Trimming cases for revolver

[Animal]

Howdy folks. I'm to cheap to buy 44 special brass, so I've been trimming 44 magnum brass that I have on hand. This offers me an option that I haven't had a lot of flexibility on; trimming cases to just kiss the edge of the throat.

I haven't seen a whole lot of information on this subject, but it seems to me that doing so might be a benefit to getting perfect headspacing.

Are there any known advantages/disadvantage to this?

[WALLNUTT]

I think they're better . Not because of headspace but no gap between the end of the case and the end of the chamber. Some revolvers(mine) are chambered a little long.

[DeanWinchester]

There needs to be a little wiggle room to let the crimp open.
Aside from that, anytime you're filling empty space, it's usually a good thing.

[high standard 40]

This is something I have looked into. I have a DW44 Mag revolver that has been a real pain for me. I tried everything I could think of to obtain acceptable cast bullet performance and nothing worked. I had problems with leading and poor accuracy. I finally came to realize that the cylinder was chambered .100" longer than a standard 44 Mag case. I decided to apply the same logic that I do when working with a rifle. A poor fit in the throat leads to poor accuracy and possible leading. I obtained some 445 Super Mag brass and trimmed it so that an unflared empty case was long enough to reach just shy of the cylinder throat. The result was I completely eliminated the leading problems and group size shrunk in half. The same principle might possibly work in your instance. As mentioned, just be sure that there is enough room for the case crimp to open freely......and don't fire this altered case in any other firearm.

[Animal]

Folks, I noticed that I left out that these rounds are destined for a 44spl CA Bulldog. I had looked through my Lee, Lyman and Hornaday reloading manuals and couldn't find any recommendations for custom trimmed cases.

Every round that I made with this length, which was 1.155 (still within 44spl specs) with a medium roll crimp dropped in my 5 chambers just fine. However, I noticed after firing the first 5, the next rounds wouldn't drop into the chambers as easily. 1 or 2 of the 5 rounds would stick a little before they seated completely. I haven't encountered this with any of my other revolvers, but this is the only revolver that I've had custom cut the brass for.

I decided to trim the brass back to 1.152 to see if this problem goes away. I'm guessing that the residue left in the chamber after the first rounds are fired are interfering with the round from dropping in place due to the tight tolerance.

This is also a very new revolver to me, so there are many untraveled roads for me to explore.

BTW, case length was determined with a sized, unflared, uncrimped empty case.

[SawmillJack]

Can I ask exactly how you are trimming your cases? I have been thinking of trying this as I have a surplus of magnum brass and spl. cases are selling at a premium. Also I am working with one of the original Target Bulldogs from the late 70s. I haven't measured anything yet because I never thought of custom fitting the brass. Do you think it is the same as yours?

[Animal]

Can I ask exactly how you are trimming your cases? I have been thinking of trying this as I have a surplus of magnum brass and spl. cases are selling at a premium. Also I am working with one of the original Target Bulldogs from the late 70s. I haven't measured anything yet because I never thought of custom fitting the brass. Do you think it is the same as yours?

Sawmilljack, I do not know how much difference there is between yours and my Bulldog, but I understand that ownership has changed a few times of the Charter Arms company. I would assume there are some differences.

The way I did this was pretty simple. I dropped a shortened (shorter than the standard 44 special) Winchester 44 magnum case into my chamber, next, I measured the length from headstamp to the front of the throat. Obviously with the cylinder out.

I wrote down the measurement and then repeated that same step with a normal size Winchester 44 magnum case. The case obviously was too long to sit flush in the chamber, but I used the difference in the 2 lengths that I measured to get a rough idea for how far I would have to trim my magnum cases down.

I don't know what kind of trimmer you will be using, but I have an L.E. Wilson trimmer that measures in gradients of .001. Any adjustable trimmer should do the trick along with a micrometer.

At this point, I trimmed the magnum case down to maybe 85ish% of the original difference that I calculated between the first 2 measurements.

At this point, the magnum case would seat pretty dang close to flat when I dropped it in the chamber.

Once you are at this point, you can adjust your trimmer .001 at a time until you feel like the case sits in the chamber the way a .44spl case should sit. Once you feel like you have a case that is lightly kissing the rearward section of the throat, you can measure your work again by checking the length from the headstamp to the forward portion of the cylinder throat. You will know you are there when this measurement is equal to the original measurement of the short case that you installed the first time.

Make sure you are using cases with the same headstamp. I can only imagine that minor differences between manufacturers will play a roll in the reliability of your weapon. If a different brand case has a slightly thinner case head, the case might not sit flush and will hang-up on the breach-face as the cylinder rotates.

Verify that the final case length fits each chamber in your wheel gun. I would assume that all chambers are not created equally.

The brass should be sized and straight.

My original case length was a perfect fit of 1.155, but I am dropping the length to 1.152 in order to accommodate the inevitable carbon build up which I think may be preventing some of the loaded rounds from dropping freely into the cylinder after the first or second round. In hindsight, I would think backing it off .002 would probably be wise to accommodate this condition and possible variations between lot to lot of the same brand of brass.

I have no idea if this is providing better accuracy or a cleaner barrel as the case is with High Standard 40 (above poster) because these are my very first handloads for this firearm. But, currently I am extremely pleased with my shot groups. I don't know how much my case length plays into the accuracy of the round. For all I know, it doesn't effect it at all. But it sure makes me feel like I'm doing something right when I know my brass is custom cut to my Bulldogs specs

Hope this helps

[Duster340]

Hey Animal,

Having a few thousand .44 mag cases laying around, I too use shortened .44 mag cases for most loads in my Bulldog. I simply cut them to spec using an electric drill, a Lee case trimmer/cutter and lock stud, and deburred in/outside. Cranked out a few hundred of them in no time. They have worked flawlessly. In fact, just finished using a hundred of them on a variety new test loads today Gotta keep them "Dogs" well fed right?

Be well