Variations in spent .44 Magnum brass

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

 

I have a bunch of .44 Magnum brass that was given to me by a couple of different pards because they knew I reloaded for it, and they either not interested in reloading, or were getting rid of their guns in this caliber.   Some of it was once fired brass that I found at gunshows.  Some of it was leftover stuff from my father.   All in all it is an "eclectic" mix of brass from different manufacturers.

Today, I was loading some of it up for eventual use at a future match, and I quickly determined that you can more or less "tell" what kind of loads were fired from out of these cases.   If downloaded "cowboy" loads were in the brass, it goes through the resizing dies very easy.   If it had "powerful" loads shot out of it, you really have to pull hard on the lever to get them to go through the dies.  Did not matter what make the brass was, and like I said, they were all mixed up.

Maybe this also has something to do with the chambers of the guns the stuff was fired out from, but it was an interesting observation.  

 

Anyway, I thought it might be amusing to share this anecdote.

[Deadwood Miner, SASS # 45575]

Yes, I find great differences in .44 brass also especially in case length.  Case in point is Hornady Brass.  I have found Hornady to  as much as .020" short when once fired factory load.

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

I find the hardest to size 44 mag brass is the occasional 45 Colt that got mixed in and I missed while sorting.  I quickly learned to stop sizing and check when encountering extra resistance.  Fortunately all my 44 mag brass is the same length and I can easily seat and crimp in a single step.

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, Deadwood Miner, SASS # 45575 said:

Yes, I find great differences in .44 brass also especially in case length.  Case in point is Hornady Brass.  I have found Hornady to  as much as .020" short when once fired factory load.

 

AFAIK all Hornady LEVERevolution ammo uses brass that is shorter than SAAMI spec.  They have to use the shorter brass to allow for proper crimping of the FlexTip bullets due to their longer ogive. 

[Sinola Kid]

Hornady lever revolution is shorter brass in all calibers.  45-70 is much shorter.  

[Cholla]

I have some 30-06 brass that I bought here. Most goes through the die easy. A few absolutely will not. I can only assume it was shot in a gun that was really oversized.

[Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655]

Even when using carbide dies I sometimes lube cases that are hard to size.  Makes pulling the lever a lot easier.

 

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

4 hours ago, Cholla said:

A few absolutely will not.

Possibly shot in a machine gun.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

10 hours ago, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

I find the hardest to size 44 mag brass is the occasional 45 Colt that got mixed in and I missed while sorting.  I quickly learned to stop sizing and check when encountering extra resistance.  Fortunately all my 44 mag brass is the same length and I can easily seat and crimp in a single step.

.45 Colt should not even fit into your .44  shell holder.

OLG 

[Pee Wee #15785]

I lube all brass I size as it just makes for easy pull of the handle.  I can tell when sizing if it was my Rossi, Uberti or USFA that shot the brass.

[Marauder SASS #13056]

As others have mentioned, it helps to slightly lubricate brass even with carbide dies.
I didn't do it generally, then decided to load up some 9mm and felt the much more force needed, so I lubed them and it really helped.

So now I lube everything, just to save my arm and my machine.

 

Yes the pressure of the load and chamber size makes a big difference.

[Go West]

I spray lube all brass in my case feeder, even .38s. It makes for a more harmonious outcome. 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

 

And some calibers need a LOT of lube.   I recently resized some .30 Mauser.   Oh man that was...  Not fun.

[WOLFY]

Today I learned that there are lever revolution 44 magnum cartridges.

 

[DeaconKC]

10 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

 

And some calibers need a LOT of lube.   I recently resized some .30 Mauser.   Oh man that was...  Not fun.

Broomie? And yes, the Mauser is a pain.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

16 minutes ago, DeaconKC said:

Broomie? And yes, the Mauser is a pain.

Aye, that's all true.

 

Oddly, the .30 Tokarev in spite of being remarkably similar, is relatively easy to reload.  Go fig.

[DeaconKC]

4 minutes ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

Aye, that's all true.

 

Oddly, the .30 Tokarev in spite of being remarkably similar, is relatively easy to reload.  Go fig.

Hmm, I wonder if the Tok brass is made to different specs.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

7 hours ago, DeaconKC said:

Hmm, I wonder if the Tok brass is made to different specs.

 

There are slight differences.   You can safely chamber and fire the Mauser round in the Tokarev, but while you can chamber the Tokarev round in a Mauser, actually shooting it will blow up the gun, as the Tok has much higher pressures.

I have a Tokarev pistol and a reproduction of the Russian "burp gun."   Both are fun to shoot.  I have two Broomhandles, also fun to shoot.   I am pretty sure the bore on one of them is either shot out or oversized as bullets start to tumble out of it before to long.   I have also read that the Mausers tend to have oversized chambers.  It may just be that the brass has swollen quite a bit in them.  I did notice that some brand new unfired Mauser brass went through my resizing die relatively easy.

[Ramblin Gambler]

On 4/14/2021 at 11:54 AM, Sedalia Dave said:

 

AFAIK all Hornady LEVERevolution ammo uses brass that is shorter than SAAMI spec.  They have to use the shorter brass to allow for proper crimping of the FlexTip bullets due to their longer ogive. 

 

I wonder if this is why leverlution would not feed in my 45 colt rossi mod 92.  Tried to take it hunting one year and it was basically a single shot with the leverlution.  Haven't tried the ammo in any other lever actions.