Development of PP loads for the .44-77.

[Distant Thunder]

Gavin,

I would say that the neck of your chamber and mine are very close to the same.

Back a year ago one of the first things I did was order a single case of the .50-110 brass from BACO. I wanted to see what were really the only cases available looked like. Kurt was able to get that one and a few other sample I had in his rifle when we were at Harris, MN last year and we fireformed it just fine with the the loads I had put together and bullets that Kurt brought for that purpose.

That case fireformed in Kurt's rifle slipped right into my chamber when I got the rifle.

The 100 pcs I just got last month from BACO are 7 grains lighter than the one sample from last year, the new ones average 222 grains. I had to full length size these new ones for them to even chamber unloaded. They would go in all except the rim thickness and stop. Then when I seated a gg bullet sized at .4465" it would not chamber. The outside diameter of the neck with the bullet seated measured .472". I figured that is about .004 bigger than what will fit. Just with my calipers I measure the a case neck with the OD at .467" and it was .442 inside. So I'm thinking they are a couple a side thick in the neck. More will be known once they are fireformed.

I cut patches tonight for the stubby 355 grains bullets I cast this afternoon and I patched a couple. No problem there and they fit nice in the sized and unexpanded cases. I'll dump some powder tomorrow and seat a wad and the bullets and see what a fired case looks like after they are cleaned.

With 200 fireformed cases I should be ready to start some serious load development soon. I hope so, I've got a match in 3 weeks and I'd really like to shoot this rifle if at all possible, but I'd also like to hit the target a couple times too.