.445 Super Mag Conversion

I am considering getting my CVA Scout in .44 mag chamber reamed out to shoot the .445 Super Mag. I don't trust myself to do it and wanted a gunsmith to do the work. I looked around locally, but my local gunsmith would have to buy the tooling for it, which would make the cost to me around $320,which I just can't see doing.

Do you guys know any reputable place that could do the work cheaper? I would prefer someone in Virginia, but would be willing to go elsewhere for the right price and expertise.

Thanks,
P

You might want to see if Clark Brothers in Warrenton,Va .Off route 29 will do it?

slowwalker said:

You might want to see if Clark Brothers in Warrenton,Va .Off route 29 will do it?

Click to expand...

Thank you, I just sent them an email.

You don’t hear much mention of the .445 Super Mag these days, Cool Round! I had the 357 Maximum which is virtually identical to the 357 Super Mag, the only difference is 0.005 extra Case length of the Super Mag. All supermag Cases are 1.610" in Length

Cool project you got going :yeah:

Idaholewis said:

You don’t hear much mention of the .445 Super Mag these days, Cool Round! I had the 357 Maximum which is virtually identical to the 357 Super Mag, the only difference is 0.005 extra Case length of the Super Mag. All supermag Cases are 1.610" in Length

Cool project you got going :yeah:

Click to expand...

Yeah, I can only find one or two manufacturers out there that roll it, but I guess that is just an excuse to roll my own some day I typically hunt in creek bottoms with thick, thick, briar laden cutovers all around me, so I need to put the deer down quick, fast, and in a hurry. I know the .44 mag will get it done, but I will take every little bit extra I can get in the hopes of not having to venture into the six foot briar filled cutover. I normally just load the CVA with Bloodlines (which get the job done right now) and go out, but I am just sometimes get the itch to get out there with a cartridge rifle when that season comes in.

I am looking forward to seeing what a 225 grain Barnes HP will do at around 2100 fps; I mean, I know a .444 Marlin will do it, but less efficiently and with more recoil I would guess. I did shoot some DoubleTap 200 grain .44 mag Barnes trough the Scout, and it sheared the petals off the bullet, but the 225 grain did not. I wonder if the 225 will do the same as a .445. If so, I am going to the 270 grain Speer bullets. I wish Lehigh made a controlled fracturing .44 mag bullet in .429 for reloaders and those muzzleloaders that shoot .429 bullets. Regardless, it will be nice to practice and plink with the .44 Special, then hunt with the .445.

I did not know that all supermag cases were 1.60", interesting. What velocities were you getting out of those 357 maximum rounds, by the way? Did you ever take a deer with it? How did it perform?

Sorry for the novel.

Forgot about this, I am way late on this Reply!

Kind of a neat Story on this Gun. Mine was a Stainless Revolver made by United Sporting Arms and Called a Seville. I didn’t own the Gun long enough to do much with it, I bought it from a Friend that had bought it Brand new, He shot it very little and put it away for several years, US Sporting Arms went out of Business, Can’t remember the details on that? Anyway, I contacted a Guy that was very familiar with the Co, he wanted to see pictures of my Gun, and Wanted to know the Serial No. This Gun of mine was Like brand New, i even had the Factory Box for it. Come to find out it was this Guy’s Dad that had Built my Gun :yeah: He asked if i was interested in selling it? I didn’t know what they worth? He threw me an offer that was WAAAAAAY more than i paid, I boxed it up and FFL’ed it to Him.

I did shoot the Gun about 50 Rounds or so, It banged Steel NOTICEABLY Harder than our .357 Magnums. The 357 Maxi got a Bad name as a “Flame Cutter” Top Strap of Revolvers would start to Show flame Cutting, Ruger ceased production of it. The problem came from Guy’s trying to Hotrod it, 110, 125 Grain Bullets at INSANE Velocities is where the Problem started. The 357 Maxi really shined with the Heavier 180 Grain bullets at around 1700 FPS, And when shot with the intended Heavier Bullets there was no problem with “Flame Cutting” I read an Article way back that Stated their was a Need for a Faster, Harder hitting Revolver for Silhouette Shooting, The Standard 357 Magnum was not quite enough to Reliably Tip the Heavier Steel Ram Targets over, The 357 Maxi was Right at home here :yeah:

Here is a pic off the Net of a 357 Maxi beside a 357 Magnum, The Maxi was a BAD DUDE :yeah:

The MAX really shined in a T/C Contender and Encore. A 180gr was capable of 1800fps. Pretty hard to find the good 180s anymore. Hornady used to offer what was called a Single Shot Pistol bullet in 358. Hornady #: 3505 They held up much better than 180s made for 357Mag.

My brother had one like this in 357MAX. They were also sold as the Magnum Research Lone Eagle. It was a beast.
[youtube]BHQZ6I2BE6E[/youtube]

Cool video GM54 :yeah:

I have always said it would be really cool to have a .357 Maxi in a TC Contender/Encore, I had a Stainless Encore Pistol in .500 S&W Magnum, That thing Kicked like a NASTY MULE :lol: It had a Muzzle Break of Sorts, I’m sure it helped, But that thing was stil REALLY HARSH, it had a lot of Muzzle Rise. I also owned a S&W 8-3/8” Revolver in 500 Magnum, Recoil was completely different in the Revolver, it was more of a Hard Push straight back, you could REALLY feel it in the Carpal tunel of the Palm.

GM54, Did you ever handle a TC Encore with a Katahdin Barrel? They did that in .460 S&W and the .500 S&W, Maybe more? I remember wishing i had gone that Route with my Encore Rifle, instead of the .500 S&W Pistol Barrel. I had the Rifle Stock and all for my Encore, The Katahdin Would have made an AWESOME little Brush Gun, Recoil would have been no problem Against the Shoulder

Idaholewis said:

GM54, Did you ever handle a TC Encore with a Katahdin Barrel? They did that in .460 S&W and the .500 S&W, Maybe more? I remember wishing i had gone that Route with my Encore Rifle, instead of the .500 S&W Pistol Barrel. I had the Rifle Stock and all for my Encore, The Katahdin Would have made an AWESOME little Brush Gun, Recoil would have been no problem Against the Shoulder

Click to expand...

Thanks for the awesome read. I love this stuff!

I did one a few years back, converted a knight kp1 44 mag (that was chambered WAY long. I even bought some 445 brass for it before I reamed it and trimmed them down, I called it my 44 and 1/4th. but it's a really cool shooting gun. I just finished re-scoping her and the last pair of shots went 2" high and dead center at 100 about .5" apart. crono read 2125 and 2127. If a person so wanted you could plink with 44 specials, shoot or hunt with either 44 or 445. Could you rent the reamer and then have your smith use it instead of him buying one just food for thought

I had my 44 Mag converted to 445SM by MGM 12" brake 2" I could hold 2" group at 100 yards when I did my part I shot 240 grain Speer bullets can not remember the powder Delaware has since allowed pistol calibers in rifles I sold the Contender as I won't hunt with it anymore instead I bought a 460 S%W barrel 24" for my Encore It's a shooter but a beast Problem is the fore arm keeps shooting loose so I am sending it back to MGM to have dove tailed post installed and use a ML'er forearm I ordered a 445SM 27" SS barrel from MGM for my Contender I know it's longer than most like but I want to squeeze all the velocity I can out of the caliber I have a permit to hunt from a car so humping is no problem

I have 357 SM and 445 SM Contender 14 inch barrels. Couple years ago received email from MGM sale flyer for $100 off barrels in stock. Bought a 24 inch stainless 445 SM Encore barrel.






Bought a Witt clamp on brake for Encore rifle and man does it tame the recoil




Encore rifle 5 shots 100 yds Hornady 265gr Flex tip

rjhans53 said:

I did one a few years back, converted a knight kp1 44 mag (that was chambered WAY long. I even bought some 445 brass for it before I reamed it and trimmed them down, I called it my 44 and 1/4th. but it's a really cool shooting gun. I just finished re-scoping her and the last pair of shots went 2" high and dead center at 100 about .5" apart. crono read 2125 and 2127. If a person so wanted you could plink with 44 specials, shoot or hunt with either 44 or 445. Could you rent the reamer and then have your smith use it instead of him buying one just food for thought

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. What bullet were you shooting to get that velocity?

I asked the shop if they could rent it, but they declined. They wouldn't come out and say it, but I got the impression they wanted to have a 445 reamer permanently, rather than having to rent and return one. In other words, they were going to use part of what they charged me (which is way more than enough to cover the purchase of the reamer and the labor) to buy the reamer, so they could have it for future use. Also, I am not comfortable renting one for them to use, just in case they damage/lose it and I am on the hook for it.

All that said, I completely understand, and they are in the business to make money to put food on their tables, so no harm, no foul.

HH That is a shooter.

So, the original gunsmith I took this rifle failed to do the job. I dropped the rifle off in mid-December 2018, and on May 24, 2019, I retrieved the rifle, which was still only chambered for .44 mag. After some uncomfortable conversation, he made it right, and refunded all of my money. I don't want to identify the gunsmith or his business, but let's just say it was a gunsmith in Fredericksburg, VA; if you have any further questions about that, please PM me.

After getting the rifle back, I got in contact with David White at D and T Custom Gunworks ( https://www.dandtcustomgunworks.com/)in Bixby, OK. Being the professional he is, Mr. White felt sorry for me and charged me a dirt cheap price to get the chamber reamed to shoot the 445. Mr. White was extremely responsive to every one of my emails to him (and there were quite a few). Now, for the true miracle; Mr. White received the barrel on Tuesday, 4 June, did the work, and shipped the barrel back to me the same day. It was refreshing to deal with such a great gunsmith and business in today's world. He has certainly more than earned ALL of my future gunsmithing business, and if you need any work done, do yourself a favor and contact him.

I got the barrel back today, and remounted/boresighted the scope, and she is ready for the range. I have a variety of 445 ammo to shoot, and will report back on that when I get an opportunity to shoot it. I will list the projectile/velocity of each round here after I shoot.

Shame about the First smith. I had a very well known Smith (Most of you would know the name but I too will not say the name) do some real bad work (Bedding) and even re-did the work but was still very poor on a custom 280 AI. Bedding was done by same employee 2 times. I ended up taking it to the guy that built my Benchrest rifles (a Friend of the First smith too) who straightened out the rifle. Initial groups no better than 6" @100yds. After bedding was "Right" shot under 1/2" @ 100yds. Wrote the first smith a real harsh letter about my experience (driving 188 miles each way to drop off and pick up 3 trips) and he refunded my bedding money and sent several boxes of Nosler Accubonds and a few bags (doz Per) of cleaning brushes to try to make good on it. The Metal work though was Absolutely beautiful. I got to watch The metal smith work on a rifle first trip there. He knew what he was doing! Just had a guy that was a very poor stocker. Sad thing was I already was gathering the stuff for a second rifle that had already been discussed. He did not get that one. So unfortunately it happens.

Now my Br smith has retied and moved to FL. So I will be needing someone in the future. I am jotting down the name you provided to check with when I get ready to build the next CF, varmint rifle. Thanks for posting and letting us know about him. Will be watching for your range report.