Originally Posted by tcp
What advantage does this hold vs. lite loads in 44 magnum brass? Seems like you would just be fouling the chamber in front of the shorter case, They are neat looking though- especially the wadcutters.


I hear that a lot. However in decades of shooting revolvers I have never had issues when shooting .38s in .357s, and the Russians have been no different. I also tend to load/shoot a little more than the average bear. I haven't stopped to count, but I think I loaded about 50K rounds last month of various cartridges. Bearing in mind most of that was not personal use, but for other purposes, but I still tend to shoot a little since I am in the biz.


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

I know I went through a number of these 5 pound jugs in January..

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


Anyways, the point is that the whole "that's is going to badly foul and build up pressure" is more internet legend than based in actual fact.

I scrub out my cylinders when the gun gets dirty. Usually the tight barrel to cylinder gaps binding are an issue along with the gun just being plain dirty from excessive shooting more so than anything else.

I am a huge .44 Mag fan and the point of shooting Russians is not necessarily to have any advantage. That said, with the Magnum, when you have excessive room in the cartridge case that is not occupied by powder, due to lighter charges, you get positional issues. The lighter charges result in inconsistent velocities. That is why I rarely go lighter than 8.5 grains of Unique, and even then I have found that a slightly heavier charge is a little more accurate in spite of it having a bit more recoil. It is a trade off though,

Aside from the shorter cartridge case for more consistent powder burn for target shooting, the other advantage is if you need to do any sort of quick reloads. The shorter Russians, with their stubby cartridge cases fall free from the cylinder very easily, whereas the Magnums often tend to hang up. That is one of the reasons .45 Colt shooters like the .45 Cowboy cartridge, which is a .45 Colt cartridge cut to .45 ACP. Pretty close to the same concept.

Frankly it really is about fun more than anything else. The are practical, low recoil and they are fun. smile





Originally Posted by MontanaMarine
Nice, especially that wadcutter!

I had worked up a load a while back in the Russian case too. I ended up with 5.0gr Unique under a cast 250gr SWC, velocity was about 830 fps, right in there with the old ball 45ACP.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Some Russian rounds alongside some 44 Mag loads.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


I was halfway expecting accuracy to suffer from the longer jump, but that was not an issue. I don't seem to have any target pics onhand to share though.

I wasn't too sure in the 44Mag dies would work with flaring/crimping the shorter case, and I just bought a dedicated set of Lee 44 Russian dies.


That has to be amazingly easy to shoot out of that Bisley!

THE CHAIR IS AGAINST THE WALL.

The Tikka T3 in .308 Winchester is the Glock 19 of the rifle world.

The website is up and running!

www.lostriverammocompany.com