Forming Cases and other things

[Distant Thunder]

Since I don't have my rifle back from Shiloh yet I can only go so far with my experiments. All the cases shown were fire formed in someone else's rifle, but I believe all were the Shiloh standard chamber dimensions at least.
My timing is almost always bad when it comes to these things and as a result both times that I have had the itch for a .44-77 brass has been non-existent to very, very pricey. This time I wasn't going to let that stop me.

As soon as I had shipped my rifle off to Shiloh I started researching possible cases that could be converted for use in the .44-77. The .45-90 looked like a possibility, though many said it wouldn't work because the case head is too small. It's really not that far off if you look at it per side it's only .0055", .505" for .45-70 brass and .516" for .44-77 brass. It some what depends on who's drawings you look at, but it's not that much.

Having worked with under size brass in chambers in the past I know that it is important to keep the expansion in front of the case head centered so it is as even as possible all the way around the case. That will help prevent case splitting. For the .44-77 it is important to have the neck and shoulder area annealed. The head itself is not going to expand from fire forming and I don't think it needs to to make useable brass. Tape can be use to wrap around the case head to hold it centered for initial fire forming.

The good thing about the .300 Win Mag is that the case in front of the belt is already the correct diameter, especially on fired brass. New brass would be just a little undersize. The belt is easy to turn off in a lathe or even in a drill press. Swaging the rims on is a major case conversion effort in that it requires special tooling and some serious pressure. The result, when done right, is amazing. You end up with a very solid rim firmly attached to the case without soldering so there is no heat involved to anneal the case head. You never want to anneal the case head.

Because of the special tooling, machining operations and the pressure to swage the rims I don't really see this as an easy way to go. If someone wants to go this route I can give them at least some more idea of what it takes. This would be perhaps worth while if you only needed 20 or so cases to get a rifle up and shooting.

I see the .45-90 brass as the way to go. Much easier and no special tooling needed, just a good understanding of what it takes to fire form brass in an oversize chamber for best results. With the thin rims you also have to understand head spacing. Any of this cases conversion could have devastating results if done wrong so proceed at your own risk. I can not think for you so you're on your own.

Anyway, I now have some Jamison brass so it is a little less urgent for me to make brass, but I do enjoy doing this stuff. When I get my rifle from Shiloh I'll be able to report actual results of shooting with the different brass. Until then I've gone as far as I can.