Anyone reload 44-40?

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ChasMack

ChasMack

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I was wondering from those who have reloaded 44-40, are there any special ways of doing it? I have read where those type of cases (44-40,32-20,etc) have very thing walls at the top and many get destroyed if not done just right. Any tricks other than going slow and being extra careful?
 
Keeping things clean, as in the shellholder clean so the brass is always centered will help. When setting up your sizing die run your brass up and tighten the die down then lock it to center the die. Also bell enough that the bullet enters and does not catch on the rim. Use good lube and go slow. That is all that I do and hardly ever have a problem. I use lead bullets exclusively these days. The downside is if you flare more, the case wall will split faster but I usually get 10-15 reloads on my brass as it is. I only load about 300 rounds a year of this so this is not like my 45 Colt ammo that I load 15K+ a year.YMMV
 
I reload 32-20 and, while the stories seem to be correct about the thin mouth walls of many/most/all factory ammo (I have been able to inspect only 4 flavors of same, btw) I have found the new Starline brass that I buy to be much more robust.

That said, FROGO207's advice about carefully centering the dies is very good advice.

Also, easy on the crimp ... inattention to this during setup on a couple of occasions has resulted in winkled, unusable cartridges. I keep those 2 accordioned cartridges on the shelf in front of me as a constant reminder. ;)

Some folks avoid that issue entirely by using a Lee FCD (Factory Crimp Die).

I do not know about 44-40, but 32-20 doesn't recoil very much so, usually, not much crimp is required. I OOPSed those cartridges when I was adding a heavier crimp to see if it worked to improve Trail Boss performance.

Didn't work, btw ... oh well ... :)
 
TENS OF THOUSANDS ! It loads just like any other pistol cartridge. There is a fine new article on same in the brand new 12/15 GUNS magazine written by John Taffin. GO read.
And so it goes...
 
I reload all the WCFs. Sizing the cases is the part to be most careful at. I ALWAYS look down through the die to ensure the case mouth is properly lined up with the die. Forget to do that and you'll be the proud owner of the "accordions" mentioned above.

Depriming and expanding are straight forward, but don't overflare. Loading is easy, but I always check to ensure there is no damage to the case mouth which might snag on the die.
 
I will also add to the discussion and say that a Factory Crimp Die is a very good addition of loading 44-40. I had issues with a friends rifle not accepting reloads we tried hundreds of loads and had no success until we tried the factory crimp die it then accepted all of the loads we ran.
 
I load both .32 and .44 W.C.F. cartridges. They have thin case walls.

Go slow, be careful and use lubricant. Expand case mouths prior to seating bullets and crimp lightly. The Lee Factory Crimp die doesn't hurt anything.
 
If you are reloading without lubing the cases you will likely eventually scratch your dies leaving your cartridges with little scratch lines running the length of them. The 44wcf dies are not carbide.

I even use one shot on straight wall pistol cases with carbide dies because they just run through the press so much easier.

Regarding the 44-40. I don't find it any more difficult than others. Just watch for little nicks on the case mouths so it doesn't catch and deform the thin brass.

I also seat and crimp on separate stages using a factory crimp die. I do the same for all the WCF cartridges.
 
MEHavey said:
...
(I don't even lube the cases);) :D
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Good for you. :) The 44-40 cases/steel-die relationship must be more forgiving than the 32-20/steel-die relationship.

When I started loading .32-20s last winter I was so used to reloading for .44s, .45s and 9s with carbide dies, that lubricating the .32-20 cases did not even cross my mind. The feel of the sizing stroke felt just the same, just as smooth.

The galling only seemed to start after beginning the first round of re-loading of the originally-new Starline brass. That leaves me wondering if, perhaps, Starline brass comes with some wax on it that, once used and cleaned, has been removed.

Only a hundred rounds into that first re-loading, the scattered galling had rendered the die temporarily unusable and a number of the cases were, to varying degrees, a mess.

Now I resize the .32-20 cases in batches with a bit of Hornady Unique on my thumb & index finger.
 
The 44-40 is the only one of that cartridge family that I load for and I have not found anything that needs to be done differently. I do lube the case, usually with Dillon spray lube.
 
All of the wcf cartridges suffer the same urban myth syndrome, and it's usually passed on and on from folks that have little to no experience loading them. While the case necks are thin, it only takes a bit a paying attention to keep from wrecking them in the reloading process.
And don't be afraid to load black in your 44 wcf, the cleaning process isn't near the mass voodoo, and hours of tedium that those that haven't done it will tell you, and the fun factor goes up 10 fold..
 
Don McDowell said:
... While the case necks are thin, it only takes a bit a paying attention to keep from wrecking them in the reloading process. ...
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I have found the 2 potential danger points with my .32-20 reloading setup to be the Lee (Powder-Thru) Expander alignment (it can catch & fold the mouth edge) and (if I am not using my Lee FCD) adding a Roll Crimp (that can wrinkle the thin brass).
 
...you will likely eventually scratch your dies
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Normally I would agree with you, but I've found that resizing 44-40 cases involves so little pressure,
that scratching hasn't occurred in (about) a thousand rounds so far. "X"(<- crossed fingers) ;)

Since I reload on a single stage press, I get to align each bullet into the case mouth by hand
(and my expander is set as for all other cart bullets to give me a half-dime width clean start). :D
 
I only started and so far have only done roughly 100. I lube my cases just because I find I can feel any irregularities more easily. And likely as a result of the lube I only ruined one casing that got flicked part way back out of the shell button and then went up and rammed into the die. Otherwise it was a breeze. This was with new Starline brass. I have not actually resized and loaded any used brass yet. But if at all in doubt and if worried at all then a little spritz of case lube will slick things up enough that you shouldn't have any issues at all.
 
The only thing i can think of, is to watch the amount of crimp you put on them. A little too much will "wrinkle" the neck of the brass. Other than that, It loads for me about as easy as 45 Colt. And i do it on a Dillon 650.
 
Just don't snag the case mouth on the sizing die and they will do just fine.

Clean and lube to protect your dies. I sized some dry and the effort was not bad, but I scratched the steel die. I have a fully TiN coated die that would be The Cure but it does not size the neck small enough.

I use the Lee (collet) Factory Crimp die. You can adjust a roll crimp to work, but the Lee is easier to set up.
 
I have no issues using the RCBS COWBOY die set. However, I can attest to the need to be careful with the alignment of case in shell holder with the sizing die. My radiused mouth die is helpful, but I have scrapped a few cases learning the lesson. I have been really happy with using 700x and the same lead bullets I use for 44 Special. My only gun in 44 WCF is a Cimarron Outlaw, a 5.5" version of the 1875 Remington. A rifle with octagon barrel is on my wishlist, but Cimarron ended their model offerings from Chiappa.
 
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