reloading 44 sp and 44 mag / pistol ?

[Link]

Goodday

I am going to start reloading for 44 sp. and 44 mag pistol.

When I went to order Lee dies I see 3 and 4 die sets. I guess the 4 die crimps in a separate stage. What would you order? Is it necessary to re size every time?

a penny for your thoughts?

thanks Link

 

[1911cwp]

I'm not familiar with a pistol die set that doesn't resize every time. Yes, the fourth stage is a separate crimping die. What type crimp depends on caliber and use. Roll crimp and taper crimp. Better to use a separate die for crimping in my opinion. Just gives you more control. I would recommend carbide dies over steel. No lube needed. Just make sure your brass is clean.

 

[bheadboy]

I have loaded 1000's of 44 spc and mag, and always find the roll crimp necessary for uniform ignition and velocity. the recoil will move bullets particularly in the mag and 240+ when medium to full loads are used.

my favorite powder in 44 mag for sil using 250's is AA9

Bob

 

[gotcha]

I'd go with the 4 die set. If you are a novice you'll find crimping during the seating operation can be very tedious. Keep your brass uniformly trimmed to avoid problems with crimping and keeping your mouth flare uniform. You should F/L resize a pistol case. +1 for carbide resizing die. Check out the Dillon die sets. They're very well made and designed to be used in single stage press or automated presses should you decide to upgrade.

 

[jonbearman]

You have to resize everytime period.All the other advice is good except for one thing,buy a good reloading manual like hornady,speer,lyman before you start and read it carefully so you understand the process.Then when you have questions we can direct you to what you need for an answer.Safety above all else and dont try loads off the internet because each gun is unique to itself and if you blow the gun up you will either be hurt,out alot of money or possibly dead.Do your research first on how to reload and go from there.

 

[M99]

You have to re-size every time if you expect them to easily go into the cylinder. I have re-loaded thousands of 44 Sp and Mag and shot the mags in long range silhouette in the Revolver category. Its easy for a straight wall case though using carbide sizing dies. You can use a 44 mag die for a 44 sp, but not the other way around. For the 44 sp. a taper crimp is fine. For the mag, you need a separate heavy roll crimp for consistency and to keep the bullets in the other cylinder holes from pulling as you fire earlier shots. Making a 44 mag shoot accurately and reliably at 200 meters is a challenge, but many of us that shot long-range Handgun silhouette did manage it.

 

[M99]

One other point, as another poster mentioned, get a Main Brand reloading manual and follow those instructions carefully for the 44 mag. DO NOT fool around with ideas you hear at the range, Follow those manuals and work loads up carefully for the 44 mag. I saw two separate instances of 44 mag handguns blow up during matches. One caused serious injuries to another shooter. A Ruger Super BlackHawk will handle loads that many other 44 mag revolvers will not, but those blow up too when you start playing games such as duplex loading.

 

[bheadboy]

M99

+1 as a Sil shooter 44mag is a great long range pistol round,been there done that,

on loading carefully, saw a ruger go into 3 parts and the shooter's hand took lots of stiches
Bob

 

[Duster_360]

I reload 44s for a 8" Colt Anaconda and a Desert Eagle. I would advise a 4 die set with a carbide sizer. A separate crimp die is much easier to master when you're starting out. Resize brass every time, I wouldn't even think about not resizing.

 

[Outrider27]

+1 on a 4 die set for ANY straight wall pistol case, and you will never regret spending the extra money up front for a set with a carbide sizing die.

The problem with the 3 die set is that while you are crimping the case into the bullet (regardless of whether using a roll crimp or a taper crimp), the bullet is still traveling downward as the case mout is being forced into it, resulting in damage to the bullet primarily (but sometimes not totally) due to shaving. By completing the seating operation in one step and executing the crimping operation in a separate step, this problem is eliminated.

 

[MrMajestic]

Can't one keep the seating die high so as not to crimp the case while seating the bullet to depth then raise the seater stem and lower the die to crimp in another operation. Seems to me I have done this in the past when I didn't feel like trimming for consistency of crimp. Once I got a Lee Factory crimp many of my worries were over. I don't know if the savings of the 3 die set to 4 die set will cover the expensive of a Lee FCD but may be worth checking into. JMHO

 

[Link]

I would like to thank you guys for the good info.
Looks like I will be getting the 4 die set for the little more it cost.
I will also be loading both guns at min load as I don't like recoil that much.
Is there a easy way to adjust the crimp die between the sp and mag?

thanks again

 

[fdshuster]

Link: Use the roll crimp die for the 44 revolver, after trimming all the cases to a uniform length, otherwise you will get different degrees of crimp. After applying the crimp try pushing the bullet into the case to verify that your crimp is securely holding the bullet. And the first couple of times your shooting your loads, fire 2 or 3 shots, stop, and check the remaining rounds in the cylinder to see of the seated bullets have not moved forward. In a very short time you will learn how much crimp is required for the load you are using.

Use the taper crimp for the Mag pistol, different case lengths are more forgiving with a taper crimp, so unless they are radically different don't worry about lengths. For my 45 ACP's I use only enough crimp to straighten the case mouth, getting rid of the slight flare that was applied before seating the bullets. For a 44 AutoMag though, (I've never loaded for one of those boomers), you'll probably want to do a little more than just straightening the case mouth, but still test them by trying to push the bullet into the case & again, fire 2 or 3 shots & check the remaining rounds in the magazine.

 

[H2OBUG]

I have the Lee 4 die set but have never used the factory crimp die. I like 2400 as a powder it works in the 44 mag as well as the 44 spl I think 2400 gives you a much wider range of loads over powders like 296 and h110. A heaven roll crimp is key when loading the 44 mag as well are mag primers. Don't look to load things super hot it is a 44 mag it will push a 240 gr bullet plenty fast at mid level loads. In the 44 spl don't try to make it a 44 mag that is why they have the longer case. I like a 240 -255 cast bullet over a good load of 2400 for the spl makes a great target load. Cast 240's over 18.5 or so of 2400 make a nice target 44 mag load. Last for the load you will hunt with buy good bullets and take you time to clean the cases well and be precise you will see a difference in your groups.

 

[Outrider27]

I would like to thank you guys for the good info.
Looks like I will be getting the 4 die set for the little more it cost.
I will also be loading both guns at min load as I don't like recoil that much.
Is there a easy way to adjust the crimp die between the sp and mag?

thanks again

Since I don't have a 44 Special, I don't know if this will work with the 44 Special/44 Mag combination or not, but for the 38 Special/357 Mag combination, I have a washer that I thinned a bit to get the right thickness. The dies are set for the 38 Special with the rings locked down, and when you go to 357 Mag, you simply put the washer on the die and screw the die down with the washer sandwiched between the press and the locking ring. You still have to adjust the bullet seating plug if you are loading different bullets when you change over, but I have dummy rounds with each caliber case and each different bullet used, so that only takes a few seconds.