.44 brass question |
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AndyC
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 04 Jul 2015 Location: Dallas, TX Status: Offline Points: 455 |
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Posted: 24 Sep 2017 at 3:15pm |
With brass becoming available for the .44 for what seems to be a decent price, I'm curious how many folks would still recommend - to an AMP newb - to get case-forming dies anyway. I'm an experienced reloader/bullet-caster, if that helps.
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BEEMER1
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Location: iowa Status: Offline Points: 1307 |
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Forget the reforming stuff.
It is terribly time consuming and the end product, at least in my case, is inferior to what you can buy. I have shot a lot of precision rifle and did all the neck turning and neck sizing and primer pocket uniforming and flash hole work and felt I had really put out a superior product. With the AMP case forming, I could not. I found the neck reaming particularly hard for me to enjoy.
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Dances with AutoMags
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 13 Oct 2011 Location: Valley Glen Status: Offline Points: 530 |
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"With brass becoming available for the .44 for what
seems to be a decent price, I'm curious how many folks would still recommend -
to an AMP newb - to get case-forming dies anyway. I'm an experienced
reloader/bullet-caster, if that helps." Great question AndyC. Your
question is whether to use new Starline Brass or to start the case forming
process. Price: The donor brass you will use for the case
forming process costs money too. Check
out the prices for once fired, boxer primed, 308, 30-06 or 243 brass. Add
the price for the 44AMP case form set from RCBS. Your time and labor are worth something. There are also extras like oil a hack saw and
a tap handle. Drawbacks: The donor rifle brass is not straight
walled. This means that after you load a
bullet into the case, a slight bulge is seen in the case. This is because the case is tapering too much
before the bullet location. It looks
bad. This bulge is eliminated once the case is fire
formed. Some people get real picky about the brass used for their case formed Auto
Mag brass. They will insist on using the
same head-stamped brass with maybe the same date. This is in the pursuit of consistency. Performance: Barry Duckworth and I wrote an article, "In Search of 1250 feet per second". http://www.amtguns.net/articles/bruce-stark/in-search-of-1250-fps/ During the testing, Barry found great inconsistencies in FPS (feet per
second) while using formed (created) brass.
Barry found that after reloading the once fired, now fire formed brass,
it performed quite well. The brass had
formed itself to Barry's chamber and the unsightly bulge was gone. Star Line used to offer the
44AMP brass nickel plated. I wouldn't
use CDM or Norma brass as it is way too expensive and collectable to shoot
unless you have allot of it or can get
it cheaply. Hope this helps. There is a little to learn during the case-forming
process, but not much. The thrill wears off
real quickly. Bruce Stark |
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An armed society is a polite society.
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AndyC
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 04 Jul 2015 Location: Dallas, TX Status: Offline Points: 455 |
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I've never converted rifle brass to .44 AMP myself so thank you both for sharing your experience; it sounds like simply buying virgin brass will be the way to go. Probably just as well - I reload in order to shoot more but it's not a hobby unto itself, for me
Glad you enjoyed the pics, Bruce - I feel genuinely honored to have been there and play a part |
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BEEMER1
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 06 Jan 2010 Location: iowa Status: Offline Points: 1307 |
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I thought I should add this. I don't remember the date but I do remember when Starline announced that they were making a run of 44 AMP brass.
I placed my order and dug my El Monte out of the safe to shoot again after a couple of years gathering dust. That was a good day!
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jw4570
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Location: FL Status: Offline Points: 1319 |
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I would skip the forming dies too. If you really want a set of dies for the collection, I have an extra set of 44 AMP from 308 I'd sell for $110 shipped. The reamer has never had the wax removed. Original 1970's era set. I also have some extra 1970's era RCBS loading (44 AMP) dies if you need a set, 3 sets from good to near new. Shoot me an email at jw4570$verizon.net. let me know your screen name here if you email me. Either way, I'd buy 500-1000 pieces of starline, that should last you a while. I'd load those. When I got mine, Starline was on backorder so I used 20 pieces left over from a box of Cor-bon 44 AMP, and also some CDM and some I reamed by hand. It was a pain to ream the brass. Only resort to case forming when brass becomes unavailable. I personally believe that's what held the price down on these pistols for many years. JW.
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omie01
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 05 Feb 2012 Location: Minnesota Status: Offline Points: 604 |
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I too as a newbie ran out and got all the case forming tools, and found out real quick that I was not at all satisfied with the end result, it was really hard to get the reamer to ream evenly. I did as suggested and bought 1000 pcs of starline and have been using them ever since. The other issue I had was cutting the rifle brass down, couldn't find a tool to cut them well. Needless to say, I love the starline stuff!!
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jw4570
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Location: FL Status: Offline Points: 1319 |
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If you ream brass, the key is to expand the cutoff brass larger than the die prior to reaming, and then forming it back down so it's really centered in the case. It's still difficult to keep it centered. Best way to cut it is with a holding jig and miter saw with a non ferrous metal cutting blade. yes, it makes a mess. But you cut it slightly long, then trim it on a trimmer and then ream. Lots of work. Figure out how much you can pay yourself an hour vs. buying starline. Just eat Ramen for a week........
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CrazyLarry
International Auto Mag Joined: 27 Sep 2017 Status: Offline Points: 128 |
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All,
[New here, please be gentle] I used to cut down 30-06 RP brass to make 300 savage when nobody was carrying it at reasonable prices. I spent hours trimming and annealing the case necks and then full length sizing. Then off to the range on a quiet Wednesday afternoon to fire form all my brass from the previous weekend. Range time is always a good time, even if you just need to fire form. Following weekend, I would then go through the motions again and then turn the necks one last time and trim to length. This was actually an enjoyable hobby for about the first 200 or so cases. In the end, I saved up enough points on my credit card for work travel that I bought 200 Hornady cases and my hand crafted brass is relegated to the load development pile. Case forming and modifications of that type are for calibers that are really "unattainable". I just got in my order of 500pcs of 44AMT and I am putting in an order for an 8.5" AMT next week. (I'm guilty of buying brass for calibers I don't yet own) Regards...
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AndyC
Callahan's Auto Mag Joined: 04 Jul 2015 Location: Dallas, TX Status: Offline Points: 455 |
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Thank you, JW - very kind of you. I'll have to wait a while to decide on that until I actually get closer to getting a pistol in my hands, but I appreciate your - and everyone else's - advice on this subject.
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