44 special reloads - patting self on back

[Bullseye]

I have produced 100 bullets, I don't think I should call them reloads since they are all new brass but I am rather proud of these gems for a beginner.

I used the Lee perfect powder measure and checked every so often that the powder weight was staying dispensed at 6.3 grains double checking with my new RCBS 5-0-5 scale.
I also checked that my OAL was OK with calipers just to make it a habit.
I could visually tell I was doing OK with the crimp groove but I think getting in the habit of doing each bullet the same is a good thing for me. I set up so that I would visually check the powder levels too before placing each bullet and seating. Finished up with a medium factory crimp die.

I did make sure these cycled nicely after making up the first 3 in my Henry Big Boy and they did fine so I continued on.

One idea I thought was a good one for me and might be good for someone else as well, was after I was all done with these, I weighed the whole cartdridges one at a time on the digital scale and they all came out to 354 gr loaded. This tells me that I did not miss putting powder in any, nor did I put in a double load.

I am going to do this from now on. I am confident these should be some decent rounds.

 

[Reefinmike]

Congrats, I remember my first few boxes.

Typically with brand new unfired brass, you can get a somewhat precise loaded weight of the round. As junk builds up in cases and they are trimmed, their weight will vary. your bullets will also vary a little. I wouldnt bother weighing loaded rounds that are with mixed range brass.

where did you get your 6.3 grain charge? you worked up a load in your rifle first, right?

 

[rcmodel]

Yep.

Weighing loaded rounds is a waste of time, especially if using mixed brass, or lead bullets.

Do Not waste your time.

Visually inspect your powder charges in a loading block before putting bullets in them and it's totally unnecessary anyway.

BTW: Your first loads look Very Good!

rc

 

[Bullseye]

where did you get your 6.3 grain charge? you worked up a load in your rifle first, right?

Yeah, I'll shoot out rifle first but I do have a 44 mag S&W 629 8 3/8 barrel and a Taurus 44 spl. I would think these should work in all these OK.

I got the information in Lymans 49th edition pg 374 and used 240 gr jacketed sp since there is no jhp info available and chose 6.3 gr from the Unique ranges between min 5.8 gr and max 6.5 simply by choice.
The highest weight given for JHP info in the book was for a 225 gr bullet.

 

[Valkman]

I too have only loaded about 100 rds of 44spl but the ones I tried shot great. I used 4.7gr of W231 and will work my way up a little more. Haven't shot them in my 629 but they worked great in my Marlin 1894.

 

[Reefinmike]

Granted I don't load 44spl, but you should have worked up a load starting at minimum working up to maximum, testing a small batch of rounds in .2gr increments. You randomly picked a load that was .2gr under maximum load and substituted JSP data for JHP data which is a no no considering that your JHP's will be sitting deeper in the case than a JSP of the same OAL. Higher pressures. I'm sure the load is just fine, being a low pressure cartridge in a modern firearm... I just wouldn't have started at the max data.

 

[Bullseye]

I can still do this Reefinmike .... I have 150 more primed and flared cases ready to load. I will take your advice and make up some lighter loads and use them first. Thanks

 

[joneb]

Those look like Nosler boowits Case mouth to cannelure looks a little willie nillie.
I trim my brass and noticed this with Nosler 158gr 357 jhp I returned them to Nosler as the cannelure was not always in the same place

 

[gamestalker]

Congratulations with your accomplishment! It feels good to reload our own

 

[gamestalker]

Congratulations with your accomplishment! It feels good to reload our own, and even more so when they function flawlessly.

One part of your post I wanted to address the issue of accidental double and squibs slipping by unnoticed. Fail safe steps when appropriately incorporated into our process, can reduce the inherent risk and occurrence of such mistakes. To this, I would like to touch on why using the weight of a finished cartridge as a means of identifying a proper powder charge, is not an effective or practical approach or method.

First and foremost, when a squib or over charged cartridge is allowed to make it to the finished phase, or as loaded ammunition, something is clearly missing in the reloading process, a fail safe.

Secondly, it is on extremely rare occasion that a batch of loaded cartridges will ever weigh any where near the same. A good quality branded bullet, such as an XTP, will often vary in weight from .5 gr. - as much as 1 or 2 grs.. Then add into the weight variations of brass, and you have finished cartridges that can have a weight spread of 4 - 5 grs. or more.

As for new brass, I have had larger weight variations with new brass than with once or twice fired trimmed brass. This is usually because new brass is often shorter than SAAMI trim too, so getting it to the same trimmed length is very difficult, and would reduce it to shorter than SAAMI minimum. And new brass often has a larger variation in case wall thickness, after all, it hasn't been exposed to high pressures that stretch it, and force it against chamber walls yet, which makes wall thickness a bit more consistent. Now I have been successful on occasion with my brass coming out very close in weight, but never ever to exact weights, and never to a degree that I could even remotely trust that finished weight as a determining factor in this respect. And for more commonly, there is a rather large weight spread, the bigger the brass casing, the larger the weight variation involved.

The best, and truly the only correct manner of knowing if your powder charges are right, or in fact even present in the finished cartridge, is to do a mandatory visual inspection prior to seating the bullets.

GS

 

[GBExpat]

I have produced 100 bullets, I don't think I should call them reloads since they are all new brass but I am rather proud of these gems for a beginner.

Congrats on the achievement ... they look good! Rather than reloads, you may wish to refer to them as handloads. Also, keep in mind that they are not bullets but cartridges.

My first reloads were 7.92x57mm done with a Lee Loader (Whack-a-Mole-style) in the late '60s. That Spring I was able to bring them with me on our visit to my maternal grandparents at their farm (where I now live) and shoot them. WON-DER-FUL!

 

[Zeke/PA]

I just LOVE the .44 Special cartridge!
Keep after it and have fun!

 

[Bullseye]

Point well taken on the cartridge weights but I am making a habit of doing every phase of the loading project the same for each load. Most importantly, I definitely check each cartridge for powder levels so that they look the same before placing the bullet on top and seating. I check my weights every so often that they are consistently the same.
I stick myself out there on the forum not so much to show off, but to get some feedback as I have here. I have posted some other loads that were downright awful.
I am posting BEFORE I shoot them, not after. (Because I can)
When it comes to the business of "handloading" or "reloading" I take it very seriously and remain openminded.
I think I'd like a little more clarification on the "Case mouth to cannelure" comment. Granted, I did take 4 random cartridges from the ammo box for that picture and it could be that the middle one laying flat may be a tad longer and it is perhaps not the cannelure itself being off.
I was also thinking about the depth these 240 gr JHP bullets and the amount of powder lying in the cartridges. I don't have a JSP bullet to compare with a JHP but I don't think that I am compressing any powder here using Unique. Shooting these in the Henry Big Boy 44 mag, the S&W 629 do not worry me but I am a little concerned about trying these in the Taurus 431, just a little concerned. They certainly sit nicely in the cylinder in the 431. I'll shoot them first out of the Henry.

I found this interesting read on Guns and Ammo, set me a little more at ease too.

"The traditional .44-caliber bullet weight is 240 grains, and here we have several proven performers. The Hornady XTP, Sierra JHC, Speer GDHP and Nosler JHP and JSP versions are all suitable for the .44 Special. Just stick to near-maximum loads to keep up the velocity and ensure adequate expansion. HS-6 and Blue Dot are excellent choices for such applications."
Read more: http://www.gunsandammo.com/reloading/reloading-the-44-special/#ixzz3OFabmu4A

 

[rcmodel]

Your powder charge weight should be perfectly fine.

I have used nothing but the old 'Skeeter Skelton Load' for many years in a 1950 Target S&W and Colt SAA.

It consists of 7.5 Unique & a 240 grain Keith LSWC bullet.

Caution
This is well over SSAMI spec, but has been the .44 Special go-to load for over 50 years and is perfectly safe in modern guns.

Rc

 

[Dframe]

Congratulations on your first 44 specials. Be forewarned though, loading 44s can be extremely addictive. Don't ask me how I know!

 

[buck460XVR]

I have produced 100 bullets, I don't think I should call them reloads since they are all new brass but I am rather proud of these gems for a beginner.

.....that makes them "handloads" then. Welcome to the addiction.

 

[Bullseye]

Moving right along with FTX Hornady 225 gr

Made up 50 of these little soldiers.
There is a faint ring around the bullet before the crimp from the special Hornady seating die. I saw a lot of complaints and problems seating these bullets and this die works fine. Regular ones crush the tips and make horrible ring dents in the bullet.
I am going to see if a machinist friend of mine can polish out that rim on the special seating die or grind it down some to eliminate the ring but I don't think that it is too much of factor. First image is pre crimp.

The factory Lee crimp die finishes them off. Load specs is on the label and they look pretty good to me.

 

[gamestalker]

IMO, your crimps look beautiful. I feel, that when the crimp is placed over the bottom of the canelure, this to me locks the bullet in place real solid. I don't load a bunch of 44 spcl, but with full house magnum loads, bullets are prone to jumping the crimp under recoil. This is why I prefer to crimp as you did, right over the bottom edge of the canelure.

Great job, and thanks for clarifying that you do perform a visual inspection of powder charges, that really put me at ease.

GS

 

[Bullseye]

Thanks, puts me even more at ease than you gamestalker. LOL

I figure I like these bullets better for working with too. Depending on how these loads work, I'll make adjustments.
I think I might load 50 more and 50 more Noslers with a bit less powder ( 6.0 ) and start out with those and test the Taurus with them.
Then step up to the 6.3 Noslers. if all is well. The Hornadys will not go in the Taurus though I don't think anyway, even though they fit plenty short to cycle the revolver.
The Hornadys cycle smooth as a baby's behind in the Henry. I'll be out of empty 44 special cases then.

 

[gamestalker]

Wow, those are some very nice pieces you have there! I'm especially drawn to the 8-3/8 S&W M629, that right there is my style of revolver. I could go through a pound of H110 real quick with that in my collection. I'm actually looking for an M29 to add to my magnum collection, well that I can spare the expense for actually.

GS

 

[witchhunter]

Sig, the rule is start low and work up. If RC says the load is fine, go shoot em, and don't worry about it. I like to do load work ups to find the most accurate one, but that is me.
RC, did you say 44 target? I bet that is a sweetie.

 

[joneb]

I think I'd like a little more clarification on the "Case mouth to cannelure" comment. Granted, I did take 4 random cartridges from the ammo box for that picture and it could be that the middle one laying flat may be a tad longer and it is perhaps not the cannelure itself being off.

I noticed the middle cartridge had a case mouth to cannelure that was different from the other two. There are four causes I can think of;
1) The cases are not the same length.
2) The cannelure on the bullets is inconsistent.
3) There are variations of the brass that are deforming the soft lead bullet nose while seating.
4) There was a set up change.

 

[Bullseye]

joneb: There was a set up change. I have Lee dies for crimping and the Lee dies do not have a hex key lock. I am going to use a couple wrenches to keep from creeping dies. Thanks for reading and follow-up.

I'd like to thank everyone for the comments and brains used here today.
All my 44 specials are loaded up. I stuck with the 225 hornady FTX til I was done. I'll follow up later on this with a range report when I get out next time.

 

[Mad Chemist]

rcmodel wrote:

Your powder charge weight should be perfectly fine.

I have used nothing but the old 'Skeeter Skelton Load' for many years in a 1950 Target S&W and Colt SAA.

It consists of 7.5 Unique & a 240 grain Keith LSWC bullet.

Caution
This is well over SSAMI spec, but has been the .44 Special go-to load for over 50 years and is perfectly safe in modern guns.

Rc

__________


Yeah but those Skeeter Skelton loads stung a little when I shot 'em from a Charter Arms Bulldog.

 

[rcmodel]

stung a little when I shot 'em from a Charter Arms Bulldog.

Well, there's your problem right there!!!

rc