.44 Magnum rifle advice.

[Scribe]

Hi all,

I hand load for a Rossi 92, 16 inch barrel in .44 Magnum. This is purely for range work out to 100 yards maximum so far and my reloads tend to be in the 1000 to 1200 feet per range second range. I use 200 or 240 grain round nose flat points or 240 grain Keith style semi wad cutters from Special or Magnum cases. The powders I use are Vihtavuori (N350 03 N32 Tinstar) Red Dot or Bullseye.
I tumble the brass before reloading, but there seems an excessive amount of fouing on the empty cases afterwards and I need to thoroughly clean the magazine after shooting.
I don't reload that many Magnum rounds and that is usually with gas checked bullets, but the case fouling on these is noticeably less.
It would seem to me that this could be the case failing to make a decent seal with the chamber on firing. Could this be solved by a heavier crimp?
Any advice gratefully received

[stagpanther]

I have two of those--I like em that much even though they both came with "issues" I had to rework. I wouldn't worry too much about the fouled cases. Both of my Rossis like 240 gr anything driven by H110/W296 fairly warm.

[TX Nimrod]

I doubt that a firmer crimp will raise pressures enough to matter with Bullseye, RedDot or TinStar, those are fast powders and 1000-1200 fps is slow out of a rifle. Raising pressures with higher charges should solve the fouling issue, but as above - is it really a problem? I enjoy shooting low pressure loads in my .45LC Trapper, but cases can get a bit sooty.



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[44 AMP]

It would seem to me that this could be the case failing to make a decent seal with the chamber on firing. Could this be solved by a heavier crimp?
Any advice gratefully received

I don't know the specific powders you're working with, but I do know the older "fast" pistol powder, such as Bullseye, W231, Red Dot, among others.

Consider this, what you may be seeing is not a failure of your brass to seal to the chamber (obdurate) on firing. The smokey residue on your brass can be coming from powder gas still in the bore AFTER the brass "springs back".

Fast powders push the brass out to seal, but not as long or as hard as the slower powders do. Often there is enough residual pressure in the bore after the brass springs back that some of the gas "creeps down" the brass from the case mouth, and this leaves soot on the brass.

It is a normal thing at certain load levels, powder burn rates and powder types. Some powders just burn "dirty" compared to others. Changing the crimp might make a difference, or might make no difference at all, on the soot being left on your brass, its very much dependent on multiple factors that cannot be accurately predicted over the internet.

As to having to clean your magazine tube, that one puzzles me. What is getting in there that you have to clean? Is it residue from lead bullets?? I cannot see powder gas residue being an issue, let alone a frequent one, in the magazine tube, unless you're shooting something that envelopes your entire rifle in a cloud of smoke on firing.

Black powder perhaps, but modern smokeless shouldn't be doing that. At least not any that I am familiar with.

Hope this helps.

For better results from a carbine or rifle, go to a medium or slow burn rate powder. If possible.

[Seedy Character]

L'il Gun and 1400 fps will stop the fouling.

Otherwise, don't sweat it. Not a big deal.

[Scribe]

Hi all, many thanks for the replies. I think I will just shoot more and worry less.