Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns How to turn a 44 Mag into a 45 ACP!

That's what Mas Ayoob suggested a few years ago about hunting!

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Yes, it's real comfy. It kind of got me interested in getting one of those Ruger GP100 44 Special 3" DA revolvers. I figured the Russian would probably play well in any 44 Spl also. Never quite got to pulling the trigger on the GP100 though.

Kind of a related question here. Can I load my 45 Special cases with 45 Colt dies or 45 acp dies? Or would I need something completely different? Also, what about crimping? What would be the best way to go about getting a good consistent crimp?

Have not been loading much handgun ammo for a few years but still have been loading my rifle ammunition. So a little out of practice.
Thanks, Les

I load and shoot .44 Russians all the time as well as .44 Specials in my .44 Magnum chambered 4.25" S&W M-69. I have not experienced any excessive chamber fouling as some claim. Also shoot a LOT of .38s in my .357 also without any excessive fouling. Having said that, I also clean them on a regular basis. I load the same bullet for my Russian and Special loads and most of my Magnum loads: a 240 grain coated cast lead Keith style SWC. Please note that these Russian loads ARE NOT intended to be used in an antique or reproduction 1800s era .44 Russian pistol. I have three Russian loads all using a coated cast lead 240 gr Keith style SWC bullet:

.44 Russian - 4.2 gr Titegroup - WLP -744 FPS

.44 Russian +P - 5.2 gr Universal - WLP - 787 FPS

.44 Russian +P+ - 6.1 gr Universal - Rem LP - 849 FPS

Lee makes dies to load .44 Russian. While the sizing die is the same for the Special and Magnum, the other will not work as the case is too short. I just ordered a set of proper Lee .44 Russian dies and use my same Lee factory crimp die. BTW - you can order direct from Lee, but they are a bit more expensive than what you can usually find them for from Grafs, Midsouth, Midway, e-bay, etc.

You can also load the .44 Russian with black powder, but I have never done so. After all, that is what it was originally loaded with. I don't recall the black powder load formula, but it can be found on John Taffin's website. Remember, black powder residue requires extra care with cleaning.

Should really look into trailboss powder. Will put your right around 800 to 900 fps depending on charge with a 240 cast. No short case in the cylinder. Full case of powder. Can use less expensive and typically more readily available brass. I have become a big fan of Trailboss in a wide range of cartridges.

Tip on anything LEE. Try Titan Reloading. They are basically the unofficial LEE factory store. Located just a couple miles from LEE. Better prices than LEE and typically stock more than LEE. Good people to work with.

There isn’t much more satisfying than shooting 44’s at sedate velocities out of a long barrel. Almost suppressed compared to a full house load.

With this reveelun revulashun antone wunder as to this? The diffrance betwane the 44 Speecial case and the 44 Rushing case is .190 thousunds anch. Is this nuff diffrance to make any worthile diffrance in the purformunce betwixt thee two?
Iffin there be diffrance enuff with bothen loaded to the same vlosity antone could see the nassisity to purchase them oddballed cases. Buut cudden most shooten well enuff to jistify other than to be diffrancer to emppress thur feller internetters und feller shooters?
Antone know?

I've never used Russian brass but I have loaded Specials way load in order to get close to the same.

I often tell guys that are looking for .44 Special Flattop's to find the ACP version instead. You can buy gobs of the factory stuff for cheap (typically).

Fun stuff! Thanks for the write-up!

Interesting.
Only played w .44 specials yrs ago in a SBH.

I have a .45 acp so just run mags in my .44s.
Full throttle.

If I had a bunch of TrailBoss I might have gone in that direction, but like most powders it is not available in large quantities and I have less than 2 pounds. I am loading some 44 Russians for some people in quantity, and that is where the Titegroup comes in, as I have more of it on hand. I have a couple thousand rounds of 240 grain round nose Russian load already promised to some guys. Once guys shoot a box or two, they want more. Then their friends start texting! Kind of like Crack!

Fun stuff and MUCH easier on the wrists than full bore mag loads. You can shoot a 329 Scandium and enjoy it, and shoot a couple boxes through a Model 29 and not have your wrists sore the next day. I had carpal tunnel surgery last year and my surgeon said my wrists were pretty trashed. No big surprise there.

I hear you on using what you got. I was smart or lucky a couple years ago and figured it was a good idea to lay in 10 pounds of trailboss.

I have never done the Russian (kick my azz for selling my USFA Flattop Target...) but Tightgroup just works in many manner of rounds (32 H&R to 500L) and given what I have read (Pierce) is not susceptible with issues as to where the powder sits in the case.

At least it is moving in the right direction, going down in power to try to come up high enough to begin to approach the powerful 9MM.
If one could trim the 44 Russin cases to .650 inches it would be even better.
Now there is a thought.

Back in the 80's I had two cherry Colt New Service's, a .38-40 and a .44 Special. Please feel free to kick my ass for not still owning them. The .38-40 was my "magnum" and digested many piles of hotly loaded ammunition, and suffered zero defects from it. The .44 was a pussycat though because my old mentor gifted me a train car load of truly ancient .44 Russian brass and a couple Ideal moulds. God, what fun that gun was, for all the reasons MS outlined so far. I honestly don't remember ever actually loading any .44 Specials, it was all Russians. (The .38-40, the way I loaded for it, was another wrist-breaking story though. I'll never forget the look on a smartass's face when he shot it after he denigrated it over the magnum-something he was shooting next to me.)

All the guys who bought a 329 and shot it only to realize what an unpleasant thing it can be, ought to be shooting Russians in it.

S&W should sell Scandium .44 Mags with Russian ammo. It makes the gun actually fun to shoot.

Well, from what I can tell you live in Elmer Keith country, you like to shoot Elmer-type guns, and you're a good storyteller, so why not?

Since there are so many smart people on here could anyone that have those smarts tell me this? What can be accomplished with 44 Russian cases that can't be accomplished with 44 Special? Or does the proponent/proponents just like the WOW/AWESOME of showing some goober a 44 Russian case?
Evidentally there isnt anyone that knows.

This is just flippin awesome

I bet a lot of UL scandium guns will get rabbit and squirrel duty from this!