and a Magnum. I learn something new everyday.
griz
Member
I suppose they could have made a 44 special sizing die that was too short for mag brass, but the die would need to be pretty old. The mag came out in 56, so unless the dies are older than 45 years or so, I would bet they would be fine. Anyway it only costs one case to find out.
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