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steelslide

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October 1, 2014 - 11:16 pm

38 40 brass is a little hard to get at the moment and expensive. I do have a couple of hundred new 44-40 Winchester cases though. Can I just run the 44’s into my 38 die to resize them. I read I should anneal the cases first. I have never attempted to do this before. Questions !!..
1. Can I run these through the 38 dies without crumpling the cases WITHOUT annealing first. (applying plenty of lube of course and going very very slowing in stages even)
2. If I have to anneal them, I have a portable plow torch here..how long should I apply the heat to them. Will the brass change color?
3. Do I have to run them into the die still hot/warm ie: will I have to do one at a time ie: heat a case run it in the die…heat the next case etc etc
4. Shall I let them cool naturally or drop them in water

I no doubt will have a crack at doing one this evening with out heating them, but any input would be very welcome

Thx
Steelslide

tim tomlinson

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October 2, 2014 - 2:38 am

I haven’t tried resizing .44-40 to .38-40 specifically so am not sure whether it is necessary to anneal the necks or not. I would suspect you may be able to do so with only a few rejects, and would like to hear how it works if you do so without annealing.

Now in case you think you need to anneal first, it is obvious you could use a few pointers. In annealing brass, I stand the case in a baking pan in water that goes about half way up the case to keep the head area cool and keep it hard. Do it in a darker area (maybe a garage if there is no leakage of gasoline or other flammables around) and direct a torch into the open neck so as to evenly heat the neck area. When you see a dull red color to the neck (that is why the darker area of a garage) tip the case over into the water. When all of the batch of brass are done, you will need to dry them thoroughly before proceeding to reloading. The neck should be annealed and the head should remain hard. The softer, annealed brass then should resize a little easier and maybe make a difference between a crease and not having a crease. Creases and collapses in my case forming has come from the hardness of the neck more than a lack of lubricant.

Good luck.

Tim

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October 4, 2014 - 2:28 am

I am just about to go the opposite way , and want to convert surplus 38-40 Win brand brass to 44-40, any tips on this ? . as it is not too much of a step up (under .030) I think it will be OK ? I would trade , but cant ship brass over the border

Phil

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November 13, 2014 - 4:21 pm

Starline Brass’s website seems to be the only place that currently has 38-40 brass in stock. Looks like it is $87.50 for 250 with free shipping.

I reload a lot of 38-40 and a little less of the 44-40. All my brass is Winchester. The necks on these cases are so thin that one can crumple the case just during the neck sizing operation if not done carefully. About 15% of my sized cases end up with a very small wrinkle (bubble?) on the shoulder despite being cautious with the lube and keeping the die vent hole clean.

I have heard that the Starline brass is a bit thicker than the Winchester but haven’t tried it. At any rate, it might be more economical to purchase the 38-40 than to neck down 44-40’s. Besides, the headstamp will be correct.