Shooting .44Mag/.44Sol In Same Gun??

[dwpmusic]

OK, as short and unsweet as I can make it. My reloads, 629-4. Range yesterday. Fired 187 rounds .44spl and 87 rounds .44mag. Cleaned gun today. Looks great to me. NOW, no .44Mag rounds will seat enough in the cylinder to allow it to close. Neither will 240gr Hornady XTP factory rounds. Are you kidding me?? Yes, I've read the articles on the perils of shooting .44spl in .44mag revolvers. But 187 rounds. Come on. Am I looking at some kind of lead cleaning situation every time I shoot a few .44spl?? Oh yeah, the bullets were 200gr Oregon Trail. Help an old guy out. Bye the way, they shot well.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Yeah, sounds like you have a crud build-up on the step in the cylinder bore. I have OFTEN shot .44 special loads in a .44 magnum and never had it that bad, but it was mostly my own loads which were not particularly intense. Now days I simply avoid the problem and load .44 spec loads in .44 mag cases and avoid the problem. Get a slightly oversized bore brush (45 cal) and scrub well. You might try a dental tool or similar scraper and lightly go around the cylinder bores from the back side. It is a pain in the butt but, in the long run, is not that big a deal unless you really hate cleaning guns.

 

[one eye joe]

OK, as short and unsweet as I can make it. My reloads, 629-4. Range yesterday. Fired 187 rounds .44spl and 87 rounds .44mag. Cleaned gun today. Looks great to me. NOW, no .44Mag rounds will seat enough in the cylinder to allow it to close. Neither will 240gr Hornady XTP factory rounds. Are you kidding me?? Yes, I've read the articles on the perils of shooting .44spl in .44mag revolvers. But 187 rounds. Come on. Am I looking at some kind of lead cleaning situation every time I shoot a few .44spl?? Oh yeah, the bullets were 200gr Oregon Trail. Help an old guy out. Bye the way, they shot well.

I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED A PROBLEM LIKE THAT, SHOOTING .44 SPL AND .44 MAG RELOADS, PURCHASED FROM A LGS. THEY BOTH USE THE SAME 240 GR, LEAD SWC BULLETS......

 

[cowboy4evr]

I good bore brush and some Kroil or Marvel Mystery Oil will clean that crud ring right out . I often shoot 44 spl in 44 mag guns . The 44 spl guns are so expensive it doesn't make sense to buy one . My fiancé shoots 38 spl in 357 magnum guns and they clean up just fine . Soooo , shoot your 44 spl's in your magnum gun , clean the cylinder charge holes and have a great time shooting 44 spls's in your magnum gun . After 50 rounds of specials , shoot a couple of cylinders of magnum loads . They don't have to be " barn burners " . Just good mid range loads will suffice such as , 8.0 grs of HP-38 / W-231 with a 240 gr swc bullet makes a great mid range load . Fun to shoot and serves a purpose . Good Luck , Paul

 

[dwpmusic]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose that has to be the problem but we're only talking about less than 200 .44spl, not 2,000. I can't see it. But if that in fact is what it is this revolver won't see any more .44spl brass.

 

[dr. mordo]

You must be using a powder and bullet combination that is exceptionally dirty. I shot 165 rounds of 44 Russian in a 44 SPL last week, then reloaded it with 44 SPL and dropped it in back in my pocket for CCW duty. There was very little carbon build-up, and what was there came out easily with a boresnake and Hoppes #9 when I got home. As I recall, my Russian load is 3.5gr of HP38 and a 180gr coated LSWC.

Were you using a very hot powder like Titegroup?

 

[Warren Sear]

I shoot 44 Special and 44 Russian ammo in my 44 Magnum revolvers regularly, and have never experienced difficulty in extracting (or loading for that matter). I also shoot 38 Specials in .358 Magnum guns without incident. I don't understand why the OP is having such trouble.

I use home made cast lead bullets and Unique or 2400 powder almost exclusively, for what it is worth.

 

[dwpmusic]

You must be using a powder and bullet combination that is exceptionally dirty. I shot 165 rounds of 44 Russian in a 44 SPL last week, then reloaded it with 44 SPL and dropped it in back in my pocket for CCW duty. There was very little carbon build-up, and what was there came out easily with a boresnake and Hoppes #9 when I got home. As I recall, my Russian load is 3.5gr of HP38 and a 180gr coated LSWC.

Were you using a very hot powder like Titegroup?

Using Win231 for both Mag and Spl cases. Same Oregon Trail 200gr RNFP for both. 5.3gr for the spl and 7.3gr for the mag. Go figure. I just want it cleaned and not have it happen again. I just don't think this should have happened with such a few rounds. Just a little ticked at myself.

 

[dwpmusic]

I shoot 44 Special and 44 Russian ammo in my 44 Magnum revolvers regularly, and have never experienced difficulty in extracting (or loading for that matter). I also shoot 38 Specials in .358 Magnum guns without incident. I don't understand why the OP is having such trouble.

I use home made cast lead bullets and Unique of 2400 powder almost exclusively, for what it is worth.

Then, what else could my problem be? Been shooting 38spl in my 357s for years with no problem at all.

 

[RoninPhx]

get yourself one of those copper brillo dish scrubbing pads. cut a little square. wrap in around a brush on a rod. it will take all the lead out with little effort. then just oil and clean normally.

 

[keith44spl]

Is the bore heavily leaded too???


.

 

[dwpmusic]

Is the bore heavily leaded too???


.

Clean as a whistle. Shines like it is brand new. One of the reasons that I'm so puzzled.

 

[41mag657ss]

Have you checked to see if there is some gunk under the extractor star? Sometimes when cleaning, you loosen some stuff that travels.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Been shooting 38spl in my 357s for years with no problem at all.

That combination is where I first experienced this problem.

.

Using Win231 for both Mag and Spl cases. Same Oregon Trail 200gr RNFP for both. 5.3gr for the spl and 7.3gr for the mag. Go figure. I just want it cleaned and not have it happen again. I just don't think this should have happened with such a few rounds. Just a little ticked at myself.

.

I believe it's worse when shooting lead bullets in the shorter case & then trying to shoot high pressure jacketed bullets in the longer case.

Either stick with all 44 Spcl cases or load the 44 Mag cases done to 44 Spcl power & you won't be ticked off again... at least for that problem.

.

 

[one eye joe]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose that has to be the problem but we're only talking about less than 200 .44spl, not 2,000. I can't see it. But if that in fact is what it is this revolver won't see any more .44spl brass.

THERE IS NO NEED TO TAKE THAT APPROACH. I AGREE WITH THOSE THAT HAVE SUGGESTED THAT THE POWDER YOU ARE USING MAY BE EXCEPTIONALLY DIRTY.....

PERHAPS YOU COULD USE YOUR CURRENT POWDER SOLELY FOR YOUR MAGNUM LOADS (AND ANY OTHER SINGLE LENGTH CALIBER), AND FIND A CLEANER BURNING POWDER FOR YOUR .44 SPL, AND .38 SPL RELOADS.....

WHILE 200 ROUNDS DOESN'T SOUND LIKE MUCH, IT IS STILL 4 BOXES OF VERY DIRTY AMMO. SCRUB YOUR BARREL THOROUGHLY WITH A BORE BRUSH. THEN SHOOT A BOX OR TWO OF FACTORY TARGET LOADS IN .44 SPL.....

THEN WITHOUT CLEANING YOUR BARREL AGAIN, TRY SHOOTING YOUR CURRENT .44 MAGNUM RELOADS. IF THEY FULLY CHAMBER AND SEAT, YOUR PROBLEM IS YOUR DIRTY BURNING POWDER......

 

[Forrest r]

get yourself one of those copper brillo dish scrubbing pads. cut a little square. wrap in around a brush on a rod. it will take all the lead out with little effort. then just oil and clean normally.

+1^^^^^

I've done this for decades, copper chore boy on a worn bore brush with a piece of clean rod. Chuck it up in a drill, takes less than a minute to clean all the cylinder holes. It's a mild form of barnishing.

Those rock hard bullets your using (24bhn) will leave carbon/lead rings in the cylinders every time with low pressure loads. I have no idea why oregon trail makes their bullets out of such a hard alloy. A 10bhn/11bhn bullet like the kind matt's bullets sells would be a better choice in lead bullets. Coated bullets would be another option.

A 200 round range session with coated bullets/38spl's in a 357.

No cleaning needed for another 600 or 700 rounds. 357's drop in the cylinders, no ring/build-up. But then again I'm using/shooting 9bhn coated bullets. Not 24bhn lead bullets.

Lyman uses an alloy called "lyman #2 alloy", it's 16bhn & is used for rifle bullets. A picture of 16bhn rifle bullets, one has been coated & the other was sized and traditionally lubed.

35,000+psi loads in a 308w with those 16bhn bullets pictured above.

borescope pictures of the 308w bbl

I couldn't even begin to count how many 44spl's I've shot in the 44mags. Same goes for 38spl's in the 357's. Always kept the alloy & lube soft. Some of my favorite 44spl plinking bullets.

The 220gr is a hbwc and the 175gr is a custom bullet that has different crimp/seating rings on both ends of the bullet. Seat that 175gr with the little end of the bullet sticking out in the 44mag cases & the big end sticking out in the 44spl cases. The end result is the same case volume/load/accuracy/oal with either case.

Anyway, use a softer bullet. You'll still get a ring built up in the cylinders. But it will take longer to form & yes you get the same ring built up with 44mag's or 357's for that matter. The ring is just further down in the cylinders/destroys accuracy. Nothing a bore brush with a piece of copper or bronze scrubbing pad wrapped around couldn't handle.

 

[dwpmusic]

No luck so far this morning with all that I've tried. Off to find some Marvel Mystery Oil. But, I have arrived at the definitive solution if I want to continue loading .44spl. Ruger is still making a beautiful .44spl.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I find Weaposhield and elbow grease get the lead out for me. I have been known to add jb's bore paste in the mix to help out.

 

[Dan Christopher]

The beauty of reloading for magnums is that you don't have to use specials anymore, unless you just want to. 7grs of Unique and a 240gr lead bullet is a combo you can shoot all day.

 

[Warren Sear]

You don't need or want to use "elbow grease" or abrasives to remove lead fouling from a gun. Either of these will probably damage your gun.

There have been excellent tips given above on how to quickly, easily, safely, and effectively remove fouling without damage to your revolver.