W B Willy
Why heck ... Welcome to the party!! Glad you could make it
Better a little late than to miss the party completely you betcha.
Confused am I. I don't quite understand the problem with using 44-40 brass as a donor in handguns. The only handgun that might be a problem are Rugers. Some Lustrum(s) ago it was a real problem with Rugers. 45 Schofield and 44-40 wouldn't clear the Hub for the Star. Had to file little flats on the Hub to clearance for 45 Schofield. Atz a bit of a nuisance.
Colt, on the other hand, and I believe most Replicas, are cut for 45 Schofield hence 44-40. I haven't paid any attention to Replica Strap Guns for years. I don't own any and since I'm not working for a living, didn't need to. However, I can report, with Annealed Cowboy 45 Special, I couldn't get them to extract from the chambers in MY cartridge conversions. Cases stuck tight. Absolutely no Blow-By but geez Louise, kinda tough to reload between stages when you gotta disassemble and punch em out.
I don't necessarily recommend Annealing for Revolvers. I don't feel it's needed. Other than a little spooge on the recoil shield, I have never experienced problems in handguns. My conversions and my Open Top(s) all digest .45s with no annealing without problems. Rifles are an entirely different matter. Especially Uberti Rifles. Ugh. Big sloppy chambers. Other than .38 Spl or 357, I do really recommend annealing straight wall cases. 44s, any 44s and 45s, ANY 45s will benefit greatly from annealing.
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