SPECIAL .44 Specials

[JimT]

Today my mind was wandering around the aisles of shooting and ballistic jumble in my head and I suddenly had a urge to test something. I went to the shop and got out my Browne & Sharpe Dial Caliper, grabbed some fired .40 S&W cartridges and began measuring them at the web, just north of the extractor groove. Hmmm.... .425" to .427" on the ones I measured. I weighed the rascals and they varied between 68 and 70 grains.

This might work! I thought.

So I primed some .44 Special cases that had been sized, deprimed and neck expanded.

I started with 5.0 gr. of Bullseye, then shoved the .40 S&W cartridge into the .44 Special cartridge and crimped it in place.

1-44 special -40.JPG

Next I folded up some heavy white bath towels. These were from the rental property but were no longer serviceable and were give to me to use as shop rags. I folded them and stacked them against a heavy board. There was about 16" of cloth. The board was "just in case."

2-44 special -40.JPG

Then, from about 12 inches away I fired into the cloth, then recovered the projectile and did it all again but this time with 6.0 gr. of Bullseye. The 5 gr. load penetrated a foot of cloth. The 6 gr. load went several inches further. A little more and it would have exited the cloth. Which is why I had the board there.

3-44 special -40.JPG

On the 6 gr. load, the .40 S&W case was against the powder charge.

Now i am gonna have to load some of these and take them to the Range and try them at various distances out to 20 or 25 yards. Being so light they will lose velocity very rapidly.

I am sure someone else - perhaps someone on this Forum - has tried this before. I used to do such things in the .475 Linebaugh using .45 ACP cases. We got them up over 2000 fps and were accurate enough to take down the chicken targets on the handgun silhouette range.
We shall see if the .40's work in the .44 Special. They are perfect size for the .44-40 ...... just sayin' .........

[bcraig]

Today my mind was wandering around the aisles of shooting and ballistic jumble in my head and I suddenly had a urge to test something. I went to the shop and got out my Browne & Sharpe Dial Caliper, grabbed some fired .40 S&W cartridges and began measuring them at the web, just north of the extractor groove. Hmmm.... .425" to .427" on the ones I measured. I weighed the rascals and they varied between 68 and 70 grains.

This might work! I thought.

So I primed some .44 Special cases that had been sized, deprimed and neck expanded.

I started with 5.0 gr. of Bullseye, then shoved the .40 S&W cartridge into the .44 Special cartridge and crimped it in place.

1-44 special -40.JPG

Next I folded up some heavy white bath towels. These were from the rental property but were no longer serviceable and were give to me to use as shop rags. I folded them and stacked them against a heavy board. There was about 16" of cloth. The board was "just in case."

2-44 special -40.JPG

Then, from about 12 inches away I fired into the cloth, then recovered the projectile and did it all again but this time with 6.0 gr. of Bullseye. The 5 gr. load penetrated a foot of cloth. The 6 gr. load went several inches further. A little more and it would have exited the cloth. Which is why I had the board there.

3-44 special -40.JPG

On the 6 gr. load, the .40 S&W case was against the powder charge.

Now i am gonna have to load some of these and take them to the Range and try them at various distances out to 20 or 25 yards. Being so light they will lose velocity very rapidly.

I am sure someone else - perhaps someone on this Forum - has tried this before. I used to do such things in the .475 Linebaugh using .45 ACP cases. We got them up over 2000 fps and were accurate enough to take down the chicken targets on the handgun silhouette range.
We shall see if the .40's work in the .44 Special. They are perfect size for the .44-40 ...... just sayin' .........

Now thats a pretty slick Idea ,never heard of that before

[JimT]

Now thats a prettyslick Idea ,never heard of that before

For years people been doing stuff like this EXCEPT they filled the fired cartridge with lead, making their own jacketed bullets. I started doing it in the .475 using .45 ACP cartridges just because they fit... but I did not put lead in them. I just shot them empty for a lightweight short range load.

[bcraig]

Now thats a prettyslick Idea ,never heard of that before

For years people been doing stuff like this EXCEPT they filled the fired cartridge with lead, making their own jacketed bullets. I started doing it in the .475 using .45 ACP cartridges just because they fit... but I did not put lead in them. I just shot them empty for a lightweight short range load.

Thanks for the pics and information

[GunnyMack]

In another post I replied that I have filled a 9mm case then soldered it inside a 40 to make .44 solids. Never shot a lot of these but they worked fine.

[Ysabel Kid]

I must admit, that had never occurred to me! So, when you did this before, did it effect the rifling in any way? I would think the brass is a bit softer than a copper jacket, so I don't see why it would.

[JimT]

I must admit, that had never occurred to me! So, when you did this before, did it effect the rifling in any way? I would think the brass is a bit softer than a copper jacket, so I don't see why it would.

Shot slow they sometimes cleaned a leaded barrel ... not always.

[JimT]

In another post I replied that I have filled a 9mm case then soldered it inside a 40 to make .44 solids. Never shot a lot of these but they worked fine.

I figured there were others who tried similar things. There's too many of us who bravely go where no man has gone before and find that sometimes the crazy idea we had actually worked!

[Ysabel Kid]

I must admit, that had never occurred to me! So, when you did this before, did it effect the rifling in any way? I would think the brass is a bit softer than a copper jacket, so I don't see why it would.

Shot slow they sometimes cleaned a leaded barrel ... not always.

Well I do have plenty of range-scrounged .40 brass...

[Ray]

I've been doing this for nigh-on four decades but only about 20 years with the .40. If a full poured lead wadcutter is too heavy you can fill the case with hot glue, epoxy, caulking, r.t.v., cotton ball (tightly packed and wetted with elmers), drywall mud, etc. One of your navy balls dropped-in then covered with hot glue might work as well. A single wrap of masking tape will fatten the o.d. and give you .430" or thereabouts.

Fine shot layered with modeling glue will make the whole 25% lighter than the full poured wadcutter but the fumes of the modeling glue can be the gateway inhalent to permanent marker wafting everytime the grand-imps are not looking.

[JimT]

Thanks Ray. You reinforce my belief in those of us who travel the less known roads.

[GunnyMack]

I kind of stumbled upon this, set up one day to load 44s and I couldn't get a case to deprime when I realized a 40 case was inside and that's when the light bulb lit up! Of course this was around the one and only time I was going hog hunting and thought a solid might be a good choice. I took a huge hog with a 300gf XTP from my 44 carbine, 1 through the bag pipes , it never flinched or reacted walked 15 yards and fell over drt. That XTP expanded to about .75"

[Rimfire McNutjob]

This ... this might be a sign of too much spare time. This is the nooks and crannies of the gun world.

[GunnyMack]

May be nooks and crannies but I can see where our forefathers had the same spark of an idea when they devised the jacketed bullet.

[piller]

Ideas might not always take over, but that is no reason to stop searching. I wonder if it might be useful in case of another severe shortage. Maybe it is something to keep in the back of our toolkits.

[AJMD429]

.
For some reason that post came up, partway scrolled on my screen, so I couldn’t see the author, but as soon as I read it, I knew who it was from…!

JimT knows how to have FUN…!!!

[Rimfire McNutjob]

May be nooks and crannies but I can see where our forefathers had the same spark of an idea when they devised the jacketed bullet.

I suppose that's true. I'm guilty as well ... pulling bullets and powder from 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnums and replacing and re-crimping ... looking for that extra oomph.

[GunnyMack]

Yeah, the 5mm is another one I would like to mess with, would have been great if it was centerfire but we already have the 22 hornet so ...

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I wonder if Jim's experiment is related to how jacketed bullets got their start as @GunnyMack suggests. I seem to recall someone making jackets from spent .22 rimfire rounds but it's been so long I don't remember where I read about it. It seems plausible that this type of experiment is how they could have gotten their start. Or maybe by that time artillery shells were already jacketed and that just made its way down to small arms.

[JimT]

I wonder if Jim's experiment is related to how jacketed bullets got their start as @GunnyMack suggests. I seem to recall someone making jackets from spent .22 rimfire rounds but it's been so long I don't remember where I read about it. It seems plausible that this type of experiment is how they could have gotten their start. Or maybe by that time artillery shells were already jacketed and that just made its way down to small arms.

CCI began with making jackets using fired .22 Long Rifle cartridges.
Vernon Speer made these ..

IMG_5472.JPG

from Speer Manual #8

[GunnyMack]

Thanks Jim I knew someone was doing that but couldn't remember who!
.243 jackets right?

[JimT]

Thanks Jim I knew someone was doing that but couldn't remember who!
.243 jackets right?

The ones in the photo are .22 caliber .. 40 and 50 gr. I believe. He started during WWII when you could not get "strategic" materials.

[Sixgun]

Frank Marshall of cast bullet fame wrote it was common practice back in the 20’s and 30’s to use fired cases filled with lead to make solids and or jacketed bullets to be fired in another larger cartridge……I have the story somewhere where his uncle made solids for a 45-90 and shot a polar bear with it….

Hey…..maybe leave the primer half seated and insert the case head forward.

Frank also said they routinely drilled out bullets to insert a loaded 22 round backwards and shot rocks just for poops and giggles.

OK, take a 10mm empty, drill out the primer pocket to insert a .22 case with the bullet pulled out……jam as much b.p. in the case as possible and insert a properly fitted gas check to the open end of the case….epoxy it up good….load about 5 grains of bullseye as the main propellant and put the whole shabang in a Ruger single action and shoot a cinder block……

No…no…..forget it…….I’ve stayed mostly lawfull for 68 years….these things may be illegal……and self destructive……

[JimT]

I like the word "MOSTLY" .....

[Sixgun]

I like the word "MOSTLY" .....

Ya like that Jim? . For some reason I knew you would pick that out……..for real there’s not a person on the board where “mostly” does not fit into their life…..it just depends of the level of “mostly” that’s concerning.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m loading 45-90’s with bullets drilled out to accept nitro glycerin……I have to keep all air space out so it won’t blow when rattling in my pocket. I do this by pounding a drill bit shank into the pre drilled hole…getting ready for my first one….

[JimT]

We would love to have a video of the process Six!

As to "mostly" I would have to change that to "occasionally" when talking about myself.

[Bronco]

Kewl imaginative minds you all got there !

Funny how some of what you mentioned reminds me of my thinking when I was just a pup! NOT that I ever followed through with my ideas

[Sixgun]

We would love to have a video of the process Six!

As to "mostly" I would have to change that to "occasionally" when talking about myself.

In your book, you said to “use your imagination” as to which stories are true and which are fiction……I personally think they all are true, knowing the time and area you and pops lived in and the accepted level of “frontier justice” which prevailed. Really good book, there’s only a couple more I have to read.

Dang, I had a mess today. On the first hit with the 32 oz. ball peen hammer I got kilt!!!!!

[JimT]

In your book, you said to “use your imagination” as to which stories are true and which are fiction……I personally think they all are true, knowing the time and area you and pops lived in and the accepted level of “frontier justice” which prevailed

We only confess the truth to Papa God ... no one else.

[Scott Tschirhart]

This ... this might be a sign of too much spare time. This is the nooks and crannies of the gun world.

That’s where innovation comes from.

[stretch]

Thanks Jim I knew someone was doing that but couldn't remember who!

Me, too.


-Stretch