44 mag FCD

[Shakey Jakey]

Tried out my new custom made Lee FCD last night, works great! I dont know why Lee doesnt include the 44 mag with all the other more obscure calibers it offers in collet style FCD's. I know Ranch Dog offered them at one time, and he said he had 100 at a time made up, but I missed that boat. I bought a FCD for a 444 Marlin and had it chopped down to 44 length. That die is now officially part of the family!

[TCFAN]

Lee make a collet crimp die for the 44-40 that I have found to work very well for the 44 mag......Terry

[Shakey Jakey]

That was the first one I looked at. Does it seem to make any difference that a 44-40 is listed as .427? And it seems the collet still had to be trimmed .020 in length, but thats nothing compared to the .94 I shortened the .444 collet. Regardless, it works perfect and I love it.

[TCFAN]

I don't see any disadvantage at all by using this die. I size my boolits .432 for my super blackhawk and use a custom made M die to expand the case .429 with the case mouth flared .433 and the 44-40 crimp die puts a nice crimp on the case and if I pull a boolit it stills measures .432.It may not be as good as if it was cut for a 44 mag but it works for me.............Terry

[Shakey Jakey]

I probably should have started with the 44-40 die and just shortened it up the .020. Anyway, all's well that ends well. The only reference I found using the 44-40 was in the feedback section on Midways site, and he mentioned having to shorten it just a mite. Most of the threads on here end up with comments from posters who dont understand the difference between the carbide FCD and the collet FCD.