Trimming .44 mag. brass to .44 spl ?

[joneb]

Hi, I have a S&W 696, and I am short of .44 spl. brass. I have a 100 .44 mag. cases collecting dust. Is there any reason I can't trim them to .44 spl. lenght and load them as .44 spl.'s ?

 

[ReloaderFred]

It will work, but it sure seems like a waste of good .44 Magnum brass. It also seems like a lot of work, since you have to take them down so much. Perhaps you could find someone who would trade you straight across.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Roadkill]

I agree its a waste, but I did the same thing for .38 S&W. I cut off an odd sized large caliber shell I had in a junk box to the right length. The .38s would fit in sungly, then I used a dremel tool to cut to size. Deburred and have been using them for years.

 

[Seismic Sam]

Yoah! Fred!

Now you gotta put up with me in here too!!

 

[ReloaderFred]

OH NO!! He's following me.............

Seriously, it's nice to "see" you over here, Sam. There's a good variety here and you'll make some good contributions.

Fred

 

[Old Fuff]

There is no reason you can't trim .44 Magnum cases to .44 Special length if you're willing to go to the trouble, but remember that the Magnum cases usually have heavier webs and less capacity. Therefore if you are using maximum or near-maximum loads in the .44 Special remember to cut the load back and then work up again to duplicate .44 Special performance in .44 Special cases.

 

[CZ57]

I've done it for years with .357 Magnum brass. The main reason was to develop a handload for small .357 magnum revolvers with short ejector rods that sometimes get fussy about ejecting spent full length cases, as well as for 7 shooters that some guys I knew had experienced ejection problems with. It will also allow you to get adequate taper crimp on a 9mm bullet. This is a replication of a load Cor-Bon used to make and at times I have accumulated a very large number of Rem. 124 gr. JHPs. The thicker walls of the .357 Magnum case at this length makes it much more desirable than a .38 Sp case. Cor-Bons load was a .38 Sp. +P load with a 9mm 115 gr. JHP. I'm not advocating you do this, Especially not in anything other than a .357 magnum revolver, but you can develop some excellent defense type loads. Most of mine are made with the .357" Rem. SJHP. The shorter round makes for faster reloads with a speedloader as well. I don't use any old powder for this. Only those slightly faster than what you'd use to load magnum rounds. AA#7 is excellent, Blue Dot works but flashes and V-V 3N37 is probably the one I've used most. Watch what you are doing very carefully. Look for pressure signs all the way through development and you can build loads faster than .38 Sp. +P+, but again, ONLY FOR .357 MAGNUM REVOLVERS!

This same trimming method is how you get what guys call the .41 Special. An equivelant .44 Special powder charge in your trimmed .44 Magnum cases will yield slightly higher pressure, so be aware of that!

 

[joneb]

Sooo can I achieve the same velocity with equal presure ?

 

[Old Fuff]

Sooo can I achieve the same velocity with equal presure ?

Ya, but think about this carefully...

Your trimmed to .44 Special length, .44 Magnum cases will have less capacity becaues the web at the base of the case is thicker. If you use your standard .44 Special load you will get higher pressures. If your .44 Special load was on the high end in the first place it may give you too-high pressure in a cut-down .44 Magnum case. Therefore when using shortened .44 Magnum cases cut any .44 Special maximum loads that you might be using. With a moderate .44 Special load it shouldn't have any serious consequences.

 

[joneb]

Thanks, these trimmed cases may turn into my spl. + loads even though the powder charge does not imply it.

 

[sixguns]

$16.49 for 100 new .44 Special cases.

http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.ex...479&categorystring=9315***652***670***9014***

 

[joneb]

6Guns, it's not about the $, it's about the thrill of the load