.44 Mag oversized chamber

[ideal60]

I have an older 44 mag that apparently has an oversize chamber as it bulges the brass. Can this be reamed to a .444? I thought there was a thread about this a while ago, but could not find it. I have not measured the chamber as i do not know what it should be. The rate of twist is the same and the rim dia. is only .004 different. The taper on the 444 case should take care of the large chamber. Is this a viable possibility? If so, can you rent a reamer? Are headspace gages necessary? I have a heavy duty lathe, so power reaming would be no problem if necessary. I suppose this rifle could also have a over size bore? Thank you!   Ideal60

[quickdtoo]

Yes, it can be rechambered to 444, reamers are available from 4D or Elk Ridge. Current H&R 444 barrels are 1:20" twist, same as Marlin, yours is 1:38" as are current .44mags, if it was made prior to late 2006, it likely is overbore, you can slug the bore to find out, see the FAQs for that and chamber casting.

Tim

http://www.4-dproducts.com/submenu/Singleshot_Chambers.htm

http://www.4-dproducts.com/display.php?group=Rifle+Calibers

http://www.reamerrentals.com/

[gcrank1]

You will headspace off the rim, so you can control that without guages. Just go super slow, by hand, with the ejector out, when you get down to the rim. Power anything is good for hogging and production, but as one fellow aptly put it," there be dragons there".

[lee1954]

I'm just wondering,,  could a old, oversized 44 Mag.  be reamed to a 44-40 WCF ---I think a 4440 had just a little bigger boar---   Dan

[quickdtoo]

I'm just wondering,,  could a old, oversized 44 Mag.  be reamed to a 44-40 WCF ---I think a 4440 had just a little bigger boar---   Dan

No, the  44-40 uses .427"-.430" bullets, the neck is also smaller that the 44mag.

Tim

http://ammoguide.com/?catid=43

http://ammoguide.com/?catid=41

[ideal60]

Tim, I got some # 8 sinkers and followed the FAQ instructions, used some butter bore for lube. It worked great. The bore measured .432 - .4325 and the lands .425. I measured some mag techs and some lead i had and they were.430 max. So will .430 dia. work or do we need to use a .432 cast gc or what do you recomend. I really like the idea of a .444 as i have 3 45-70s, and a .500 S&W. Love those big holes. Do not want to start casting lead tho. I would like to ream it as i have a WGRS and new front sight on it and it has nice wood, but if the bore dia is a real problem, then no. I do handload, but dont want it to get to complicated. Thank you guys for all the help. Ideal 60

[quickdtoo]

The fellas that reamed their overbore 44mags to 445 Supermag got good accuracy with 300gr XTPs pushed hard, so the 444 should do the same even better I think. For cast I'd load the biggest that you can seat in a fired case.

Tim

[gcrank1]

+1 that; you will likely get leading with bullets undersized for the groove dia., though if soft enough they might bump up if bore dia. Most commercial cast bullets are too hard to count on that, in my experience, but I would try what I have on hand.
Most moulds throw bullets larger than your groove dia. and if you use as large a bullet as fits that fired case mouth I would bet you get better accuracy than with a smaller sized down bullet. Reloading becomes a cinch too, no need to resize cases.

[Lefty Dude]

Most bullet moulds drop the as cast bullets larger than .430". I have some as cast bullets, unsized and they measure .433". Find a Caster and get some as-cast samples. You can shoot them unsized and lubed with Alox.

Or have Buffalo Arms make you a custom Luber/sizer die .433".

[trotterlg]

Just because it buldges brass does not mean it is an over size chamber (you would need to chamber cast it to tell).  All modern brass tha I have measured is under size, both the diameter and the rim thickness.  Bulged brass is not really bad, if it it seals up and shoots then life is good.  If you like what you have got then just shoot it.  Larry

[ideal60]

Thank You all for the help! I am still on the fence about a decision. I  am going to do some more shooting with lead and  trail boss and hot h110 loads before i decide. Would like to do it, but if the OS bore is a problem then it will not go away if it becomes a 444. Ideal 60, soon to be Ideal 68.

[gcrank1]

Have you measured the fire-formed case against the SAAMI specs?; could it be your die set undersizes the brass (not uncommon).

[ideal60]

I am back again, Did a little research after the suggestion the brass could be undersize. I measured the chamber with a micrometer and telescoping gage. It was .461in the back-.460 in front. Lymans book says the brass should be .457-.456.  New winchester factory loads were .452-.453, new starline brass the same, blazers the same. My resized reloads were .453-.456 . My unsized fired brass was .453-.458. I am thinking the bulges were more the fault of the brass and the chamber is ok. Still have the large bore problem. This is an NR 2001 model and have not shot it much in a few years, will have to do some shooting and loading to find its potential. Have been using some unique in the 500 s&w with good results and will try some of that. Also have lead and trail boss loaded for a contender. Was using mostly H110, but that stuff is to wild. Thanks again Ideal 60 

[quickdtoo]

Here's the SAAMI drawing for the 44 Mag rifle chamber.

Tim

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/44%20Remington%20Magnum.pdf

[ideal60]

Tim, If my chamber measurement are accurate, then it should be within tolerance which was +.004 for dia. in the chamber. Apparently factory brass is made toward the bottom side of the tolerance which was -.005 for dia. Very interesting stuff.  Howard

[D Humbarger]

The reason that your chamber is oversized in the first place it that the bore (ID) was not turning dead true when the chamber was reamer. (manufacturing tolorances)     To be able to correct this when you rechamber to 444 it really needs to be rechambered in a lathe so that a range rod can be used to indicate dead true where the throat of the new 444 chamber will be.  This way you end up with a dead true & centered chamber.

[gcrank1]

That, and using a reamer with the 'right' sized pilot for your bore; just because the reamer says 'X caliber) does NOT mean the pilot is the right size, which is critical to a good job.

[dpe.ahoy]

My first 45 colt barrel was so oversized I had to work on the extractor with a dremel to get the case to come out.  Works the hell out of the brass, but I look at each piece of brass as I reload on a single stage press.  It's worked fine for me, have another I need to check out it's still NIB .  To many toys, not enough time .  DP