Here we have pictured an unaltered.30-40 case. Rim must be reduced to fit44 Special diameter perfectly. Notestandard 44 Special case at lower left.>....,, s t ,, 'Â '
Throat opening can be done with casesizingreamer or any reamer of the correctdiameter. This reamer is from Clymer.Some polishing required.this point, recoil will simply spill soap andshot out. Repeat firing until all your casesare fire-formed to fill the chamber andchamber throat. Cases are now ready forassembly with proper full-charge,shot loads.Make certain the fire-formed cases willchamber freely. They should, but if not,resize in a .44 Special, full-length die andtry again. If they still won't chamberfreely, run the necked-down portion intoa .41 Magnum resizing die. That shouldreduce it enough to enter the throat easily.Decap and reprime (large pistol size,remember).Now, charge cases with 6.0-6.5 grainsof Unique and again seat two cardboardwads over the powder. They'll go easiernow, with case mouths fire-formed, butwill still be tight. Take care the wadsFrom left to right you will note the' .44 Specialcase loaded with Remco shot capsule, astandard .44 Special factory load, and at far right the cylinder-length case (from30-40) ready for fire-forming. Not as pretty, but very practical. ,'don'i get tipped and flip part of the powderup on top of themselves. You may stilluse the toilet-tissue filler wad, but betterresults will be had from a 3116-inch,thick, composition or felt wad. Felt is theeasiest to insert, so I prefer it. Obtainscraps of thick felt from a fabric shop andcut it into discs of about -430-inch diameter.Stack them as necessary to make upthe desired thickness, then seat down onthe card wads with a dowel. A %-inch,long pin (common, straight pin) protrudingfrom the dowel will help keep the feltwads aligned and together during seating.With all wads down solidly, pour in shotto 1116-inch from the case mouth. Cutdiscs from an ,020-inch thick styrenesheet (any semi-rigid plastic will do, butthis is readily available from model andhobby shops). A hammer and sharpenedtubing handles the cutting best; about.405-.410-inch diameter is usually okay,but will depend on your particular batchof cases. In any event, they should bequite snug in the case mouth.Seat these plastic wads over the shotwith a dowel, forcing them slightly belowthe case mouth; be sure and keep themlevel. The case mouth must be crimpedover the wad to tie everything solidly together.Without a die of some sort madeespecially for this, it simply can't be doneproperly. Any maker of loading dies canmake one for you, but the price will behigh and the wait long. A piece of common%" water pipe will do the job withjust a little bit of work. Use a 90Â (includedangle) countersink to funnel themouth of one end of the pipe (which needbe only 2-3 inches long). Run the countersinkin until the case mouth will enter thechamber. Polish the chamber smooth.The countersink leaves a fairly rough surface,and roughness will mess up the. crimp we need.Take a short pieceof %-inch dowel andslip it inside the pipe. Let its end protrudeabout 1116-inch beyond the bottom(Continued on page 50)25
- Page 1: " I THE AMERICANAUNOFFICIAL MAGAZIN
- Page 6 and 7: INDUSTRY INSIDERBy MASSAD F. AYOOB
- Page 8 and 9: -NIARLES C THOMAS-PUBLISHEI- I?r ?I
- Page 10 and 11: -'.. : ,,. . .{b-.$, \:..', -.,.IOO
- Page 12 and 13: SNUBmNOSEDREVOLVER1 FREE: Targets a
- Page 14 and 15: PA DISSENTING VIEW ON MAGAZINE SAFE
- Page 16 and 17: The New PistolcraftAt Jeff Cooper's
- Page 19 and 20: The Evolution ofModem PistolcraftBy
- Page 21 and 22: Sykes back in the 1930's. This prov
- Page 23: Charter544 Bi^gShot LoadsBy GEORGE
- Page 27 and 28: Now you see it trimmed down to mana
- Page 29 and 30: , .- - A --.-ng. As analternative,
- Page 31 and 32: Little is known of his second ventu
- Page 33 and 34: engaging the cartridge case groove
- Page 35 and 36: AMERICAN HANDGUNNER . JULYIAUGUST 1
- Page 37 and 38: II ShootingIll Law EnforcementPart
- Page 39 and 40: neared completion, factory manageme
- Page 41 and 42: Smith & Wesson Model 595107 Rear Si
- Page 43 and 44: By MASSAD F. AYOOBT THE time of the
- Page 45 and 46: when an automatic is adopted. One r
- Page 47 and 48: of WW 296 in CDM cases sparked by C
- Page 49 and 50: Zen, a td, lean, mustached western
- Page 51 and 52: Here's what makesDan Wesson revolve
- Page 53 and 54: Cutter T-1 is the most delicate of
- Page 55 and 56: standing Handgun Hunter Award is Da
- Page 57 and 58: INTRODUCTION TO 39/59(Continued fro
- Page 60 and 61: ''mentioning the fact that, with th
- Page 62 and 63: The .a57 MagnumHE .357 Magnum was d
- Page 64 and 65: Durable liaht weiaht cast aluminum
- Page 66 and 67: exceeds this record of rejection-af
- Page 68 and 69: 1 fire the first shot DA anyhammers
- Page 70 and 71: THE AMERICAN. . . the only magazine
- Page 72: When your 22 has to do more than it
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