I have been given a 2 gallon bucket of 44 sp brass. Doubt it is once fired...well some is but much of it is OLD..old enough for some to be balloon head cases(maybe a third).(Rem) I honestly think most of the Rem IS once fired. I don't load 44 sp to high pressures anyway. But would y'all load the BH cases one time? Or pitch 'em?
I have been given a 2 gallon bucket of 44 sp brass. Doubt it is once fired...well some is but much of it is OLD..old enough for some to be balloon head cases(maybe a third).(Rem) I honestly think most of the Rem IS once fired. I don't load 44 sp to high pressures anyway. But would y'all load the BH cases one time? Or pitch 'em?
I had some when I started reloading with a Lee Loader in the mid ‘80s and they were fine. but I didn’t do any hot loading. I’d separate them and keep them as collector items yet still use them.
Depends on the load. I have several 45 Auto Rim balloon head cases that I have loaded at low velocities 3 times and they still look good. I will be tossing them after the next reload - fourth reload is all the chance I want to take.
In separating them I even found a few 44 Russian cases too, Not many...maybe 2 dozen I would only load a 200 gr RNFP lead bullet with a light load of probably Unique
Put it all aside for the next trip to the salvage yard. Buy some new .44 Special brass from Starline. It'll all be the same, you'll know its history, and there will be no surprises or attendant headaches from using the mystery brass. Brass may be more expensive than ever, but still a bargain when you consider the mileage you'll get get from a new, uniform batch.
If I'm not mistaken (and I may be), balloon head brass was old when I started handloading in 1965, but loading data at the time showed heavier charges for such brass because of its greater capacity. I wouldn't use it; too easy to mix it with solid head cases.
Last edited by rockquarry; 10-19-2020 at 10:48 AM.
Put it all aside for the next trip to the salvage yard. Buy some new .44 Special brass form Starline. It'll all be the same, you'll know its history, and there will be no surprises or attendant headaches from using the mystery brass. Brass may be more expensive than ever, but still a bargain when you consider the mileage you'll get get from a new, uniform batch.
If I'm not mistaken (and I may be), balloon head brass was old when I started handloading in 1965, but loading data at the time showed heavier charges for such brass because of its greater capacity. I wouldn't use it; too easy to mix it with solid head cases.
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This! Many of us that reload will pick up and use any brass we find. I quit doing that years ago, started buying new as said above. After 20 years I still have all that brass and I know it's history.
Now's probably not the best time to search for good once-fired brass, but, in addition to buying new brass, I've had good results with once-fired brass. Some dealers offer once-fired mixed brass for a few dollars less than once-fired with the same headstamp, but the latter is worth the extra minimal expense.
Do have a picture of the two different cases side by side by chance ?
Stay safe.
They really look the same outside. Inside is different. I will try to get an inside pic. The thing that made me look was the headstamp...esp on the Remington Rem UMC. I had spme Rem UMC 45 Colt factory loads I shot that were BH
I would save them, maybe just for "sentimental" reasons. I started reloading 44 Specials in '88 or so and can't recall finding a balloon head case anywhere, and I used a lot of "once fired" cases. I have an old wooden box, jewelry chest that I keep some "odd ball" or antique reloading stuff and it doesn't take up much space, so I keep things "just because"...
Curiosity got the better of me, so I referred to the first new load manual I bought in '64 or '65, Speer #6. It shows .45 Auto Rim load data, in one instance, has a maximum recommended charge weight with a "folded head" (probably the correct terminology) case that is 20% greater than the maximum recommended charge weight for a solid head case.
I won't mention the loads because I think they're potentially dangerous and I doubt they were pressure tested. I haven't looked at my earlier Speer manuals; don't know whether they also have any "folded head"/ balloon head data. Speer #7 is the last manual to contain such data. I guess it was published in the late '60s and balloon head brass was likely hard to find by then.
Question is, if the cases are actually true ballon-headed (folded) or are they the early style solid-headed cases? They can look very similar even inside the case.
Balloon-headed cases were ancient history even in the days if Mattern, Sharpe, and Keith. Early solid-head cases would be fine for normal loads. Biggest unknown is if they’ve been shot would corrosive primers.
Not having looked at them extensively I would say they are from the late 30s early 40s. Probably the non folded heads. And not being in the grudge right now I think the 44 Russian cases may be Peters brand. Russian cases may have been fired with corrosive primers but probably not the 44 sp cases. I also have some other head stamped 44 Russian cases somewhere. Lots of old stuff around here. BTW I met Sharpe when I was a kid when my father went to see him. My father had come back from the war with a Japanese sub gun? I think and took it to him I had never seen so many guns
^^^
What mtgianni said.
Offer them for sale as collectors items.
Wow, how cool is that to have memories of seeing Phil Sharpe's place!
That's some history.
Here is a nice little explanation of the evolution of brass cartridge heads: what-is-a-balloon-head-case
Note there is a big difference between the older folded head and the "solid balloon AKA hollow bar" head.
Like so many other things with cartridge terminology these descriptions overlap and get confusing fast.
The only "hollow bar" head brass I have is in fact 44 special from when it first hit the streets.
I've read dang near everything Elmer wrote but I still won't fire those not knowing their history.
I have fired 30USA brass that may be well over 100 years old but it is way thicker built than normal 30-40 and was cut off to make .445 out of.
It's modern style solid bar-head brass (maybe some of the first).
I washed and inspected the heck out of each one.
I agree with Nemo
There are several variations of balloon head cases. The early folded head were black powder only. The semi- balloon head were actually standard smokeless loads. Since the 44 special was introduced in 1908 only semi-balloon solid head cases would be found. So standard smokeless loads would be the norm.
The head stamp is a dead giveaway regarding dating the brass case. If you post photos of the head stamps we can date the brass.
I’d be especially careful with the 44 Russian brass. Those can be very old! So a folded case full balloon head is very possible and would be dangerous with smokeless loads.
I traded the BH brass to a fellow for a RCBS case prep center that looks almost new. He loads the 44 sp for Cowboy shoots. There were 481 pieces and all was Rem UMC and seemed to be once fired..He was happy as was I. There were some Rem UMC 44 sp in the bucket that had been shortened to 44 Russian. Pretty poor Pitcher taker but will try to get some pics of the Head stamps. Still quite a bit of brass in the batch though
Cool.
Nice to see a situation all come together with everyone happy.
And nothing thrown out or wasted.
Reloading is, after all, recycling at it's finest.
Always fun pointing that out to my friends on campus.
(I am retired but have a part time job doing some video engineering for the U.)
I come across brass I'll never use as well and certainly enjoy seeing it go to someone who will.
Community is very satisfying.
My father, who was an anthropologist, would have had some scientific explanation for that.
Found this picture that shows both kinds of 44 Russian cartridges.
The folded head (1871) has a bigger primer than the bar head (1887).
Doesn't look like center-fire primers had been standardized at all in the 1870's, even in S&W revolver cartridges.
Finally, keeping with the late 1800's theme, here is a little book "Hints on the use of firearms and revolvers in particular" written in 1885.
It's an epub and I use the free program "Freda" to view these.
44 Sp Brass.
Linear Mode
