U.M.C .44 S&W.R. can i use in a 44 mag?

[S&W-629]

I have like 50 or so of U.M.C .44 S&W.R rounds can i load them with Black and shoot them out of my 44 mag? or would it be better to just trade them for 44 mag brass? thanks for any info

[I'll Make Mine]

Assuming that by .44 S&W.R you mean the round commonly called .44 Russian, you can indeed safely chamber and fire those rounds in any .44 Special, .44 Magnum, or even .445 Super Magnum handgun (or rifle, though they probably won't feed through a lever action unless it's specifically designed or modified for the shorter round). Those cases have identical head and rim dimensions, and are the "parent" case of the modern .44 family.

That said, don't expect great accuracy; the bullet not only has a 5/16" longer jump to the rifling than from a .44 Magnum case, but the first 5/16" of that jump is in the portion of the chamber reamed to match the case, a round .025" over bullet size, after which it'll reach the shoulder where the .44 Magnum case mouth would normally be and may shave lead at the abrupt diameter reduction. Also, as with firing a Special in a Magnum chamber, you can expect a ring of "crud" (scientific term) at the case mouth that will cause extraction problems if not cleaned out before using longer cases (especially with full pressure loads).

The correct thing to do, by this board's standards, is to try to find a .44 Russian revolver to buy so you can use those cases in the gun they were designed to fit. Failing that, you can load 'em and shoot 'em for fun, or trade 'em for the long cases (if you load 'em with BP, don't forget to clean the cases as well as the gun afterward; black powder will corrode brass as well as steel).

[S&W-629]

thats all thats on the head stamp so mabe it a 44 russian?.i pulled them all apart tonight and reloaded them with black powder and that is what was in them.now i can shoot them when i get up in the morning. can any one tell me any thing about thar round? thanks for the info

[nwellons]

If you mean .44 Russian, check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.44_Russian

I'm not so sure about the "U.M.C .44 S&W.R" marking but it appears to be a regular .44 Russian mark from a quick web search.

[725]

Check to see that it is a .44 Russian by measuring it's overall length. Check the books to find out what a .44 Rusian should be.

[Wayne Smith]

UMC is Union Metallic Cartridge Company and the 44 S&W R is indeed the 44 S&W Russian.

[Dutchman]

Check to see if they are ballon head cases. If they are then they are obsolete and weaker than solid head cases.


Dutch

[w30wcf]

I have like 50 or so of U.M.C .44 S&W.R rounds can i load them with Black and shoot them out of my 44 mag? or would it be better to just trade them for 44 mag brass? thanks for any info

If it is factory ammunition, you can pull the bullets and remove the powder and primer which is likely mercuric and would be injurious to brass althought they have probably long since died. In order to seat new primers you may need to use a primer pocket uniformer to remove the slight raised portion in the bottom of the primer pocket.

That's what I had to do with the same UMC 44 S&W R cartridges I have. THey are of the balloon head type and thus will hold a couple moe grains of b.p. which works fine in my S&W R brass. :)

If they are fired cases, I would be a bit leary of using in them since they were fired with mercuric primers that attach brass and make it brittle. Best to discard them if that's the case.

Have fun!
w30wcf

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I think the Union Metallic Cartridge Co. closed its doors in 1932. If I were you I wouldn't use the cases at all, even for black powder. That brass is much too old.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

In my previous post I said I thought the Union Metalic Cartridge Co closed its doors in 1932. I was thinking of the U.S. Cartridge Co. Either way, I wouldn't use balloon head cases.