few questions about .44 mag taurus and classic lee loader.

[cajun47]

my local shot has a taurus tracker with a 6" barrel for $440. should i wait until i can find a raging bull? how much more are those?

i plan on buying a couple boxes(100 rounds) of .44 mag wwb and just reload them. how many times can i reload those casings? do i have to trim .44 mag casings? no big deal if the casings split in a revolver?

this is the only reloading i will be doing, 100 .44 mag rounds at a time so the $20 lee classic should be good enough? or is it dangerous?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

i plan on buying a couple boxes(100 rounds) of .44 mag wwb and just reload them. how many times can i reload those casings?

I reload .45 Colt among other cartridges and get around a dozen loads from a case.

do i have to trim .44 mag casings? no big deal if the casings split in a revolver?

No need to trim. Your splits will be in the case mouth. The result will be incomplete powder burning because of lack of case tension -- no big thing. But you'll easily spot split necks and just disacard them without reloading.

this is the only reloading i will be doing, 100 .44 mag rounds at a time so the $20 lee classic should be good enough? or is it dangerous?

It isn't dangerous -- although I'd choose the Lee Handpress. But at $20, how can you go wrong? If you don't like it, throw it away or give it to the deserving poor and get something else.

 

[chaim]

The Raging Bull is a fair amount more money, but then it is a pretty big gun. The Tracker is smaller, more carriable (either in the woods, or you can choose to CCW it), lighter, etc. The Raging Bull frame was originally made for the .454Casull so in .44mag is is overkill- that means it is STRONG. It also means it is big and heavy, and carry (even in the woods) would be quite a chore. The Raging Bull should also be a lot more comfortable when shooting full-house magnums (I'm not sure I'd really want to shoot stout .44mag out of a Tracker, I'm not sure how long it would take for my hand to recover).

Most of what I read says you shouldn't reload a case more than 5 times. I don't know of very many people who actually follow that. I can't give any advice beyond either go with that (seemingly overly cautious) standard, or be especially sure to carefully inspect each casing before you use it again and just discard them when they show signs of stress (which you really need to do anyway).

Like Mr. Humphrey, I like the Lee Handpress. I have one and it stores easily and isn't too hard to use. I'm sure the Lee Classic is quite safe though if you want to stay as inexpensive as possible to start.

 

[Bula]

No idea on the Lee Handloader. As for brass life, I've got some brass with well over 10 loads on them. I shoot 2 loads from my .44 mags, 9.5 gr of Unique or 20 gr of 2400 Both with Lyman home cast 429421's and WLP primers. The brass holds up extremely well. I'd bet that 9.5 gr load would be a great load for that tracker. A 255 gr load that pushes them to about 1000 fps will handle just about 99% of what you need from a field gun.

 

[cajun47]

thanks for the replies.

the thing is i cant find a raging bull to actually hold. all my local gun shops can order it after i pay but i rather hold the gun first. one shop says he can order a raging bull with an 8 3/8 barrel, my cost is $450, other shops down the road want over $550 for the same exact gun.

academy sports wants $388 for a .44 mag tracker with a 6" barrel. but that would be unpleasant to shoot even with the ports? i can handle it im sure but it won't be that fun to shoot i guess.

im not sure which one to get. would there be a big difference in accuracy between a 6" and 8 3/8" barrel? i would like to shoot at 100 yard targets.

mistake, the tracker has a 4" barrel. that would make a big difference im guessing.

 

[MCgunner]

With the Lee hand tool, be keep your eyes away (even wearing eye protection as you should) when priming brass. I've had primers go off in that operation. Burns the fingers a little and makes you jump.

Lee hand tools aren't dangers, just ssssslllllooooowwwwww. You'll eventually want a press, then you'll start thinkin' turret press, then eventually you'll buy a progressive. Right now, I'm lookin' into 6 cavity gang molds.

Check out http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php for lots of Taurus owners of both models. I'd say, if you're not very recoil tolerant, I'd get the Raging Bull, but it's a HUGE handgun. That's the trade off, though. Both are good shootin' guns, the Raging Bull more oriented to handgun hunting, the tracker is more of a hiker's companion

 

[Imaginos]

Let's start with a simple question: What do you want a .44 Mag for?
I'm not implying you should not have one, but the Tracker and the Raging Bull are designed for opposite ends of the utility spectrum. Answer the question above and you should have your answer on which gun to buy.

Recoil sensitivity is a very subjective thing and until you shoot a particular model of gun, you will not know YOU will like it. Anything we say will just get in the way because we do not know how recoil sensitive you are.

Lee Loaders have been around forever. Get the Lee Handpress unless you are planning to do your reloading in a tent while backpacking. Barring a SHTF bugout scenario, I would carry more ammo and leave the reloading tools at home.

 

[gandog56]

Just spent 617 bucks on a 6 1/2 inch .454 Stainless Raging Bull. With shipping and FFL transfer it came to a total of about $674.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

would there be a big difference in accuracy between a 6" and 8 3/8" barrel?

No. The primary thing would be the longer sight radius, but the 6" barrel gives you enough sight radius for fine shooting. I think you would find an 8 3/8" barrel cumbersome and difficult to carry.

 

[MCgunner]

Lee Loaders have been around forever. Get the Lee Handpress unless you are planning to do your reloading in a tent while backpacking. Barring a SHTF bugout scenario, I would carry more ammo and leave the reloading tools at home.

I got my Lee loading tools, .30-30, a .38, and a .357 tool, when I was living in dorm rooms and apartments. That's what they're great for. Only thing, they don't full case size a rifle case, just neck size, so don't buy used brass if you load a rifle with one. Also, those scoops they come with will load VERY lightly. You ain't gonna get into loading hot rounds until you get a press and a more sophisticated way of measuring powder. Of course, very good digital balances are available for CHEAP now days. They hadn't invented hand held calculators when I bought my first Lee loader. I was using a slide rule in school. Ah, them were the days.