Dan wesson 445 supermag

R

Righthawk44

Inactive
I have a 445 supermag and im having touble with sticky extraction. Im using Hornady 300gr xtp over 28grs of h110 (which is not a max load) with starline brass. The case swells just behind the rim, no signs of case stress or cracked cases but extraction is very difficult. I have been reloading for about 8 years and i have loaded a few thousand rounds of 44 mag with no problems whatsoever, but my 445 reloading is making me question everything i know about strigh wall rimmed cases. Any tips or input would be very helpful.
 
How many reloads on the brass?

What do you mean the case swells behind the rim? Behind the rim would be the recoil shield. I think in front of the rim would be the more likely logical spot. Did you measure the brass? What were the measurements?

Is the chamber clean? Is the problem every hole in he chamber? How many different types of brass have you tried?
 
Yes in front of the rim, i have only found starline brass so thats all i have tried, the brass is new, my cases only stretched .005 on average and i started from a trim length of 1.600 so thats well within tolerance, and it does it every single time to every hole. I clean my guns after every firing, you could eat off the thing.
 
It looks like 4227 is also a powder used in 445 and probably easier to download with. I'd recommend dropping the H110 a bit but I know H110 can get temperamental if not pushed hard enough. Have you tried any hot 44 Mag loads to see if the same thing happens?

I'm not too familiar with the 445 and the pressure it operates at, but i'd guess you're either looking at a problem with the brass (too thin at the base for the cartridges pressure), problem with the cylinder (previous owner abused it), or your loads are higher in pressure than you think.

Trying new brass or different loads is probably going to be the easiest options. Hopefully someone else can come along and be of some assistance.
 
If you shine a light in the chambers of the cylinder are they smooth and polished or do you see tooling marks/rings? My Dan Wesson in 357 Maximum had two chambers with heavy enough tooling marks that anything stronger than a light load would require banging on the ejector rod to get the cases out.

Jim
 
All my 44mag loads are serious hunting loads, im only .4grs off max in every load i run in my redhawk. I like to practice with the loads i hunt with, plus the recoil of a 44 is really not brutal in my 5.5 redhawk. The loads for my 445 shoot great as far as accuracy goes, i killed a doe at 65yards this year with open sights, the gun was my dads and hes only put about 12 rounds through it before it came to me (hes recoil sensitive and a bow hunter) so the gun never experienced any abuse. I will just keep on changing things till it works.
 
I find it hard to believe its the brass, starline is top notch stuff. I would try a different powder.
 
H110 is pretty fast for heavy loads in the Supermags. 4227 was always the go to powder in the Supermag series. How do your fired primers look? Are they flattened or cratered? That load may be too hot for that revolver. When I get sticky extraction, it usually means it is too hot.
 
I will change over to imr 4227 and see what happens. And the holes in my cylinder are not polished like my redhawks are, this could be the problem. Good lord for a revolver with a wild price tag you think Mr. Wesson could afford to polish his cylinders. The gun shoots fantastic and the trigger is perfect for hunting. Should i polish the cylinders or would this effect my tolerances? Also my primers don't have craters but they are slightly flatter than unfired primers.
 
Have there been any .44 Magnum rounds fired in the SuperMag? If so, your extraction problem might not be at the rim but where the Magnum case mouth sits in the SuperMag chamber. Like the .38 Special in a .357 Magnum chamber, deposits can from the shorter case can cause extraction issues. With the tightness of the DW chambers, it wouldn't take much.
Use 4227 or AA1680 in the .445 SM.
 
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