44mag case expansion

[chickenstripe]

OK guys, need a bit of input. A friend bought a used, but looks new/unfired 1894 Marlin in 44mag/spl. The case expands quite a bit when firing, factory PMC 240gr. See attached pic. Anyone ever seen this before? If so, is there a cure? It also appears to be bulging more on one side than the other.

Also, the feeding is a bit sticky about halfway into closing the bolt/lever. I thought this may be due to it being new or not being cleaned from new. Any thoughts?

[MtGun44]

Looks pretty normal in those pix. What is the diameter difference about 1/4" fwd of rim?

Bill

[chickenstripe]

Approx 0.030 on the diameter, I'll have to measure to be sure. I'm more concerned with the expansion appearing to be on one side of the brass only. If the expansion were even along the diameter, it may not even be noticeable.

Are the 44mag levergun chambers typicaly this much larger than minimum SAMMI cartridge dimensions? My 1894 in 357 doesn't show this, but it may be more noticable in a larger case?

[S.R.Custom]

.030" is a bit on the high side of normal for a revolver, but normal for a rifle. Rifle chambers in pistol calibers are typically cut a bit larger than revolver chambers for feed reliability purposes. And yes, larger caliber cases are given "more room" to do their thing.

As for expansion more on one side, that's also normal. Cartridge brass is not perfectly drawn, so will expand outward to the weaker side. Also, the off-center brass reflects what's going on in the chamber when the round goes off-- the cartridge is laying on the bottom of the chamber, and the extractor may be pushing the cartridge (or pulling the bolt) to one side as well, so the case will balloon more to the top and/or side. Again, this will be more pronounced in rifle chambers because of the added tolerancing in the chamber.

[chickenstripe]

Thanks S.R. Custom.

By the way,
"Audacity, audacity, always audacity." did you get that quote from Napoleon or Patton?

[S.R.Custom]

That scene where Patton is admonishing Lucian Truscott for being "too conservative" always struck me as odd; the portrayal of Truscott as reticent and indecisive seems to me to be, well, wrong. (As was the attribution to Frederick the Great.) If anyone was cut from the same cloth as Patton, it was Truscott...


"Let me tell you something, and don't ever forget it. You play games to win, not lose. And you fight wars to win. That's spelled W-I-N ! And every good player in a game and every good commander in a war...has to have some son of a bitch in him. If he doesn't, he isn't a good player or commander....It's as simple as that. No son of a bitch, no commander."

Indeed, his whole life was a personification of that ideal son of a bitch. Right down to the white scarf...

But in the context of that scene, what I sense Patton is doing by invoking the L'audace quote is provoking Truscott's own inner Patton, as if to say "Yes, yes... you're almost there! Now just a little bit more!" A worthy sentiment for any endeavor worth doing.