.44 special in a .44 colt Richard mason?

[Gelgoog]

I was looking at a Cimarron Richard mason reproduction and the seller is listing it as being able to fire .44 colt, .44 russian and .44 special. No I have my doubts on the .44 special, I am pretty sure the rim on the .44 special is larger then on the .44 colt and I wonder about case length and pressure differences between the two.

would it be safe?

 

[tipoc]

Drop by here...http://cimarron-firearms.com/Conversions/TypeIIRichConv.htm
The .44 Colt had a bullet dia. of .443 while the .44 Special is .429, according to Barnes. So no the two rounds will not fire from the same gun properly.

tipoc

 

[Onmilo]

They make the Richards Masons in .44 Special now.

The Modern .44 Colt isn't the same as the original .44 Colt load that used a heel band bullet.
It is a modern cartridge design that uses a case enclosed bullet just like the Special and the Russian.
Matter of fact, except for the slighly smaller rim diameter the case is about right in the middle between the Russian and the Special as far as case length goes.
All use .429/.430 diameter bullets between 200 and 240 grains.

To answer your question, modern .44 Special, .44 Colt, and .44 Russian can all be safely fired in the Cimarron Richards Mason revolvers but keep the loads on the mild side.

Black Hills Ammunition and Ten-X ammunition both produce modern .44 Colt ammunition. HTH

 

[CraigC]

As Onmillo stated, modern .44Colt utilizes the same, inside lubed ~.430" cast bullets as both the .44Spl and .44Mag but I would run no heavier than 240gr. It is simply .44Spl with a slightly shorter length and smaller rim. They use the same barrels for both.

Depends on the chamber. I have two .44Colt sixguns. One is a Cimarron 1872 Open Top model that will NOT chamber .44Spl. It has proper .44Colt chambers. The other is a Cimarron 1860 Richards Type II cartridge conversion and it WILL chamber .44Spl. It is marked .44Colt but has .44Spl chambers. Keep your loads SAAMI-spec or below and you will be fine. I like to use the Hornady swaged 240gr SWC-HP over 4.0gr Titegroup.

Cartridge rim clearance is not an issue with the .44Spl.