newbie in handgun reloading

[WestbayWhisper]

HI,
have reloaded rifle ammo before and now gonna load handgun cartridges for the first time. Its .44 mag (rifle) and Ive got Hornady brass and their 300 gr XTP. Wonder a bit about what "flare" is; is that something I have to consider with new brass or do I just push the bullet down to the top cannelure? Other differences to rifle reloading?
regards from Sweden

 

[flutedchamber]

Flare, or belling, is expanding just slightly the mouth of the case to ease bullet seating. Too much flare, and you overwork the brass and shorten case life. Too little, and the bullet may be damaged during seating or be difficult to seat.

Enough flare for a jacketed bullet is usually almost too little to see with your eye, and enough to feel with your finger.

Just remember to crimp your bullets in place to prevent setback. That will also emiminate any flare left over from loading.

 

[Starter52]

Pistol rounds will be easy after you have mastered rifle reloading. Be sure to buy a set of "carbide" dies. And f.c. is correct about the need to crimp. Good luck.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

1. ALWAYS size and measure new brass. Then you KNOW it's of the correct dimensions, and that it has a flash hole.

2. Correct flare was covered above.

3. Crimp was covered above.

4. Powders:

Do you have 2400, N110, 296, H4227 or H110 on hand?

 

[WestbayWhisper]

Many thanks for answers
just bought some Vithavuori N310, large pistol (non-magnum) Rem primer. American powders arent easy to find here. Want subsonic loads for my Ruger 77/44 with suppressor. So its a soft-recoiling piece, I hope, do You still think it necessary to crimp the cases?

 

[dodgestdshift]

I test the belling by using the bullet. If the bullet will balance on the sized case it is enough. You should be barely able to see the belling.

 

[Starter52]

Crimping is easy. Your reloading dies will crimp the cases automatically if you adjust them according to the directions.

 

[spencerhut]

You might want to consider belling enoigh so that the bullet will go at least 1/16" into the case with a little pressure finger pressure. I've found that less than that can occasionally lead to carving lead, smashing a case, or both.

 

[Jim Watson]

N310 is a very fast burning pistol powder. I find no data for it in .44 magnum in my latest Vihtavuori literature. Do you have a starting place?
If you do, it will likely work well with heavy bullet subsonics.

I would treat it like a rifle cartridge. If your size - expand steps leave enough tension for the bullet to not set back as it feeds from the rotary magazine into the chamber, I would say to try it without a crimp, or just enough to definitely eliminate the flare.

 

[WestbayWhisper]

I thought the factory (Hornady) cases would be ready to prime, fill with powder and seat the bullet , just like the rifle way, but I cant find any flare at all. Is that a regular thing or is there any factory offering cases with a "belly"?

 

[Jim Watson]

No. New pistol brass has no flare, not of any brand I know. Everybody has a different idea of how much to flare so the factory does not go to the expense of an extra step that would not please all customers.

I treat new brass whether rifle or pistol like fired brass. I run it through the resize and expand steps to be sure it is round and of small enough diameter for good bullet pull.