44-40 RELOADING

rovernut

I receintly bought a Winchester 1892 rifle, and a Cimeron SAA in 44-40. Upon trying to round up reloading supplies for this caliber, I discovered that brass is not availble locally, and bullets of .427 not in stock. I checked GB and found a little, but not much. trying to save massaive shipping cost, I wondered if bullets for 44 mag could be used? the 44-40 calls for bullets of .427, while 44 mag calls for .429/.430. would cast bullets of .430/429 cause excess pressure? I also see in my old LYMAN reloading manual that loads for the rifle sould not be used in SAA. does that include these new steel copies of the colt?

rufe-snow

I would slug both barrels to see what groove diameter is. Don't see you having any problems using cast lead bullets .001 over groove diameter. If your barrels are .427 dia I wouldn't be pushing it, and order out the correct size bullets rather then using bullets .002/.003 oversize. I doubt very seriously that the modern repo would have a .427 barrel.

cbyerly

I agree with the reply. It is highly unlilkely that the bore is .427. 44Mag bullets will be OK, but they may not feed correctly if the ogive is straigt instead of rounded. Be sure and get a new, modern set of dies. The older sets have seaters for the .427 and will not work with the .429 bullets. I have several original and replica 44-40 rifles and I hate to reload the ammo. It is a pain compared to the 45 Colt.

Old-Colts

Most bullets, jacketed at least, for reloading 44-40's were .425 diameter.

If I remember correctly when you want to use cast lead .429's they typically need to be swaged to the proper diameter in order to use them in prewar Colts and Winchesters.

RCrosby

1. slug bores
2. get a Lee factory crimp die. Super for the thin walled 44-40.
I had great luck with Starline brass for my 44 and 38-40's.

Hawk Carse

Shape counts a lot, you need the "round nose flat point (RNFP)" or a truncated cone to feed through a lever action reliably. The usual .44 Magnum semiwadcutter will seldom work well.

The chamber is what limits bullet diameter. MY 1892 is most accurate with .429" bullets in its Redman reline but I can use them only in thin Winchester brass. So I just buy the nominal .427" bullets from a caster in the SASS club.

You will find load data in two ranges.
The old standard black powder equivalent is meant for revolvers and older rifles like the 1873. There are heavy loads that should be limited to the 1892 Winchester or 1894 Marlin but you do not need those for CAS or casual plinking. Just go with the factory duplicate loads at 1200 fps or so from the carbine, maybe 800 fps from revolver.