Development of PP loads for the .44-77.

[Kurt]

There is no short cut when working with cases not made for the chamber. Just like taking a 303 and making a .40 caliber out of it or taking .44 basic that is around .516" and necking it down. It takes a shot or two to form the shoulder. I worked with 900 plus .44 basic and turned them into .44-90bn's and the best way I found to do this job was casting GG with a ogive that will let me shoot dirty or a PP patched .004" under bore as well as the corn meal bullets but they did not build up enough pressure with just one shot fired. The GG I could go through 100 rounds with load and fire--load and fire. I would have to stop to let the barrel cool now and then but in a short time I had 200 formed with just one shot fired. Annealing the case shoulders plus 1/2 way down the case did the job without a hitch. The only thing doing it the way I did it was mining out the lead when I got home but the cases looked like they have been shot several times and all they needed was the final trimming for length.
You can salvage the fired bullets if you keep the target in one spot and dig pout the dirt and use a 1/4" screen and sift the bullets out and remelt then into ingots. All you loose is the powder.
The ground up your way is mostly sand and this will make the job a lot easier.