Is there anything wrong with loading .44 special loads in .44 Mag. Brass?

It depends on whether the load will develop the correct pressure. Keep in mind that it is possible to underload a larger case and it could cause a dangerous situation. There are plenty of 44 Mag loads available in reloading books that aren't maximum loads. I would stick to those.

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Is there anything wrong with loading .44 special loads in .44 Mag. Brass?

not at all....I've done it many times.

Just make sure the load is listed for the 44 SPL

I'd say it would depend on the powder. Look at Alliant powder some of the loads they list for the various cast bullets in the 44 spl and 44mag are pretty much the same or a tenth of a gr different.

[quote = duckboat]...Keep in mind that it is possible to underload a larger case and it could cause a dangerous situation....[/quote]

Can you explain this?

It is possible that a lack of pressure could
a) cause the bullet to not exit the barrel (causing the next bullet to blow up the barrel).

b) cause the bullet to only come out partially of the cylinder, thus locking the action of the cylinder and making the revolver useless (until you use a wooden dowel to reseat the bullet in the case).

Is there something else I am missing?

With some powders, the minimum recommended loads are very similar between the 44 spl and the 44 Mag. But with some other powders, the difference can be much greater. For example, in the Hornady manual the minimum charge for Unique for the 240 XTP bullet is 5.1 grains for the 44 spl. The minimum for the 44 Mag is 9.5 grains.

Reloading manuals list minimum recommended charges for several reasons. A couple of the less serious potential problems are sooty cases or backed out primers. One of the more serious reasons could be a bullet that doesn't fully exit the barrel. Very low case fill percentage of very fast powders can also potentially cause pressure spikes.

Of course, it is possible that none of these problems might occur, but I think it makes sense following the minimums listed by the reloading manuals.

The only real issue is carbon/lead build up in the cyl throat after using the spl brass. For that reason alone, I ahve stopped using spl brass in my 357mags & 44mags. Besides, I don; thave to mess w/ my die setups sticking w/ one brass length.

It's something I do on a regular basis. The difference in case capacity is pretty minor, so I just chose a powder that is normally run at fairly low load density. I load 7 or 8 grains of Unique under a 240gr. No problems at all in a 6 inch 629.

Thanks everyone for your input i guess i'll just have to be careful on what i load

like fred said - you will build up gunk in the cylinder and forcing cone, so just make sure you clean it well or your 44mag rounds are going to be tough to chamber

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Originally posted by butchloc:
like fred said - you will build up gunk in the cylinder and forcing cone, so just make sure you clean it well or your 44mag rounds are going to be tough to chamber

And even tougher to un-chamber.

Had a buddy's nephew Whamming on the Ejector Rod on a relatively new S&W. Asked what he was doing and he said he couldn't get the 357Mag cases to come out. Come to find out he had fired a bunch of 38Spl loads over the past few months - and had cleaned the revolver. But, not quite clean enough to remove all the Carbon Ring(like Fred mentioned) and it had a tenacious grip on the "combined 6-cases".

Once we got the Cylinder cleared, judicious use of a Hoppe's Tornado Brush and regular old Bore Cleaner scrubbed the Carbon out. Then it worked smoothly.

No need to have it happen if you use Starting 44Mag Loads or top end 44Spl Loads in the 44Mag cases.

Best of luck to you.

I read somewhere once that a guy with a 44 mag would use an empty 44 mag case to clean his cylinder after firing specials in his gun.
He drilled out the primer hole in the case and put a bolt in it as a handle and then slightly expanded the neck. It worked to scrape the carbon build-up out of the cylinder at the range. I'm sure you'd want to clean it better when you got home, but it was a quick fix till he had time to clean it better.

Ditto Michael.tx. I have been shooting 44spl type loads using 7-8 grns of Unique under 240grn loads since I started reloading in 1987. I also shoot hot loads of 300grn wfngc Catscores out of the same RSBH 7 1/2" w/ great results. Just clean your bore good and no problems.

I have had 44mags for many years. I have loaded it in many ways. If i wanted to load a special charge in a mag case I seated the bullet to the special oal. If it wouldn't line up the case mouth and crimp groove, I would see how much it missed by, if it was off by 1/2 the width of the crimp groove i would adjust it till it lined up. Any more than that and I would use a Special case.
I have found a good light load of 8.5 grs Unique with the Keith style 250 gr cast bullet in the mag case and 7.5 in the special case to shoot better than I can. About the same velocity. About 850 fps. Great plinking load.
I have a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. This load is fun in that gun too.
I cast my own bullets. The 429421 Lyman. The light loads get a soft bullet, a harder bullet can reach 1200-1300 fps in the Ruger and 1700-1800 in the Marlin. The heavy loads have taken deer out 150 yards with both guns.