44 Magnum Shot Shells

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Bucksnort1

New member
All,

A couple of months ago, I posted a thread about this topic. FrankenMauser responded with some photos of a 303 case and a couple others he uses for shot shells. After going back and looking at these photos, I believe he is using these for 44 mag rifle.

I came upon some 303 cases and thought about using them in my 44 mag wheel gun. I cut one of the cases to the 44 mag C.O.A.L. then inserted the unloaded case in my cylinder. The case is not flush with the back of the cylinder. I am assuming this is because the case was has not been re-sized

Does anyone have input on using rifle cases for shot in a 44 mag revolver? These will be used in a Ruger Redhawk 44 mag.
 
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Will-j

New member
POGE:
The .303 has a case dia. at the base of .4601" with a rim dia. of .5400", and a rim thickness of .064".
The .44 Mag has a case dia. of .4570" at the base with a rim dia. of .5140" and a rim thickness of .060".
Enough to make a difference to not fit, even with sizing in a .44 Mag die?

Either way, you will need a shell holder for the .303 British to find out.

WILL.
 
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Bucksnort1

New member
Hook686, yes, I've been using 44 mag cases to make shot shells. I was looking for a way to make a shot shell from a rifle case that would hold more shot.
 
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Hook686

New member
It seems the base diameter is larger on the .444 Marlin also. Post if you come up with a solution.
 
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T. O'Heir

New member
Shot, out of a rifled barrel, flies in a spiral too. Sends the pellets all over creation and leaves big holes in the pattern. However, I believe you can still get the shot capsules from either Speer or CCI.
Anyway, why would you need to make .44 Mag cases? Not exactly scarce stuff. Just curious. "I wanna." is a reason.
 
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Doyle

New member
Anyway, why would you need to make .44 Mag cases? Not exactly scarce stuff. Just curious. "I wanna." is a reason.
Click to expand...

My guess is he wants the brass to be the total overall length with the shot fully contained. Less to go wrong that way than with a plastic shot cup holding the shot.
 
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Will-j

New member
Don't know if this would work or not, because I've never tried it but; Could .445 Supermag cases be used (1.610") with a die made to size-down the case mouth/neck) enough (.429-.430") to extend into the chamber mouth where the bullet would normally be? Hornady's 265gr I/L FP is 1.610" OAL when loaded in Mag brass.

It seems that should give you enough case length/volume to load sufficient shot for the job. Something along the line of a [bottlenecked case]for the .44 Mag cylinder?

Perhaps a machine shop could drill and ream a .429/.430" hole with an entry bevel/taper in a piece of steel plate somewhere near .325" thick, and you could just lube the Supermag brass, tap it into the hole with a hard rubber or plastic-tipped hammer to initially size the case enough to permit chambering, tap it back out with a dowel, and load from there per instruction/illustration from Mr. Calhoon, courtesy of Hook686. Body sizing could be done in a stripped Mag die with removed depriming rod.

Little bit of work? Sure...But it's yours and something to be proud of if accomplished.

Just a thought....And, on that note, I think I just might try it myself.

WILL.

In all honesty, the concept is not mine. A friend did this same thing years ago with his .30-30 and .357 brass. Worked for him. Used a heavy plumb bob to bell the case mouth and then tapped the loaded round back into the plate to crimp it. Helluva lot of work AFAIC, but he liked to say [He did it *hisself*] Go figure.
 
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F. Guffey

New member
Speer plastic shot cups are much simpler.
Click to expand...

I agree, but in our small community of reloaders there is something wrong with the shot if it is not the perfect size shot. I am interested in shot that is available, they want shot that is most difficult to find. They claim when shot with the perfect shot the snake does not move after being hit. And that leaves me 'almost' speechless.

F. Guffey
 
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jmorris

New member
The only shot loads I make special cases for are my 45 ACP shot shells and that's only because I need them to run in a semiauto. My 45 LC, 44 and 38/357 shot loads use the Speer capsules, they are cheap.

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/...Detail/categoryName/prod9999005153/categoryId

I have best results using #12 shot.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/Chilled-Lead-Shot-12-13mm-10_bag/productinfo/02612/


I don't know about a snake not moving after being hit, you can cut them in half and both ends will still move...
 
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Salmoneye

New member
I don't shoot snakes...

My.44 Mag shot-loads are a mix of #6 and #8, and are heck on pests to 15 feet...

In my experience, the capsules add to the spin, and blow the pattern to a much greater extent than simple overshot cards...

This is a link to the method I use, though instead of 2400, I use Red Dot...

http://www.castbullet.com/reload/44shot.htm
 
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F. Guffey

New member
I don't shoot snakes...
Click to expand...

Nothing personal, we were quail hunting, one buzzed up and then my son took aim. I stopped him in time, the lab we had was one hard working dog and was one fast dog when catching on. If my son had shot the rattler we would have spent the next three days looking for rattlers. And then one day my son took the lab fishing, I warned him, my son informed me if that dog was a Labrador retriever/bird dog and he took him fishing the lab would have nothing to do.

When someone hollers 'SNAKE!' I always ask "WHAT KIND?' By that time it is too late. The answer is always "The good kind, it is dead".

F. Guffey
 
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Salmoneye

New member
My only reason for not shooting snakes, is that the 'bad' kind are few, far between, and protected, here in VT...

I have now added the link that I forgot to paste in my previous post...
 
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Crankylove

New member
The .303 cases do need to be "necked down" at the neck to fully seat in the cylinder of a revolver. In Frankenmausers case, the cylinder length brass was needed to fit the required, legal amount of shot in the case for hunting sage grouse.

I have to do the same for my .41 mag shot shells.

30-30 brass, cut to fit flush with the cylinder, "necked down" in a .40 s&w die, rim turned down in diameter and thickness.

Shot capsules won't fit the legal minimum of shot in Utah, so had to go the homemade route to be legal.
 
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jmorris

New member
The best patters I get are using cut down .410 wads.

IMG_20140325_145002_558_zpsa27dad0f.jpg


At 15 ft

IMG_20140325_151846_039_zpsc66561aa.jpg
 
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FrankenMauser

New member
Will-j said:
The .303 has a case dia. at the base of .4601" with a rim dia. of .5400", and a rim thickness of .064".
The .44 Mag has a case dia. of .4570" at the base with a rim dia. of .5140" and a rim thickness of .060".
Enough to make a difference to not fit, even with sizing in a .44 Mag die?
Click to expand...
Base diameter is close enough that it doesn't matter.

.44 Mag chamber tolerances in production revolvers will allow a max-spec .303 British to chamber (once cut down, of course)

Plus... Nearly all commercial brass is under SAAMI-spec, to begin with (Remington, in particular - which constitutes the majority of .303 brass in the U.S.). So worrying about nominal dimensions is essentially a waste of time. The real world is what matters, and real world brass and chamber dimensions rarely match SAAMI spec. Chambers usually run large, and brass is often below SAAMI minimum spec.




....Oh, and I use my shot shells in a revolver. Pogybait and I cleared that up via PMs, before I was aware of this thread.
 
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Will-j

New member
HMMM: Thanks for the info on that. Methinks... Perhaps I shall acquire some .303 brass and construct m'self some shotshells.
 
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Emerson Biggies

New member
Hey Jmorris, that is a pretty pattern.

I've loaded shot capsules with #71/2 shot and fired them in my S&W model 29 w 8 3/8 barrel and found this setup does not work at all. Any snake over 5 feet away would walk off unharmed as the shot capsule spins off the shot too quickly dispersing it to the corners of the universe.

Purchase of the capsules was a waste of money. Don't try capsules!
 
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