Reloading the 44/40

[Ron/The Old Reb]

I know that there is someone that has the answer for this one.I am having problem reloading my 44/40 cases. I am reloading for my Uberti 1873 SA. I sluged the barrel and it's mikes at .429 I full length size the cases. I bell the cases enought to start the bullet by hand. The bullets are 200gr .429 I seat the bullets to the crimping ring and then use a light crimp. I seat and crimp in two separate operations. But when I insert them into the cylinder chambers they will not go all the way in,they stick out about 1/4 inch. What I don't understand is that I have some 44/40 that I loaded about five years ago with the same bullet seated to the same depth on the same dies for my Henry and they will chamber in the revoler all the way. I have tried everything I can think of and nothing works. Anyone have any thoughts. I thought that it may be the crimp. But the ones for the Henry are the same crimp.
Question what type of crimp do you use rolled, factory crimp or taperd?

[Frog]

Lee factory crimp die. When you resize the case does the die hit the shell holder with a little resistance? A sizing die out of adjustment will cause this problem.

[matt]

Try putting the case after resizing into the cylinder, if it goes in then and not when loaded then crimp a bit more. If it wont go in after resizing turn down the sizing die till it meets the shell holder and add a 1/4 turn.
Matt

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Thanks Frog & Matt
I have tried putting the case in the cylinder after I resize it and it will go all the way in. I also have the die all the way on the shell holder with a little resistance on the handel. I have two brands of dies a set of RCBS and a set of Lee. I have tried loading with both set of dies and get the same results. What I don't understand is that the old 44/40s that I loaded for the Henry five years ago will chamber all the way but the new ones will not. I have tried crimping them a little harder but it chrushs the case. I know that 44/40 are a pain in the butt to reload, but this is getting beyond that.

[Tom Magno, 9269V]

Thanks Frog & Matt
I have tried putting the case in the cylinder after I resize it and it will go all the way in. I also have the die all the way on the shell holder with a little resistance on the handel. I have two brands of dies a set of RCBS and a set of Lee. I have tried loading with both set of dies and get the same results. What I don't understand is that the old 44/40s that I loaded for the Henry five years ago will chamber all the way but the new ones will not. I have tried crimping them a little harder but it chrushs the case. I know that 44/40 are a pain in the butt to reload, but this is getting beyond that.

Try using LESS crimp, not more, or use a Lee Factory Crimp Die. Too much roll crimp will actually bulge the case just below the crimp because there is no where else for the brass to go. If you are loading Black Powder, then you need very little crimp since there is no issue with the round in the magazine having bullet setting back in the case from recoil due to the bullet sitting on the powder.

[Hambone]

I was having the same problem and Harold on our team came up with a solution. You take the depriming pin out of the die and run the completed cartidge in. This straightens out the crimp on the cartridge and it will cycle in the gun. If you are worried that you are resizing the bullet. Measure your bullet with calipers before you load it and use a bullet puller after resizing and see if the bullet is still the same size.

[matt]

Just a thought. If this is a new batch of bullets have you mic'ed the size? They may be bigger than you think especially if you bought them and did not cast or size them yourself. Your sizing die is set right and they chamber fine without a bullet as you say so it comes down to the bullet being larger or if you arent using a Lee factory crimp die the crimp is causing the case to bulge. Either of these will bulge the case. I had this happen when I loaded up 45 colt rounds each round was then run through a FL sizer after completed(heavy crimp with the LEE Factory Crimp) and the problem went away.
Matt

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Hambone & Tom
Runing the loaded round through the sizeing die was one of the first things that I tried. The rounds seated in the cylinder all the way. But when I fired about 20 of them at 25yds every one keyholed. I pulled all the bullets I had not shot and mic'ed them they were now .425. They were .429 when I loaded them. I do think that it is the crimp. I tried Tom's susgestion and backed off on the crimp. I run the crimping die down untill I could just feel the die touch the bullet. I then turned the die down anouther 1/8 turn so that it made a very slight crimp. They then went into the cylinder but had to push them with my finger the last 1/8 inch. I read on the web where someone said that they turned the sizeing die down a few thousanth. But that will be my last recourse. I orded a Lee factory crimp die from Midway, see if that solves the problem. Still can't understand why the ones I loaded for the Henry five years ago will go all the way in, they have a heavy crimp on them. It's like somthing from the twilight zone.

[Jim_Burgess_2078V]

Ron,
If you are using new brass another possibility is the new brass might be thicker at the case mouth. Having used different brands of brass I know they are not all created equal and thick brass might cause an issue if you have tight chambers in your revolver. Many guns chambered for .44-40 were designed to shoot .427 diameter bullets and since you are shooting .429 bullets, that and a thick case mouth might be enough to cause your problem. Another thing you should check is to make sure your cases are trimmed to the proper length. If they are a bit oversize that could contribute to your chambering problem and could also generate excessive pressures when fired.
Jim Burgess, 15th CVI

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Tom
I check my cases the ones that I loaded for the Henry five years ago are winchester brass and the one that I am trying to load now are new Remegtion. I pulled the bullet from one of the Winchester mic'ed the thicknes at the mouth and then mic'ed one of the Remegtion. The Remegtion was two thousanth thicker then the Winchester. I then check the length 44/40 are suppose to be 1.30 in length the Winchester were right on and the Remegtions were 1.32. This could be the problem.

[Ron/The Old Reb]

PROBLEM SOLVED
Yesterday I got the Lee factory crimp die. I loaded up about fifteen new Remington cases I left them at 1.30. I crimped them with the Lee die and everyone went into the cylinder all the way. If the crimp is so critical to the 44/40 I don't see why the other manufactures don't make a factory crimp die. I want to thank Matt, Tom and John for your help. Without your help I would probably still be beating my head against the wall.