I don' t know if there is a lot more to talk about. We all agree that brass doesn' t offer any " real" structural integrity. For those that don’t agree, we have proven that at the very least the “modern day” 45LC brass is equally as strong as 44 brass.

But to answer your question in regard to brass, compared to recoiljunky' s Hornady brass, all of my 44 and 45LC brass are Winchester.

Both the 44 and the 45LC were the same dimensionally.
case wall thickness- .0110" -.0120"
rim thickness- .0560" -.0570"

A few random thoughts....

Cylinder or chamber strength differences, if there is in fact a difference in strength, lets say Ruger BlackHawk vs. Super Red Hawk for comparison sake, then it is obvious there is a difference in either material or construction. As long as we are talking about the caliber’s in the same style gun, material and manufacturing is the same, it becomes understood that the less material removed from a cylinder the stronger it will be. Fortunately for us we have people like Paco Kelly and John Linbaugh and companies like Freedom Arms and Ruger that push the envelope. Also the reason to know the capability and/or construction of your firearm and work loads up slowly.

I believe when we get down to it we are at the mercy of the manufactures and the cost there of. We have so much technology anything is possible but how much will it cost. We all know that manufactures build from standard frame and cylinder blanks, i.e. small, medium and large frame guns. When more power is requested they change something ever so slightly, requiring a new caliber. IMHO, this reasoning is a two headed beast, the first is for safety sake and a good thing but the other is to make us think we need a new gun and to generate sales, like the .45-70 vs. the 450 Marlin. One is for the reloader and the other is not.

If this discussion is based on modern weapons then at some point even cylinder wall strength become a meaningless conversation due to the extreme over-engineering by the manufacturer to guarantee safety. I don’t have the article directly in hand but if I remember correctly the Ruger Super Redhawk was tested to nearly 90,000-100,000 cup before the cylinder failed. Even at those pressures it was only a cylinder failure, the frame remained perfectly intact and continued firing with a new cylinder. Another reason to know the capability and/or construction of your firearm and work loads up slowly.

Toby