Trimming .44 Rem Mag Cases for consistent crimp? - Page 3

Real Gun · December 13, 2018, 06:09 PM

Don P

Quote:

With the ten's of thousand's of rounds that I have reloaded I have not found inconsistencies that would warrant trimming case with regards to crimp.

Since I think it unlikely that a person shoots "tens of thousands of rounds" of revolver ammo, especially magnums, dealing with a crimp groove in the bullets, I wonder if you are including semi-auto ammo, which is not what we are talking about here.

mikld · December 14, 2018, 12:18 PM

A couple FWIW thoughts. I have been reloading since 1969 and 95% being revolver handloads (total of 10 guns in 38, 357, 44 S, 44 M, 45 Colt) and 98% cast bullets. While I don't count there's a very good possibility I have reloaded/fired tens of thousands of rounds in my reloading/shooting career.
My all time favorite cartridge is the .44 Magnum and I have 5 guns chambered for it. For a few years (?) I reloaded and shot the 44 almost exclusively...

Yesterday, just for my own info I measured about 100 44 Magnum cases. My once fired Starline brass varied .003" in length, 1.279"-1.282. Some new unfired, unsized Starline measured 1.277"-1.279". My many times fired R-P brass measured 1.280"-1.284". Some Hornady, 1.279"-1.282". After digging in my stash for the oldest (I think) brass I found some very old WW and they measured 1.279"-1.285". So, my stash of 44 Magnum brass, even if I used the shortest and the longest mixed in a batch would only be .006" difference in length and how "inconsistent" would the crimp be with that little variation? All the brass I have is from about '90 reloaded numerous times to brand new purchased a few months ago (I only closely counted one batch of cases, Federal, and stopped at 13 reloadings of med.-heavy magnum loads. Others have gone beyond that I'm sure.)...

Dufus · December 14, 2018, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Since I think it unlikely that a person shoots "tens of thousands of rounds" of revolver ammo, especially magnums, dealing with a crimp groove in the bullets, I wonder if you are including semi-auto ammo, which is not what we are talking about here.

It is really quite hard to understand how you can make such a statement.

I bought my first 44 Mag (Ruger SBH in 1974). I has never witnessed factory ammo.

We would shoot 500-1000 rounds per month up until late 1984. That is 6,000-12,000 rounds per year in 2 different revolvers as my Dad was my shooting partner.

Do the math and see if you still have doubts.

Real Gun · December 14, 2018, 03:05 PM

Quote:

We would shoot 500-1000 rounds per month up until late 1984.

Pardon my incredulity, but why were you shooting that many rounds and choosing to afford it?

Dufus · December 14, 2018, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Pardon my incredulity, but why were you shooting that many rounds and choosing to afford it?

1) we like to shoot
2) because we could
3) I shot Handgun Silhouette back in those days as well.

It was a home range. My Dad doesn't shoot any more. At 89 yr old, he keeps the garden going and the yard mowed.

Now, our monthly consumption is much less than half of what it was.

To keep within the context of this thread, I have never trimmed a straight wall handgun cartridge case.

**44 AMP** · December 14, 2018, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Pardon my incredulity, but why were you shooting that many rounds and choosing to afford it?

Quote:

I bought my first 44 Mag (Ruger SBH in 1974). I has never witnessed factory ammo.

We would shoot 500-1000 rounds per month up until late 1984.

In 1974, primers were less than a penny apiece, powder was around $8 a pound at retail, and premium jacketed rifle bullets were about $.06 handgun bullets around $0.04, and home cast bullets might only cost 2 or three cents, or even less.

Not counting the cost of brass, (and remember that cost gets divided every use) you could conceivably load 1,000 rnds for $10 or so.often less.

The cost of a tank of gas in a mid size car. Or one family dinner at someplace other than a fast food joint. Yes, we made less money in terms of dollars than we do today, but costs were lower then too.

Dufus · December 14, 2018, 08:57 PM

And, to add a little to that, you could buy a box of 100 Hornady JHP 240 grain for about $3.75-4.00 per 100. I had powders that were less than $5.00 per lb.

Speer bullets were about the same cost.

I spent nothing on my cast bullets as an old man that owned a tire shop gave me all the wheel weights that I wanted and some cable splicers that I knew would give me lead cable jackets and 9lb bars of 70/30 solder and once in a while some bars of 50/50 solder.

So, 44AMP, we have both "been there".

mikld · December 15, 2018, 12:08 PM

Yep, reloading can be really inexpensive. I had access to all the wheel weights I could carry so my cast bullets were really cheap. I picked up a lot of brass at the range nd bought "once fired" brass many times. I remember paying less than $1.00 for a sleeve of CCI primers (I usually just bought 4 or 5 sleeves at a time). Powder was the big expense and although I don't remember the actual cost it was around $15-$18 per lb. I was making $8.43 per hour and averaging 4 hours per week overtime, so I was able to afford, quite easily, 250-300 rounds of 44 Magnum per month, and often more. I did that until I got 4 more 44 Magnums and my round count increases to mebbe 500 per month. I did this for 20+ years. Reloading is my hobby and I sometimes doubled that count with the addition of a new gun and sometimes that number shrank to half that. So, a large round count is easily affordable. I dislike the "money thinking" about my reloading because I like to reload...

Don P · December 16, 2018, 07:32 PM

Since I think it unlikely that a person shoots "tens of thousands of rounds" of revolver ammo, especially magnums, dealing with a crimp groove in the bullets, I wonder if you are including semi-auto ammo, which is not what we are talking about here.

I shoot and reload 38 spl and 38 short colt using 160 grain bullets with NO CRIMP GROOVE. a solid crimp and I have zero bullet creep. And to answer your question "I do shoot tens of thousands of rounds or revolver ammo" shooting revolver in USPSA and ICORE

KEYBEAR · December 17, 2018, 11:01 AM

The good old days really were good . I started reloading mid 60,s and shot a bunch . At the time gas was cheap cars were cheap and reloading supplies also cheap . I shot trap two or three nights a week and center fire rifle/pistol also . I was working 5/6 days a week making $14.00 dollars an hour . A new Chevy Pickup truck in 1969 was about the cost of sales tax on one now . I feel sorry for the younger people now every thing cost a lot and no one is making much more money then I was then .

Real Gun · December 17, 2018, 01:40 PM

Quote:

To keep within the context of this thread, I have never trimmed a straight wall handgun cartridge case.

The context here is use of bullets with crimp grooves and crimping in that position, i.e. revolvers loaded as intended.

December 14, 2018, 12:18 PM	#52
mikld Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: Southern Oregon! Posts: 2,891	A couple FWIW thoughts. I have been reloading since 1969 and 95% being revolver handloads (total of 10 guns in 38, 357, 44 S, 44 M, 45 Colt) and 98% cast bullets. While I don't count there's a very good possibility I have reloaded/fired tens of thousands of rounds in my reloading/shooting career. My all time favorite cartridge is the .44 Magnum and I have 5 guns chambered for it. For a few years (?) I reloaded and shot the 44 almost exclusively... Yesterday, just for my own info I measured about 100 44 Magnum cases. My once fired Starline brass varied .003" in length, 1.279"-1.282. Some new unfired, unsized Starline measured 1.277"-1.279". My many times fired R-P brass measured 1.280"-1.284". Some Hornady, 1.279"-1.282". After digging in my stash for the oldest (I think) brass I found some very old WW and they measured 1.279"-1.285". So, my stash of 44 Magnum brass, even if I used the shortest and the longest mixed in a batch would only be .006" difference in length and how "inconsistent" would the crimp be with that little variation? All the brass I have is from about '90 reloaded numerous times to brand new purchased a few months ago (I only closely counted one batch of cases, Federal, and stopped at 13 reloadings of med.-heavy magnum loads. Others have gone beyond that I'm sure.)... __________________ My Anchor is holding fast! I've learned how to stand on my own two knees... Last edited by mikld; December 14, 2018 at 02:10 PM.

December 15, 2018, 12:08 PM	#58
mikld Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: Southern Oregon! Posts: 2,891	Yep, reloading can be really inexpensive. I had access to all the wheel weights I could carry so my cast bullets were really cheap. I picked up a lot of brass at the range nd bought "once fired" brass many times. I remember paying less than $1.00 for a sleeve of CCI primers (I usually just bought 4 or 5 sleeves at a time). Powder was the big expense and although I don't remember the actual cost it was around $15-$18 per lb. I was making $8.43 per hour and averaging 4 hours per week overtime, so I was able to afford, quite easily, 250-300 rounds of 44 Magnum per month, and often more. I did that until I got 4 more 44 Magnums and my round count increases to mebbe 500 per month. I did this for 20+ years. Reloading is my hobby and I sometimes doubled that count with the addition of a new gun and sometimes that number shrank to half that. So, a large round count is easily affordable. I dislike the "money thinking" about my reloading because I like to reload... __________________ My Anchor is holding fast! I've learned how to stand on my own two knees...

December 16, 2018, 07:32 PM	#59
Don P Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2005 Location: Swamp dweller Posts: 6,187	Since I think it unlikely that a person shoots "tens of thousands of rounds" of revolver ammo, especially magnums, dealing with a crimp groove in the bullets, I wonder if you are including semi-auto ammo, which is not what we are talking about here. I shoot and reload 38 spl and 38 short colt using 160 grain bullets with NO CRIMP GROOVE. a solid crimp and I have zero bullet creep. And to answer your question "I do shoot tens of thousands of rounds or revolver ammo" shooting revolver in USPSA and ICORE __________________ *NRA Life Member, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor,, USPSA & Steel Challange NROI Range Officer, ICORE Range Officer, ,MAG 40 Graduate* *As you are, I once was, As I am, You will be.*

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December 14, 2018, 08:57 PM	#57
Dufus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2014 Posts: 1,965	And, to add a little to that, you could buy a box of 100 Hornady JHP 240 grain for about $3.75-4.00 per 100. I had powders that were less than $5.00 per lb. Speer bullets were about the same cost. I spent nothing on my cast bullets as an old man that owned a tire shop gave me all the wheel weights that I wanted and some cable splicers that I knew would give me lead cable jackets and 9lb bars of 70/30 solder and once in a while some bars of 50/50 solder. So, 44AMP, we have both "been there".

December 17, 2018, 11:01 AM	#60
KEYBEAR Senior Member Join Date: January 11, 2012 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,059	The good old days really were good . I started reloading mid 60,s and shot a bunch . At the time gas was cheap cars were cheap and reloading supplies also cheap . I shot trap two or three nights a week and center fire rifle/pistol also . I was working 5/6 days a week making $14.00 dollars an hour . A new Chevy Pickup truck in 1969 was about the cost of sales tax on one now . I feel sorry for the younger people now every thing cost a lot and no one is making much more money then I was then .