Loading 44 Special???

[leadhead]

I bought a .44 special revolver yesterday and was wondering about loading
for it. I've loaded thousands of 44 mag over the years but am kind of trying
to figure out if I can load the special on 44 magnum dies. I was playing with
it this morning but can't figure how to crimp the bullet as the case won't go
into the die far enough. On top of the RCBS die, it says mg or sp. Whats up?
Thanks for any info.
Denny

[trapper9260]

You can load 44 spl and Russian with the mag dies with out any problems ,just adjust the M die and the seating die. the depriming should be ok as is.

[44magLeo]

Being as the Special case is shorter you need to adjust the die down closer to the shell holder.
A lot of people that load for both the magnum and special, both 357 an 44 make up a 1/8 inch spacer.
Set the dies up for the special case. When loading the magnum just ad the spacer under the die lock nut.
Leo

[wl620]

put the case in the shell holder and raise the ram all the way up, seat boolit to desireed seating depth, raise seating stem, loosen die lock ring, screw die in until you “feel” tension, lower press ram screw die in 1/8 of a turn or so raise press ram, continue last 2 steps until desired amount of crimp reached.
Call rcbs and tell them you need a washer the difference in length between 44 mag and 44 special they shouldn’t cost much use the washer if expanding or seating/crimping 44 mag no washer if loading 44 special.

[JoeJames]

put the case in the shell holder and raise the ram all the way up, seat boolit to desireed seating depth, raise seating stem, loosen die lock ring, screw die in until you “feel” tension, lower press ram screw die in 1/8 of a turn or so raise press ram, continue last 2 steps until desired amount of crimp reached.
Call rcbs and tell them you need a washer the difference in length between 44 mag and 44 special they shouldn’t cost much use the washer if expanding or seating/crimping 44 mag no washer if loading 44 special.I have the carbide RCBS set for 44 magnum/44 Special. The washer came with the set, but honestly I have never used it. I just adjust the crimp/seating die down or up and that's it. Just adjust it up or down depending on whether loading 44 Special or 44 mag.

[wl620]

I have that set also, it came with the washer I use it some but usually wind up fiddling with the die lock ring anyway depending on wich boolit im using and how much crimp I need.

[leadhead]

Well, something the hell is wrong...I run the die the whole way down on the
shell holder and it doesn't contact the crimping die.
Denny

[JoeJames]

That is plumb weird; I can sure put on a good roll crimp on my 44 Specials.

[wl620]

Hmmm! that is odd can you post a picture of the die?

[Nueces]

Well, something the hell is wrong...I run the die the whole way down on the
shell holder and it doesn't contact the crimping die.
Denny

You've got a 44 Magnum only seating die, that's all, and it may be mismarked. Call RCBS and request a trade for the correct die.

[leadhead]

Nueces, I just called RCBS and was told I have the older seating die.
They didn't mention trading dies, just the seating die would cost me
$28 ...... I think I'll look around the gun shows and see if I can find
one. Thanks for the info....I've been loading for almost 50 years and
never knew that.
Denny

[Nueces]

Good plan. I confess to a little surprise that RCBS would not supply the proper die free, if they knew yours was mismarked as good for both length cases.

[Petrol & Powder]

Nueces, I just called RCBS and was told I have the older seating die.
They didn't mention trading dies, just the seating die would cost me
$28 ...... I think I'll look around the gun shows and see if I can find
one. Thanks for the info....I've been loading for almost 50 years and
never knew that.
Denny

I think we're missing something here.

When adjusted that die should work for either 44 Special or 44 Mag.

Even when seating and crimping in one operation that should work when adjusted correctly.

[Skipper]

Nueces, I just called RCBS and was told I have the older seating die.
They didn't mention trading dies, just the seating die would cost me
$28 ...... I think I'll look around the gun shows and see if I can find
one. Thanks for the info....I've been loading for almost 50 years and
never knew that.
Denny

Denny, if you just need to crimp it properly, you can get a Lee carbide crimp die from Titan for $18.49
https://www.titanreloading.com/44-special44-mag44-russian-carbide-crimp-die-?search=44%20special

[Winger Ed.]

Until ya get the right one-
Something that might work for you was a deal I did years ago with a bunch of .38Specials.
I didn't sort the cases, and the lengths were all over the place.
The crip die would crush some, and not hit the 'bell' much less crimp others.

I was loading to shoot down by the creek, and nothing serious, so I used the sizing die.
It didn't crimp, but just rolled the 'bell' off the case mouth.
They'd chamber fine, and the boolits were tight enough not to have any 'setback' when others in the cylinder fired.

[RED BEAR]

I am surprised they didn't offer a replacement to they have always been the best customer service i have seen. as a long time 44special fan welcome aboard. It is a wonderful cartridge.

[nicholst55]

Grind 1/8" off the bottom of the seating die, then taper the edge inwards. Problem solved.

[leadhead]

I've probably had these dies for 35 years or more.....The guy from RCBS told me
that dies that old did were not set up for 44 special. I don't know when they
changed to the new die, but I guess I'm s*** out of luck.
Denny

[Kraschenbirn]

Get a Dillon .44 taper crimp die. Will work for .44 Mag and .44 Spl. and you don't have to trim cases to obtain uniform crimps.

Bill

[JoeJames]

Bless your heart; once you get into 44 Special loading you will consider the 44 Magnum nothing but a passing fad.

[cwtebay]

I ran into the same problem with special and russian. I purchased the Hornady universal extended shell holder and seem to be getting along well with it.

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[lightman]

I've had a few older dies sets that would not load both specials and magnums but I didn't know RCBS made any of them. You can often find non carbide die sets pretty cheap, might be an inexpensive way to get into a 44 special seating die. I did sand a couple of 10th's of an inch off of the bottom of one of my dies once and it worked ok. A lathe would have made a neater job. I'm surprised that your die is stamped both spl and mag but won't work.

[trapper9260]

It gets me for what is going on with the OP.I have Lyman dies that I can do both .I had got the Hornady one for 32 S&W to 32 H&R Mag and I am able to do 327Mag with it also and not wrote on it at the time you can and for the ones with the tight chamber I did like was stated of use the sizen die with out the de priming pin in it and took care of the bevel to seat the boolit. I also was surprised that RCBS did what they did.

[fast ronnie]

I had an old set of .357 dies. I found a used .38 die to seat and crimp.
They were RCBS.

[leadhead]

My sizing die is marked MG-SP but the seating die isn't.
Must have been from 2 different sets.
Denny

[leadhead]

Problem solved..... Had my buddy machine off the bottom of the die.
It works OK now.
Denny

[ulav8r]

Problem solved..... Had my buddy machine off the bottom of the die.
It works OK now.
Denny

And can still be used for magnums if you want to waste powder. The special is all you need.:bigsmyl2:

[murf205]

Leadhead, I had to do the same thing to my Redding sizer die for my 280 Ack Imp. It would not give the shoulder a bump at all and after 3 or 4 sizings I had a hard time chambering a case. I ground off a tiny bit of the bottom and it bumps fine now. The rifle and dies were built when it was still a wildcat, so I was not surprised. If I ever decide to get rid of the rifle, the dies are going with it, so no harm. I could have ground the shellholder but at the time I only had 1 of that size. Now Redding makes a set of shellholders just designed for this, but not for a 44.

[Forrest r]

Myself got tied of all the die adjusting and bought another die set to do 44spl's & 38spl's. The old steel sizing die sets can be found for little $$$ at gunshows. I also buy loose seating dies at gunshows for +/- $5 that have the different seating stems in them (rn/swc/wc).

[W.R.Buchanan]

I started loading .44's in 1976. I got a .44 Magnum Lee Loader. It wouldn't choke down far enough to do Specials, so I took it back and got one for .44 Specials which would open up enough to do Magnums too.

I load all my .44's with my BPM Hand Press now and have about a dozen .44 dies. The sizing/decapping die works with all .44 cases. The Expander Dies have the plugs adjusted to different lengths. Seating dies are obviously set to different lengths. Crimp dies are adjusted to different lengths as well. The few extra dies eliminate die adjusting between the two case lengths.

I have lowered my loading workload by only using 2 boolits, even though I have about 6-8 moulds. Lyman 429421 for both Specials and Magnums, and 429244 for Magnum Rifle rounds. I have many others as this is my favorite caliber. I now Powder Coat all these boolits as that makes them work well, completely eliminates leading issues, and I don't have to fuss with lubing boolits. I can also color code loads for different things. I size them after PCing.

In my Not So Humble Opinion. The .44 Special/Magnum is arguably the most versatile Pistol/Rifle round in existence, and will continue to be as such for the foreseeable future. You can load them mild to wild and easily cover all the bases on this continent and most of the rest of the world as well.

With my Marlin 1894 CB 24" bbl I am good to go with any of my handloads, and for anything I would choose to go after. I also have a SBH Bisley, a BH Bisley and a S&W 696 the latter two being .44 Specials.

Shouldn't have to tell anyone about the versatility of the .44 Spec/Mag, by far my favorite cartridge and guns.

Randy