44 Sp brass a little short

[BruMatt]

I was given several boxes of reloads from a reputable friend who had moved out of the 44 Sp caliber. They were loaded with 26 gr of fffg (black powder). I had no trouble using them up other than the clean up but, when it came time to reload I found the cases measured out to 1.07" rather than 1.16".

So the question came to mind, "How short is too short?" Is .1" going to materially affect the pressures if I reduce the overall length? Will my dies adjust to the shorter case length properly?

Anyone with any experience in the area would be a big help.

[OKFC05]

Will my dies adjust to the shorter case length properly?

Cases that are .1" short are merely a nuisance when it comes time to crimp. If you're loading light where the crimp really doesn't matter so much, no problem. If you're trying to put a heavy crimp on a hot load, are they worth the trouble to readjust your crimp die for different brass lengths?

[Rule3]

Did you re size them before you measured them?

[Engineer1911]

What is the length of the RESIZED case? If a fired case measures 1.07" you don't have a problem with case length. The case trim to length refers to resized case length not fired case length. If you are reloading 44 Spl brass with 44 Mag dies you will have a problem crimping the cases. It's been my experience that 357 Mag and 44 Mag seating/crimp dies don't remove the case mouth belling or crimp the case mouth on 38 Spl or 44 Spl.

The Lee Carbide Crimp Die will work on short cases -- again in my experience.

[Titegroups]

Sounds like you may have some 44 russian brass. Look up the specs.

[BruMatt]

Thanks for all of the help. I did resize them before measuring. My book says 44 Russian is .1" shorter at .97" case length and the head stamp on these is 44 S&W Special. *_*

Since I have 150 of them I can run them as a separate batch and just keep them light.

[scattershot]

Those are Starline cases, according to the headstamp. maybe your friend shortened them to work in a Schofield or something. It shouldn't be a problem. Your solution is good, just segregate them and reload as a batch. Free brass is good.

Good luck!

[SMSgt]

The black powder load hints that they may have been altered for an obsolete case.

[Larry from Bend]

Yup, probably altered for a specific (shorter) need. Won't hurt a thing with SAAMI (15K or so) 44 Special loads.

I have good luck with StarLine 44 Special brass.

[BruMatt]

Thanks to all