Author Topic: Another stupid question (Read 767 times)

Ditchdigger · « **on:** February 06, 2004, 04:10:13 PM »

I have a 44 mag barrel ordered for my H and R single shot,and I'm thinking rechamber to 445 supermag. Any comments on pressure, velocity, etc. . Also I'm looking for a used DW handgun in same caliber.
Digger

unspellable · « **Reply #1 on:** February 07, 2004, 05:33:39 AM »

The only difference in the two cartridges is the case length and along with that the OAL. All diameters are identical. The 445 is intended to operate at exactly the same pressures as the 44 Mag. Not that some don't push the envelope. Another consideration is recoil and its effects on the gun. This point is often overlooked but some unhappy conversions are unhappy because the recoil ends up being more than the gun can handle and things shake loose.

The 445 was originally intended to push a heavier bullet at the same velocity rather than the same bullet faster as compared to the 44 Mag. If you stick to intended pressure levels the 445 will push the heavier bullets around 200 or 300 fps faster than the 44. It's not at its best trying to get super velocities out of very light bullets. This is where the 357 Maximum went wrong as compared to the 357 Super Mag.

Ditchdigger · « **Reply #2 on:** February 07, 2004, 12:10:59 PM »

Many thanks Unspellable, I was afraid that the 445 was a very high pressure rd. like the 454 casull. My Sierra book list a 240 gr. at max as 2150fps. The 300 was about 1950 fps. That was a contender super 14 barrel. The 22 in. barrel on the 7 plus pd. rifle should produce about 2000 with the 300gr., and the recoil should be less than the444 that H and R sold at one time. Should be bad medicine for the wild hogs I hunt here in Okla. Digger

unspellable · « **Reply #3 on:** February 08, 2004, 10:42:57 AM »

I can't really say what you should expect from a 14 inch single shot. I shoot my 445's out of an 8 inch revolver. Watch what you get for loading data. It's supposed to run the exact same pressure as a 44 mag but I suspect some people load it hotter than that. (They probably load the 44 Mag a bit hot too.)

One other tip. I first used PMC brass with "Gates" as part of the headstamp. This brass gave very difficult extraction even with the lightest loads. I called the Dan Wesson factory about this and they told me that they had experienced the same problem, and that I should switch to Starline brass. I did so and the Starline brass has given me no problems. I was some years ago that I had the problem with the PMC brass so one hopes they have corrected the problem by now.