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Posted: 8/13/2010 7:02:56 AM EDT
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Decided to keep my Model 29-2 instead of try to sell it. I found out it was FUN to shoot!
When the gun was given to me, it came with about 200 rounds of handloaded lead SWC ammo. Don't know what grain weight the bullets were, or what powder - it was loaded in Norma brass and was about 30 years old The stuff shot just fine (FUN!), but the recoil from firing was knocking some of the bullets loose inside the cylinder and was locking the gun up. I've noticed that good factory magnum ammo has a sort of "double crimp" to keep this from happening. I'm looking to get into reloading and am keeping the Norma brass to use later. Is there a die set for the .44 which will crimp the bullet tight enough to prevent it from creeping out of the case, or was this most likely due to the age of the ammo? |
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There's actually a forum for reloading here, in the Armory section, you'll get a lot more responses there, maybe a mod could move it?
Those loads you have may not be safe without a good firm crimp. If you have some factory ammo around take a look at the very top of the case, it should look like it's been rolled into the projectile. For obvious reasons, this is called a roll crimp. If your reloaded ammo doesn't have it, one should be added. The Lee Factory Crimp Die is a popular tool. Not a single handgun load leaves my bench without passing through my Factory Crimp Dies. Another issue to be brought up is, do you know who reloaded the ammo? A lot of people (myself included) won't shoot anyone elses reloads. That goes for commercial reloads too, with the only exception being Black Hills ammo. I'm currently getting all of my grandpas reloading supplies, and lots of loads, and I've quickly learned that I cannot trust a single one of them..... .45 ACPs where some don't even have powder, theres some .30-06 loads that are way over max for the powder charge... It's a mess. |
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As a matter of fact, they are Grandpa's handloads. He handed me a full box of Norma SJHP factory ammo (Circa 1970's) along with the reloads. I shot up all the of factory Norma, then went through the loads. Tried shooing the SWC lead stuff and immediately this problem happened. So I guess I'll pull all the bullets, dispose of the powder, and save the brass for later.
I also got a bunch of handloaded .45 ACP - not even gonna touch that! Thanks for the info! |
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Quoted:
As a matter of fact, they are Grandpa's handloads. He handed me a full box of Norma SJHP factory ammo (Circa 1970's) along with the reloads. I shot up all the of factory Norma, then went through the loads. Tried shooing the SWC lead stuff and immediately this problem happened. So I guess I'll pull all the bullets, dispose of the powder, and save the brass for later. I also got a bunch of handloaded .45 ACP - not even gonna touch that! Thanks for the info! Hornady 300gr XTP + 19gr of H110 is my second favorite handgun load for that caliber (with that particular gun)... |
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Quoted:
As a matter of fact, they are Grandpa's handloads. He handed me a full box of Norma SJHP factory ammo (Circa 1970's) along with the reloads. I shot up all the of factory Norma, then went through the loads. Tried shooing the SWC lead stuff and immediately this problem happened. So I guess I'll pull all the bullets, dispose of the powder, and save the brass for later. I also got a bunch of handloaded .45 ACP - not even gonna touch that! Thanks for the info! Get a lee factory crimp die and recrimp the rounds and try shooting them I think were not crimped right to begin with. |
| I use lee dies but I don't use the factory crimper. With the bullet seating die if you give it an extra 1/4 turn or something like that it gives a light crimp. When I screw up and miss a primer or something and try to pull the bullet my impact bullet puller won't do it. I figure fi that won't do it the recoil won't either. |
| I have not needed to put a better crimp on my revolver ammo than what I can do with a roll crimp. For auto loader ammo I use the LEE FCD, but I load a variety of hot revolver ammo for hunting including 44 mag and have never had a problem. I've used all weight bullets too from stuff that most people simply can't get too heavy bullets that aren't recommended for use. |
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Quoted:
Decided to keep my Model 29-2 instead of try to sell it. I found out it was FUN to shoot! When the gun was given to me, it came with about 200 rounds of handloaded lead SWC ammo. Don't know what grain weight the bullets were, or what powder - it was loaded in Norma brass and was about 30 years old The stuff shot just fine (FUN!), but the recoil from firing was knocking some of the bullets loose inside the cylinder and was locking the gun up. I've noticed that good factory magnum ammo has a sort of "double crimp" to keep this from happening. I'm looking to get into reloading and am keeping the Norma brass to use later. Is there a die set for the .44 which will crimp the bullet tight enough to prevent it from creeping out of the case, or was this most likely due to the age of the ammo? Any brand of die will give a good roll crimp. The die must be adjusted correctly, and the crimp will be fine. If you feel your grandpa's loads are safe, they can be recrimped and fired. Your choice. For a die recommendation, I like Hornady's dies myself. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Decided to keep my Model 29-2 instead of try to sell it. I found out it was FUN to shoot! When the gun was given to me, it came with about 200 rounds of handloaded lead SWC ammo. Don't know what grain weight the bullets were, or what powder - it was loaded in Norma brass and was about 30 years old The stuff shot just fine (FUN!), but the recoil from firing was knocking some of the bullets loose inside the cylinder and was locking the gun up. I've noticed that good factory magnum ammo has a sort of "double crimp" to keep this from happening. I'm looking to get into reloading and am keeping the Norma brass to use later. Is there a die set for the .44 which will crimp the bullet tight enough to prevent it from creeping out of the case, or was this most likely due to the age of the ammo? Any brand of die will give a good roll crimp. The die must be adjusted correctly, and the crimp will be fine. If you feel your grandpa's loads are safe, they can be recrimped and fired. Your choice. For a die recommendation, I like Hornady's dies myself. I think this may very well be what pushes me to finally get into reloading. That .44 is a blast to shoot, but after pricing factory ammo for it - yikes! Plus, I have a precision .308 and I'm fairly sure I can make loads as good if not better than the 168gr FGM I've been shooting out of it. Time for me to start looking at all the FAQ threads and decide what I want to do for gear... Thanks for everyone's help. |
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I have shot thousands of rounds of light .44 Magnum reloads through my pistols. It is one of my favorite calibers, and extremely accurate.
I keep the hot .44 Mag rounds for hunting or long-range shooting. But 99% of my shooting is with mild loads, pushing a 240 grain SWC at about 750-800 fps. I use about 5.3 grains of WW-231 powder and store-bought cast 240 gr SWCs. It is a very pleasant and accurate load. If a person doesn't reload, the .44 Mag is usually too expensive to feed and the ammo is unpleasant to shoot. Any die set (I use RCBS) will crimp them properly. Good luck. |
| Before I got my Lee FCD I would seat all my bullets to the proper depth first then go back through and use the seating die again adjusted to put the roll crimp on. Some people do it in one step but I never can seem to get the hang of it and would rather just do it my way But now I do it in 2 step anyways with the FCD. |
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