Development of PP loads for the .44-77.

[Gunlaker]

Thanks Jim. That ten grain difference is huge! The only bottleneck BP case I've ever used was the .38-56 and it was for a worn out old 1886 so there was no quest for match winning accuracy :-).

Chris.

[beltfed]

About 25 grains of 4227 or 4759 or Maybe 5744 under your bullet may work?????
I know as you pointed out that you are dealing with a bottleneckcase that needs to "go a ways to blow out.
But I had a good result for my 40-72W to blow out the Thick Hornady 405 brass to fit my chamber:
I used 25 gr 3227 under a 400 gr snover bullet. While fireforming, it turned out to shoot pretty good , too.
I will say that the Hornady brass started out from the factory with a Good Annealing about 1/3 way down from the case mouth.
"Just trying to help"
arnie

[Distant Thunder]

Arnie,

As is often the case you are correct about fireforming with smokeless.

Part of this effort with the .44-77 is to experiment with all the different ways to get this round up and running. That's why I have explored other possible sources of brass and why I'll work with both bore diameter ppb and 2-D PPB with several nose designs. And why I'm looking at different fireforming options.

For fireforming I tried the smokeless with COW and it worked, sort of. I did some fireforming with black powder and ppb. That works very well, but is slow and requires all the cleanup with none of the fun of shooting black powder with accuracy.

So today I did as you have suggested. I dug up the lightest gg bullet I could find, 255 grain, then I sized them to .447", lubed them with my very good lube and loaded them over a published load of smokeless powder. That worked very well and went pretty fast with minimal cleanup afterward. I fireformed 100 cases using this method today and I feel it is the best way I have tried.

All the .44-77 cases I've fireformed have been annealed to about half way between the shoulder and the rim. They fireform very well.

Smokeless fireforming works very well with a bullet to give enough resistance to build pressure and fill the case out. One step at a time I will find what works best in my .44-77! What a journey this is going to be!

Thank you, Arnie, for your good advise on this. Keep 'em coming!

[Kurt]

When I blew out my .44 basic for the .44-90bn I made these corn meal bullets. Three card wads over the junk and spilled powder.
One shot was all needed but the cases were annealed 1/2 wad down to the base.
I dropped this bullet and it cracked.


   

[Distant Thunder]

Chris,

This .44-77 is not like anything I've work with before. When I fire a shot and drop the lever and out kicks that beautiful bottleneck case I have to take just second to admire each case before I set it back in the ammo box and then repeat the process!

There is just something about the .44-77 in a Sharps 1874 that make me smile pretty wide!

Having fun is what it's all about!

[Distant Thunder]

Kurt,

How do you pour cornmeal into a bullet mold?



I do like the idea of saving lead.

[Kurt]

Swage press Jim

[Kurt]

Poppy seeds work better. They squeeze out oil and hold together better than Cornmeal.

[J.B.]

I remember a guy who used to load his Ruger Old Army with reduced black powder ..and a filler of breadcrumbs. Not sure why he bothered ..but by the third shot ..all you could smell was toast.. and wanted breakfast ! ...You want to stay away from those poppies Kurt.

J.B.

[Kurt]

But they make you such a jolly good fellow Gavin