Lee Loader

I seat it down until the top crimp groove is barely visible. Any longer in this rifle and the bullet jams the rifling, and causes problems with the action closing.

mikld wrote:Notices 2 crimp grooves. Which groove are you fellers using? I'm thinking about some heavier bullets for my .44 Magnums (3 revolvers, one Contender, one Puma)...

Lee lists the nose length as .320", using the forward crimp groove & SAAMI length brass would be:
44 Mag: 1.585"
444 Marlin: 2.525"

I did some measuring with the Screen Calipers and the Lee bullet image. It looks like the aft crimp band is .092" so the COAL would be:
44 Mag: 1.677"
444 Marlin: 2.617"

I nolong own the mold but when I had it I remember pondering just what the aft groove would be used for as it is too long for the 44 Mag (and 444 Marlin). Stopped and did a bit of math and it looks like the longer nose would be a real good fit for 44 Spl (S&W)

I load them to 1.693 for the Old Model Ruger 44 Mag with room to spare. Im sure they won't feed in the Marlin.

Ranch Dog wrote:
I have NOE's mold database and looked but didn't find the Lee clone. That surprised me, I thought someone would have suggested it but he does have a lot of other offerings from .430 through .434 in that weight range.

This one is close. Only drawback is none are available.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_in ... cts_id=555

But 1.677" is too long. How can it be.

Just kidding people.