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44 special brass?

3K views 36 replies 13 participants last post by  bushrat 
#1 ·
I've got just about all the brass I need for reloading EXCEPT for 44 special. Does anyone have a source you would like to share?

I've spent a good part of the day scouring the web and NO ONE I have run across has any on hand. I knew it would be hard to find when I bought my 44 special revolver but this is ridiculous!

I called Starline brass and they say they should have some in 6 weeks but they have been saying that since October so I have little faith in them actually coming out with any.

Actually I forgot, I did find some on Amazon.com........ 20 cases for the equivalent of $.90 a case!

I'm half tempted to get some 44 mag brass, mount it on my lathe and turn it down to 44 special size.
 
#2 ·
The problem with trimming it down, is if you happen to also have a gun in that caliber. You might, one day, find yourself sticking 44 MAGNUM loads in that shortened brass, and since it's short, pressures will be higher.

http://www.amazon.com/44-Special-Starline-Brass-Cases/dp/B00FTSII6Q

32 cents a case, but at least it's in stock.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I hear ya Show Low. All I can tell you is buy it when you find it. Bass Pro is where I get most of mine. .44 Russian will shoot in your .44 special also. I have some but haven't tried to reload it yet. I think that Double D says that he has. What I've read in the internet says I have to have dies specifically for that round, and some say that .44 special dies will work. Something else that might be a source of reloading material. I do know that the .44 Russian ammo will shoot in the .44 special, or the .44 magnum. https://fsreloading.com/lee-precision-carbide-factory-crimp-die-.44-special.44-magnum-90863.html
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the links, I just joined both groups and posted my wants in each and had a reply on one within minutes so ordered 500 45acp's and have another member looking to see how may 44 spcl's he has. Glad you posted, I spent several hours yesterday surfing the web for good deals on various items and what I just paid was less than half of anything I found yesterday!
 
#6 ·
Agree with Steve-only reason I'm on FB is the reloading groups-I've done about 30 trades/purchases in past 2 yrs on there without a problem.Lot of people that just want to trade,I recently traded 88 .300RUM(new) for 1500 totally processed 5.56,good deal for both of us.I've recently seen .44spec for .18@.
 
#7 ·
I agree that 32 cents each is too much, but you said all you could find was 90 cents each. This was a better price.

44 Russian. That's what I carry in my 696. With only a 3" barrel, it has a shortened ejector rod, and the Russian brass fully ejects with the short stroke. Special brass usually hangs up there. Load it with a 200 grain RNF lead bullet, at a chronoed 800 fps out of that 3 inches. I know I could do BETTER with Special-length brass, but this works for me.

I load it with Bonanza (I think - they are black, anyway, not nickeled) 44 Spl/Mag dies. To bell the case I have to remove the lock-nut from the belling die, which allows me to screw the beller down another 1/8 inch. Pain in the butt, but it works. I crimp with a Lee FCD, in 44 magnum. With it screwed in as far as possible, it works with the Russian.

I paid 88 bucks a thousand, for my Russian brass, from Starline. And while that's only 9 cents each, that was in the late 90s, when I got my Uberti S&W #3.
 
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#9 ·
Shooting the rare and abstract cartridges comes at a price. Sounds like you have the ability to turn down 44mag brass AND not willing to pay the market price for spec brass. Are you hoping by stating your stubbornness someone feels for you and sends it for free?
 
#13 ·
I do see what 312 was trying to get across. If you are looking for something unavailable, and find it, you pay for it. 45 win mag, 45 ar, 44amp and short 16g shells for euro chamber are/ have been hard to find at times. When I have needed it and found it at less than bargain prices I have bought it.
 
#14 ·
I dunno, but I don't think .44 Special is anywhere near "obsolete" or "odd". Still factory made guns, still factory ammo (even if it is hard to get). I'm keeping my 500 .44 Special cases for a while yet as I still load and shoot them for one of my .44 magnums...
 
#15 ·
.44 Spec is "obsolete","old"....HUH....it may not be as popular so the brass makers are churning out calibers they can sell immediately.I think it's a better cartridge than the .44mag,but the older I get,the less I know.Glad you joined the FB reloading groups,good people.
 
#16 ·
I bought 1,000 5.56 all LC head stamp brass from a guy in one of those groups for $55 shipped. Also bought 1,000 .45 ACP for $35 shipped. You don't find those prices every day but they do come along. I bought a 1,000 .224, 50 gr, Z-Max for $120.00 shipped in another group.
 
#17 ·
Try *********.com, there are usually several vendors that have .44 SPL brass. I got mine at a local gun show awhile back and haven't seen any of it lately. Shortening .44 MAG brass may create problems with too thick neck walls. The brass walls taper slightly, trimming back this far could make the neck walls much thicker and cause chambering problems or difficulty in getting a proper crimp.
 
#19 ·
I see no problem either way. Never hurts to ask right?

I collect cases I don't reload, use them for trade. On occasions I only have a few they make good gimmies to mail someone in need of a few cartridges for testing, etc
 
#20 ·
The very first hand gun I bought was a .44 magnum. I couldn't afford to shoot it at factory ammo prices, so I started reloading with a Lee hand press. I couldn't afford to just run down and buy a thousand rounds of brass, bullets, or primers! I did buy what I could afford, when I could afford it. Sometimes it looked like every time I had money, none of the components I needed were available. So I bought the components for reloading the .44 mag., even if I didn't need them. Then one day I looked up, and guess what? I no longer needed to rush around looking for components, I could casually buy what I wanted when I found it. Kind of like .22 ammo! Buy it when you find it, even if it's not your favorite!
 
#21 ·
After reading the ignorant post I mentioned above and reading comments by a few others I got to wondering....... was there something I said in my original post that would lead someone to think that my post was about begging for free sympathy handouts rather than just asking for helpful information. Well, I re-read my post and sure enough I could read nothing I wrote that should have made a rational person think I had any ulterior motives whatsoever.

I do believe that these forums are at their very best when a member can make a comment or two then ask a question without having others reading between the lines trying to figure out why the original poster posted their question or judging them for asking a simple question then inserting their own innuendos just so they can launch a few worthless barbs which have no value whatsoever to anyone reading the thread.

This thread, before being derailed did indeed prove my point as a few members chimed in with some valuable links to some facebook brass selling sites, places I never knew existed, but do now. I'm just glad that the vast majority of members are here to help others out as well as just enjoy some good natured humor and chit chat now and then. Why others show up, I have no idea.

Wrapping it up.... THANKS to the members here I just ordered 500 45 acp brass at a much better price than previous searches revealed and also found 500 ea new 357 and 44 special brass again, at better prices than previously known, so it has been a productive post for me.
 
#23 ·
Glad you joined the FB groups,check daily,amazing some of the deals that come up.
As far as the ignorant posts go-well he made have misunderstood or had a bad day,I know I've put up some really stupid posts(alcohol and keyboards don't mix well:))
 
#24 · (Edited)
Perhaps but I just read what is written and try not to read anything into posts or figure out why they say what they said then I call a spade a spade.

I checked back with the facebook group this morning and stumbled into the messages area and that is where another member had sent me an offer for the 357 and 44 cases so it's just not the comments that can be read on the page that reveal the deals. That's just what I need, another site to visit every morning! Let's see, with this forum and the new brass forum, that would make two but after getting the brass I need, I'll be set for years of reloading. :)
 
#25 ·
#26 ·
Thanks. To think facebook has some actual value after all! I opened my page several years ago because my daughter thought it would be a cool way to keep in touch. Then the grand daughters started giving me cyber chickens and farm produce for my make believe farm..... several times a day and that was enough for me so I tried to shut it down.
 
#28 ·
I can only speak from my recent (yesterdays) transaction but this might be a typical scenario.

I posted my wants and got a few replies, one of which was from a man who had a website. I visited the website, found what I wanted and continued to their checkout much the same as most online retailers.

This mornings transaction is being handled via private messages and me paying via paypal and trading info with the seller as to shipping addresses and email addresses for Paypal to use. I have done hundreds of transactions throughout the years using Paypal, both buying and selling and have never been burned by an individual so feel relatively safe.
 
#29 ·
Glad you found some brass Show Low. I think I'm set for life, but if I'm in the store, and it's hanging on the pegs, I just might get some more!
 
#30 ·
Same here this latest shopping adventure should set me up for a lot of fun shooting and reloading and shooting and... well, you get the picture.
Funny things, those display pegs, it's like they are silently calling out your name as you walk by! Since last August I have purchased over 30 lbs of rifle and pistol powder which will last me tens of thousands of rounds and I STILL find myself driving by the local shop Monday mornings to see what they got in and GOD help me if they have it on sale!:)
 
#33 ·
I started a FB group for reloaders in the South Alabama/Mississippi area and there has been a lot of buying, selling and trading going on. With a local group you can buy powder and primers because they don't have to be shipped. I bought 1,000 small rifle primers about 10 minutes ago at a decent price. I've also bought, sold and traded powder.
 
#34 ·
There is a forum that is based here in Georgia called the Outdoors Trader. I have bought a bunch of stuff on that forum, everything from brass to guns. Most of the people on that forum live in the Atlanta area and do not like to ship, for some silly reason, but I have had some do it. I just got a case of CCI large pistol primers from one guy, paid $150 but wanted me to pick them up. I convinced him to ship them and he charged me $10 to ship, still not a bad price for CCI.
 
#37 ·
I've got just about all the brass I need for reloading EXCEPT for 44 special. Does anyone have a source you would like to share?
I would like to also recommend trying The Brass Bank on Facebook. A great bunch of guys! Just join up and let them know what you're looking for. Can usually find just about any cal brass you need at usually pretty decent prices. Check it out here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/myoung1065/
 
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