44 special

[dirkdiggler01]

Hey all...I just ordered my 44 special...should be here Tuesday...My question is ...I have Lee carbide 44 mag dies and I am wondering if I have enough adjustment to use them to load the special....thanks in advance....Getting ready to order some components and wanted to know whether I need to get another set of dies....hopefully not... :lol:

 

[flhr62]

My RCBS work fine.

 

[rigger]

Your 44 mag dies will work just fine.

 

[DennisE]

Enjoy your new revolver! The 44 special is great! Dennis

 

[Rock]

The rest of the answers given are completely correct, however, I got tired of setting dies back and forth while loading between the .44 Mag and the .44 Special so I bought an extra set when Midway had a sale on dies and bought another set to avoid this issue.

I bought the Lee four die set and am completely satisfied with these dies, it is nice to not have to reset dies all the time. Congratulations on your new revolver the .44 Special is one of my all time favorites and I currently own three revolvers chambered in this caliber.

I find that as I have grown older the .44 Special is a great deal more pleasant to shoot on a regular basis, the .44 Mag is always a handful and fifty of those are more than enough at one setting. In the future you just might want to add an additional set of dies, look for sales or a good clean used set, they are out there.

One additional thought is that I have had very good luck with V/V N350 when I desire to load up some hotter loads for the .44 Special this powder burns very clean, measures well and develops very good performance without pressure issues.

 

[dirkdiggler01]

Thanks all....ordering the brass now do I will have everything ready as soon as I get it....again Thanks :mrgreen:

 

[SlickRS23]

I have an older set of Lee 44 Mag dies and everything worked O.K. except the Mag expander die would not reach down far enuff.
I had to order a Lee 44 Spec expander die seperatly. I think it was under $15. at midway.
If you have access to a lathe, you could probably modify the Mag Expander die to work.

 

[Dale53]

Some of the older die sets will not work with both calibers. Most new dies state, "for both .44 Special and .44 Magnum" and will work fine.

I have a set of .44 Special dies I obtained back in the Fifties and they do not have enough neck tension for slow burning H110 or Win 296 when used with .44 Magnum cases and cast bullets. I replaced them with a set of RCBS carbide dies nearly fifty years ago that increased neck tension to practical dimensions so that "Squib loads" are a thing of the past.

FWIW
Dale53

 

[DeletedMember275]

Redding sells a die spacer set; one spacer for .38/.357, and the other for .44 Spl/Mag dies; the third spacer in the set allows either no crimp, or partial sizing. They're just thick steel washers, for all practical purposes, but they're hardened so you can crank down on the dies.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=189290

Also available individually:

http://www.midwayusa.com/Search/#redding%20die%20spacers____-_1-2-4_8-16-

 

[flhr62]

I agree with Rock about the adjusting back and forth. I somehow had ended up with 2 sets of 44 mag dies. Now I just keep one set adjusted for .44 Special.