.44 Mag. 240 gr jacketed

Jeff423 · #1 10-04-2018, 01:25 PM

I have an old box of Speer #4447 240 gr. jacketed soft point bullets. These have no crimp groove and i'm wondering about or how to crimp.
My manuals say the COL should be 1.61". If I seat at that depth the jacket protrudes from the top of the case so a roll crimp would be squeezing the jacket. If I seat them deeply enough to crimp over the jacket and into the lead I'm at 1.57".
Should just crimp enough to remove the flare?
My load is 23 gr. of 296.

FWIW I called Speer and they will get back to me tomorrow.

M29since14 · #2 10-04-2018, 01:32 PM

If those are the old half-jacketed Speers we crimped them just over the top of the jacket cup. I never cared for that bullet but did shoot it a bit at silhouettes. I didn’t shoot it any better than cast bullets (not a great silhouette shooter

) so I just stayed with cast.

Jeff423 · #3 10-04-2018, 01:47 PM

That's probably the bullet. Here is a picture.

mikld · #4 10-04-2018, 02:14 PM

Normally, if a bullet has no crimp groove or cannalure, it is taper crimped. I had some of those half jacketed 44 cal bullets way back when, I just lightly roll crimped into the jacket; lightly, not enough to distort the bullet. Crimping over the jacket seemed to make the rounds too short. Worked with light loads...

grice · #5 10-04-2018, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff423

I have an old box of Speer #4447 240 gr. jacketed soft point bullets. These have no crimp groove and i'm wondering about or how to crimp.
My manuals say the COL should be 1.61". If I seat at that depth the jacket protrudes from the top of the case so a roll crimp would be squeezing the jacket. If I seat them deeply enough to crimp over the jacket and into the lead I'm at 1.57".
Should just crimp enough to remove the flare?
My load is 23 gr. of 296.

FWIW I called Speer and they will get back to me tomorrow.

Do what m29since 14 said. I’ve shot lots of those with 24 grains of 296 in the past and crimped them as he just stated.

Jeff423 · #6 10-04-2018, 04:50 PM

Thanks for the replies. I just loaded them and will see how they work.

colt_saa · #7 10-04-2018, 05:11 PM

I never loaded any of those in 44s, but I went through many in 357 and 41.

I have close to 1000 of the 41s remaining

We always crimped those over the end of the jacket, just like M29since14 suggests

Just remember to chart at the bottom of the load chart and work up toward maximum slowly

Nemo288 · #8 10-04-2018, 06:49 PM

If you are compressing the W296 by loading a little short, I would make sure to shoot those up soon.
I have had 296 congeal into a solid mass after years of storage.
Produced my only squibs and unloading them required me to scrape the powder out with a crochet hook.
One of a couple reasons I now try to stay away from ball powder in general.

SMSgt · #9 10-04-2018, 08:25 PM

Do not "light" load half-jacketed bullets. The jackets can separate on firing and stick in the bore. Give them some "oomph."

Nevada Ed · #10 10-04-2018, 08:29 PM

The "Old Style" jacket with a lead FN design is a great shooting bullet for
fps and accuracy but............
it needs to be set with the lead just above the case for the medium to heavy crimp.

Do not try to remove this style bullet with a Hammer puller !!
Just shoot it or you will be very sorry.

Enjoy those bullets.

oink · #11 10-04-2018, 09:49 PM

My Speer Reloading Manual #10 has that bullet. It says: "Crimp the 225 grain and 240 grain SWC jacketed bullets over the radius at the forward edge of the jacket." It also cautions that the bullets "should not be used with loads lighter than shown". It lists 296 loads of 22.7 to 24.7 using CCI magnum primers.

Jeff423 · #12 10-04-2018, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oink

My Speer Reloading Manual #10 has that bullet. It says: "Crimp the 225 grain and 240 grain SWC jacketed bullets over the radius at the forward edge of the jacket." It also cautions that the bullets "should not be used with loads lighter than shown". It lists 296 loads of 22.7 to 24.7 using CCI magnum primers.

That's what I did. Crimping over the forward edge of the radius requires more force than a normal roll crimp. I only had 20 and loaded them with 23 gr. of 296. I'll take a squib rod with me to the range

Nemo288 · #13 10-05-2018, 04:03 AM

You won't need that hopefully unless you store those for more than a decade as I did.
They all went bang real nice before that or with fresh loads.
296 only works well at the very top end.
I have toned it down some in my "golden years" and prefer 4227 or target loads with Universal/Unique in the magnum.
95% of my revolver shooting now is in specials both gun and loads.
No matter what energy level you load at please use magnum brass in the magnums and shoot special brass in .44 special revolvers.
Your cylinder chambers will eventually thank you.