44-40 revisited

[bhilliker@comcast.net]

OK----I bought some Lee dies to reload the 44-40 for my henry's. Here are my concerns. I buy factory ammo and the walls are straight. Once I fire them the walls are necked about 3/8 of an inch from the mouth of the case. Using Lee dies on a single stage, when I size them it does not take the neck out. Mind you---this is a very small neck. I loaded 20 rounds with .428 Meister cast bullets and 8.0 grains of unique. Just did this tonight so have not fired them yet however I did chamber them through the riffle without issue. What am I missing with this neck issue? Thanks in advance

[at_liberty]

The 44-40 case is supposed to be necked. The chamber of the gun has the same shape and will fire form any brass to leave a neck. The question should be about that ammo you bought.

[rice_man]

The 44-40 case is supposed to be necked. The chamber of the gun has the same shape and will fire form any brass to leave a neck. The question should be about that ammo you bought.

This- but the neck isn't always as obvious.

Picture is from a thread in a Marlin forum

[bhilliker@comcast.net]

Rice-man Thanks for the pic. I have been using the Ultramax. After I fire it, it then looks more like the hornady. So the question is: is that a problem? I ran them through the sizing die and it still has the small taper. I reloaded them and they look fine but as it is my first time with 44-40 I just wanted to verify prior to testing them down range. Thanks

[bigbossman]

Rice-man Thanks for the pic. I have been using the Ultramax. After I fire it, it then looks more like the hornady. So the question is: is that a problem? I ran them through the sizing die and it still has the small taper. I reloaded them and they look fine but as it is my first time with 44-40 I just wanted to verify prior to testing them down range. Thanks

After firing, they have fire-formed to your chamber dimensions. No problems here. Like I said in your other thread, the 44-40 is a slightly bottle-necked cartridge.