44 Magnum OAL

B

Bucksnort1

New member
I was checking crimps and OAL on some 44 mags I loaded, a couple of years ago. I must not have been paying attention to OAL on about twenty rounds of 250 grain, lead SWCs. The OAL is 1.687". OAL should be 1.610", which is too long for the cylinder. I attempted to seat the bullets to 1.610" without pulling them but this won't work because the crimp peels off some lead. When I loaded these, I seated and crimped to a handy groove but forgot to check OAL. I loaded these with 9.5 grains of Unique, which is a starting load, according to Lyman.

I have two options.

1. Pull the bullets and start from scratch (there are only twenty)

2. Shave off a little lead from the end of the bullet.

My question is. Will shaving lead create a dangerous situation?
 
Third option, buy a Ruger Redhawk or Super Redhawk. They have 1.75" long cylinders. This is because some .44 bullets, probably including yours, are intended for .44 Special, which has a shorter case but about the same COL maximum as .44 Magnum. If you crimp into the crimp groove of a .44 Special bullet using the longer .44 Mag case, you can get up to 1.740" COL,
 
Unclenick

I like your idea; however, now is not the time, financially. I don't think I will pull the bullets; instead, I will give them to a friend who has a Redhawk. These are basically plinker rounds so I don't think he'll have a problem shooting my reloads. This won't be the first time for him.
 
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