The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - First time I ever did anything this dumb...

Courageous Lion · October 1, 2009, 12:18 AM

The reason I am posting this is because maybe someone else will avoid doing what I did. The other day I picked up a bag of .44 magnum out in my shop and decided I'd do some practicing with it. The problem that developed was due to a recent move from a storage facility to my shop with some of my older ammo and reloading components. When I say older, I'm talking 1994. Anyhow, I pulled out my 4" S&W Model 29 with the magnaported barrel and dropped 6 of these puppies into the cylinder. Took careful aim and squeezed off six rounds. They didn't kick as much as I remembered .44 doing and they weren't as accurate as they used to be, or maybe it was me! When I went to extract the brass, heck it was so hard to get them out that I had to tap the extraction rod with my rubber mallet! EVERY one of them was SPLIT. Not just one, but all of them. And I'll be darn there wasn't the least bit of pressure signs on the primer. Nice and round showing no flatness at all. Weird....so I put 6 more in...same thing. Then I put 6 more in and shot one, extracted it and it was split, shot the next extracted it and it was split...Then I noticed another anomaly...the case was BULGED! Heck, I thought maybe I better look closer at this and then I went and got my READING GLASSES and guess what? ...DRUM ROLL...I couldn't' believe I was this dumb...These weren't .44 magnum cartridges. WHAT, I don't even OWN and never have owned what these fit! They were .41 magnum cartridges and they dropped right into that .44 magnum like they were made for it. Apparently my assumption and failing to double check with READING GLASSES what the caliber was, I managed to run 18 rounds of .41 magnum through my .44 magnum. AND thankfully the only damage was to the brass. And to my ego, after all I have been reloading and shooting for 35 years.

What had happened I expect is I had loaded some .41 magnum for a friend up where we used to live and somehow had ended up with about 40 rounds when we moved away. They sat in that zip lock bag in storage along with 30,000 small pistol primers, 20,000 large pistol primers and about 30,000 more small rifle, large rifle, magnum rifle, magnum pistol primers AND two cases of 3660 9mm JHP Winchester JHP bullets, 2,000 Remington 240 grain hollow-point .44s, about 3,000 .223 bullets, maybe 40-50 pounds of assorted powder since, 1994 which was the last time I did any major reloading. I had thought ahead and loaded up a BUNCH of rounds of assorted calibers for what I foresaw as the CRAP hitting the fan.

And now I have been selling off a bunch of the components because I just don't need them!

Back to the subject at hand...FORTY ONE MAGNUMS will fit in a .44 and FIRE! So before you pick up some ammo that has been lying around a while and popping it into your .44... be sure it IS .44 ammo! Unfortunately I can't shoot with my reading glasses on! Bet this will never happen again...that is unless I want to use the .44 with .41 ammo and leave no real rifling on the bullets and use them up close...hmmmm.....

October 1, 2009, 12:18 AM	#1
Courageous Lion Member Join Date: September 18, 2009 Location: I hang out near Harrison, Arkansas Posts: 29	First time I ever did anything this dumb... The reason I am posting this is because maybe someone else will avoid doing what I did. The other day I picked up a bag of .44 magnum out in my shop and decided I'd do some practicing with it. The problem that developed was due to a recent move from a storage facility to my shop with some of my older ammo and reloading components. When I say older, I'm talking 1994. Anyhow, I pulled out my 4" S&W Model 29 with the magnaported barrel and dropped 6 of these puppies into the cylinder. Took careful aim and squeezed off six rounds. They didn't kick as much as I remembered .44 doing and they weren't as accurate as they used to be, or maybe it was me! When I went to extract the brass, heck it was so hard to get them out that I had to tap the extraction rod with my rubber mallet! EVERY one of them was SPLIT. Not just one, but all of them. And I'll be darn there wasn't the least bit of pressure signs on the primer. Nice and round showing no flatness at all. Weird....so I put 6 more in...same thing. Then I put 6 more in and shot one, extracted it and it was split, shot the next extracted it and it was split...Then I noticed another anomaly...the case was BULGED! Heck, I thought maybe I better look closer at this and then I went and got my READING GLASSES and guess what? ...DRUM ROLL...I couldn't' believe I was this dumb...These weren't .44 magnum cartridges. WHAT, I don't even OWN and never have owned what these fit! They were .41 magnum cartridges and they dropped right into that .44 magnum like they were made for it. Apparently my assumption and failing to double check with READING GLASSES what the caliber was, I managed to run 18 rounds of .41 magnum through my .44 magnum. AND thankfully the only damage was to the brass. And to my ego, after all I have been reloading and shooting for 35 years. What had happened I expect is I had loaded some .41 magnum for a friend up where we used to live and somehow had ended up with about 40 rounds when we moved away. They sat in that zip lock bag in storage along with 30,000 small pistol primers, 20,000 large pistol primers and about 30,000 more small rifle, large rifle, magnum rifle, magnum pistol primers AND two cases of 3660 9mm JHP Winchester JHP bullets, 2,000 Remington 240 grain hollow-point .44s, about 3,000 .223 bullets, maybe 40-50 pounds of assorted powder since, 1994 which was the last time I did any major reloading. I had thought ahead and loaded up a BUNCH of rounds of assorted calibers for what I foresaw as the CRAP hitting the fan. And now I have been selling off a bunch of the components because I just don't need them! Back to the subject at hand...FORTY ONE MAGNUMS will fit in a .44 and FIRE! So before you pick up some ammo that has been lying around a while and popping it into your .44... be sure it IS .44 ammo! Unfortunately I can't shoot with my reading glasses on! Bet this will never happen again...that is unless I want to use the .44 with .41 ammo and leave no real rifling on the bullets and use them up close...hmmmm.....