44-77 Sharps paper patched load

[Eric Johanen]

I have 20 rounds loaded for fire forming and now just need a day when the weather is good enough to burn them. CCI Bench rest primers, 74.0 grs. OE 1.5 weighed and drop tubed, .442 OJ card, Felt lubed with DGL, .442 plastic milk jug over wad and the bullet seated to 3.260 NC is right and this lot of brass is likely a mix of cases. Checked another batch of 20 and 7 chamber perfectly, 10 will need just a bit of work on rim thickness and 3 require diameter reduction and thinning. Rim diameter that is too big interferes with chambering. Well, eventually I'll have them all fit to the gun and all will be good.

[Eric Johanen]

Worked up another 40 cases this weekend and will load another 20 for fire forming this afternoon. I really love this rifle!! Posting this as a caution for those in a hurry to load ammunition for their new rifle.....WAIT until you have it in hand and can check cases in the chamber! If I had been in a hurry, I'd have a whole bunch of ammo that would not chamber and would require pulling down. This would be a real pain in the ass!!! Wait until you can check your brass in the chamber of the rifle. Chamber check your first bullet/case combination to be sure it will chamber without interference before you do a large run or bad things will happen. Make a note of your case prep and the seating depth and you will avoid a whole lot of problems.

[J.B.]

All ..very sound advice Eric. I do believe its the rifles 'gestation' period that causes some ( read 'me' ) to play around with loading before they have their rifle to test chamber. Been there...done that . Looking forward to your foray into the realm of the 44's and your feedback along the way. I couldn't quite bring myself to order a period correct chamber but I've no regrets on the cartridge choice and Shilohs now standard 44/77 chamber is a pretty good place to start. Sounds like you're getting a handle on the brass now and be interested to see what your fired brass measures up at once you've fire formed. I'm not sizing my case necks much at all but being a gg chamber, albeit a tight gg chamber, I am sizing a little , around .464" but only down to about 3/10" of an inch. They are almost a slip fit. Fired cases run necks at .467/.468". I'm guessing you'll probably have none of that sizing business to worry about once you've fired your cases. Decap, wash, polish maybe and then load again. All sounds good. Enjoy.
J.B.

[Eric Johanen]

    I could not wait any longer and got to the range today to fire a few rounds from my 44-77. Nice Chamber! Dimensions are: Factory base@.517/.518, Shoulder @ .506/.507, Neck@ .458/.459, Mouth@ .460, Length@ 2.243 and Rim Thickness@ .075 Fire Formed base@.517, Shoulder@.510, Neck@.459, Mouth@.459, Length@ 2.240 and Rim Thickness@ .075 Not much change at all except for Length. Only a loss of .003. The inside diameter at the mouth is just a very little loose for seating a new bullet and will require a slight neck sizing to work properly. This is going to work really well!! If I can get some weather I'll finish fire forming the first 20 rounds next week and then put up some reloads for a initial test. Did I say I really love this rifle?

[Kurt]

Here are a couple original .44-77 rounds. Note the shoulders are more rounded.

[Eric Johanen]

Noticed that, but they are pretty close. Really surprised at how little the fire formed brass changed in this chamber. And only shortened .003 inch. I should be able to get her shooting when I have good weather in spring.

[J.B.]

Thanks for the measurements Eric. Sounds about right then. The rest of the case is pretty much in line with the their current gg chamber other than the as expected tighter neck dimensions to better suit ' patch to bore ' loading. On average my fired cases are .515" at the base, .509/.510 at the shoulder and the neck and mouth at .467". Case length dropped back a bit though and 2.241 - .2.247" being average. With that stepped out shoulder I guess the brass has to come from somewhere. Some rims are as low as .071 and others up at .076" . Having said that though, once fire formed and only neck sized, I've had no issues and very happy with the Jamison brass. Nice to see those photos of original cartridges too Kurt.
... Funny..just thinking those before and after shots Eric... if you didn't know what they were... could almost be .22 Hornet and a K Hornet
rgds.. J.B.

[Kurt]

I think the reason they did not shorten more and I also noticed this shooting my new .44-77 and .44-90 bn Jamison brass that they did not shorten much. I think with the long taper the new unfired brass shoulders have that most gets pushed forward on the first firing.
I think you will also find that even with the long taper the accuracy does not suffer. When I got my new batch of cases I just worked with 50 and did the ladder load developing a good load and when that load was used in the unfired cases they shot just as well as the formed cases.

[Don McDowell]

One thing I have noticed with the 44 2 1/4 bn, after you get those cases fire formed the rim only serves for the extractor to purchase on. From there on out it's a matter of not setting the shoulder back, just like loading any other bottle neck case.
I always chamber the cases with the 44-77 at the top.

[Eric Johanen]

    I had a chance to get to the range today and posted targets at 50 and 100 yards (25 yard timed and rapid fire). Fire formed some cases. After some windage adjustments on the front and rear sights at 50 I moved to 100 and shot these. Shot the ones on the left and tapped the front and rear to center up and shot the right side. A bit more adjustment and shot the 10 the 8's and 6 O'clock. I will need to open the rear V a bit and when I have "the load", lower the front to print just above the front sight at 100. Now I have some cases to work with. Have not decided if I want to use the semi-buckhorn or switch to the Lawrence. 74.0 grains of OE and the 438 grain bullets are real pussy cat loads in this rifle. I am going to load a target round next time. Case full of powder and a wad with the bullet seated only .150 in the case and see how they fly. I do think this rifle will be "the Boss"!