Hollywood Gun Shop 44-40 dies

[Dean D.]

I have a 2 die 44-40 set made by Hollywood Gun shop. I am wondering if this is supposed to be a 3 die set or if I am doing something wrong? The expander plug on the decapping die is tapered like it should flare the case mouth. If I run it down to do so it seems to just cause major wiping on the OUTSIDE of the case mouth.

I do load a lot of 32-20's and I am familiar with the bottleneck case family. My 32-20 dies are a 3 die set with the separate flaring die.

Am I missing a die or was this HGS set something special that I'm not using right? :confused:

[Bent Ramrod]

I recall having a Lyman die set for .44-40 that had only two dies. The case is tapered, so in principle two dies are all it should need, especially if only jacketed bullets are loaded. I added a Lyman "M" die to load cast boolits so I never belled the cases with the sizing die and never saw any rubbing.

I gave away the Lyman set and went to first a Pacific set then a RCBS set, both of which had the three dies typical for straight cases. There is a straight section at the end of the .44-40 case that the bullet seats into. What I would surmise you are seeing is the straight part of the die is trying to iron back down the belled part of the mouth of the case. I don't recall this happening with my Lyman die set. Can you still seat a boolit in the mouth of the case? If so, it should be OK. If not, a Lyman "M" die should be added to your set. You also may be able to set the expander a little higher so it doesn't bell and rub so much.

Come to think of it, my Pacific .32-20 set has only two dies as well, but again I added the "M" die. Don't shoot much jacketed in either of the calibers.

[Dean D.]

Bent Ramrod, thanks for the reply!

I went ahead and ordered the "M" die from MidwayUSA, I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival. I had never used those Hollywood dies previously. The Uncle who had them now suffers from dementia and it is impossible to ask him about them.

From my experience with my 32-20 something tells me either I am setting these Hollywoods up wrong or trying to make them do something they weren't designed to do. I've always used a 3 die set with these type cases. As fragile as those 44-40 cases are I hate risking damaging them when trying to reload them.

I am hoping the "M" die does the trick for me. I'll let you know after I try it.

[singleshot1]

Hi, your two die set was probably made that way. Back in the 50's I bought a set of 44sp dies that was just two dies. They worked ok, the only set that ever did that I had. What you are doing, adding an M die is the way to go. Dave:-D