O/D of 44 mag brass

[onegunred]

Don't know where to ask this so I will try here. Can someone please measure the outside diameter of a freshly sized 44 mag case. One carbide die gives me .451 and the other gives .449. What did you get ? Thanks , Jerry

[Outpost75]

SAAMI maximum cartridge diameter is .456" and the minimum chamber is .458"

Max. jacketed bullet diameter is .4305", max. for factory lead bullets, back when they were loaded was .432".

Most dies size the case mouth interior to 0.005" less than bullet diameter. The expander plug then brings the interior case wall up to 0.002" less than bullet diameter to obtain correct bullet pull. Most modern dies size brass more than necessary for lead bullets, because they are dimensioned to produce adequate bullet pull with jacketed bullets of .429-.430" diameter. When using cast bullets of .431-.432" diameter a sizing die which brings the outside diameter of the case to .452-.453 is adequate.

[Char-Gar]

I did as you requested and sized a fired Winchester 44 Magnum case in my RCBS 1980 steel sizing die. Here are the measurments.

1. Case body ahead of the rim - .4545
2. Case body at midpoint - .4530
3. Case body at the mouth - .4490

Cases sized in this die chamber well in my OM Ruger SBH and my Smith and Wesson 629. They also feed and chamber well in my Marlin levergun.

I use steel dies as I feel that carbide dies over size the brass and do not produce the slight taper as seen in the numbers above. I prefer not to have my loaded round wallowing around in the charge holes.

I expand case mouths with an older Lyman 310 .429 expander and size my cast bullet .430 for the Smith and .432 for the Ruger and Marlin.

I load a NEI 240 grain Keith bullet over 10/Unique or 11/AA5 (original) which gives me about 1,100 fps which is all I will ever need in a handgun. It will kill a Texas deer grave yard dead.

In the Marlin, I use a discontinued RCBS 230 grain FNGC bullet over the same powder charge.

I hope this is of some use to you.

[onegunred]

Thanks to both of you. I was just curious, I acquired a Lee carbide size die and was comparing it against my RCBS. The RCBS sizes the case .002 smaller than the Lee. It is /was one of those hmmm I wonder moments.

[.30/30 Guy]

RCBS carbide gives 0.448"