Cast bollits for 44/40

[Toad]

A buddy is looking for bollits for his 44/40 black powder rifle. He used to use Blackdog 200-205 gr but can't get them anymore. What is a good replacement.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Lyman has always listed their mold #42798 as the original design for the 44-40. Check with their most recent catalog to see if that design is still in production or else look at what LEE or Saeco has to offer. LLS

[Outpost75]

If you intend to use smokeless powder, you need a bullet having a crimp groove. The Ideal.bullet does not,because it was designed to be used with a compressed charge of blackpowder, which provided base support to prevent compression from the magazine spring driving the bullet deeper into the case. Accurate mods has several well proven designed especially for the .44-40.

If you intend to load black powder Accurate 43-215C is the bullet of choice.

144280144281

[Harry O]

I have tried several different 44-40 moulds and none of them feed reliably in my Uberti 1873 Winchester clone. That includes the 42798, Saeco, RCBS, Rapine, and NEI. Some do not have any crimping groove, which is a problem unless you use a full case of black powder. I have had the bullet telescope into the case several times with the 42798 even though I tried even smaller neck expanders.

The other problem is that the crimp groove that is in the others is in the wrong place. The OAL of the seated bullet is too long to feed in that particular gun. There can also be problems with short OAL's, but that is not usually a problem. The ONLY cast bullet that I have found that works every time is ones I purchase that are made with Magma moulds.

Any bullet mould works with the Colt SAA or their clones. I have been told that a Winchester 1892 (or their clones) are not as critical about the OAL, but I cannot confirm or deny that.

[happy7]

I sell these
http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=275
144260
(http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=275)

[JeffinNZ]

First and foremost he doesn't need super hard boolits. 40-1 will do just fine for the intended purpose. Commercial boolits are unnecessarily hard for his application.

Secondly don't let him be fooled into the .427 .44-40 classic bullet. He needs something that fits his throat.

[Toad]

Thanks guys, yes he will be using black powder, he shoots cowboy action at our club. He dosn't do any casting, so he's looking to buy them.

[runfiverun]

he will probably be looking for something in the 20 or 30-1 [lead to tin] ratio with a large lube groove and actual black powder lube [something like Beeswax, Crisco, and lanolin] and sized to 430.

the boolit happy 7 shows above would fit the Bill if the alloy and lube were correct.

[Larry Gibson]

http://www.cowboybullets.com/thumbnail.asp?file=assets/images/44-200_thumbnail.jpg&maxx=150&maxy=0 (http://www.cowboybullets.com/44-cal-200-grain_p_21.html)

Desperado Cowboy Bullets also sells these and they are of excellent quality and cast of 20-1.

http://www.cowboybullets.com/44-Caliber_c_10.html

Larry Gibson

[Coconino]

Desperado makes a great bullet for smokeless, I use them in .38 wcf and .38-55. My experience 7 years ago with real black powder and the DCB bullets was a disaster - heavy fouling within 10 rounds in a rifle. DCB b would work fine with substitutes.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Have several Winchester 92's in caliber 44WCF. They range in needed bullet diameter .430 all the way up to .434+. My oldest is a second year and the newest is from 1912. Barrel groove varies in the ones I have. And Throats are all over the place. The fatter the throats the better they will shoot 3F over smokeless. But then that is what the cartridge and 92 was designed to do.
For BP (3F) I use at least groove diameter or groove +.001 cast of 40-1 or range scrap. My favorite bullet today is the Saeco 443 a 220 grainer + - depending on alloy. For smokeless I use Groove +.002. I do not hot rod my old Winchesters so 9 grins of Unique is the top load with 7-8 grains my common load.
Have several molds in the 200 grain area I have lapped out especially for the Fat throated barrels. The Saeco drops at .432 with range scrap so it gets used alot. Have used a NEI 260 grain mold in that Fat throat SRC as it drops at 434+ using 40-1. With a case of 3F it is chugging along at about 1050 fps from the 20 inch barrel. I do not see it as a over 50 yard issue as the barrel is not the best and 3 inches at 50 yards is all I can count on. But that heavy slug will mash anything that gets in its way. Out of the 24 inch barrels that big NEI picks up another 75 FPS or so.
Mike in Peru

[bhn22]

People buy bullets?

When did this start?

[cajun shooter]

I've been shooting the 44wcf since 1971 with both BP and that new powder. My first question is what rifle does the person have. The reason is that I've owned the rifles made in Brazil and in Italy. The Taurus rifle is the design of the Winchester 92 and the rifles made in Italy are by Uberti and a copy of the models 60, 66 and 73 Winchesters that are known as the toggle bolt guns. They are for the most part all sized with a barrel of .427 which is the standard settled on by most gun companies a long time ago for the 44wcf cartridge.
The problem has been that these gunmakers have drifted from this for various reasons like equipment wear and mistakes made by employees.
Marlin and Ruger have guns that go from one end to the other in size. Marlin decided to make the 44wcf rifles with the same bore size as the other 44 guns made by them which leads to bad accuracy and leading problems.
I've owned about 5 or 6 rifles made by Taurus and imported by Interarms and they have all been .427. The same has been true of the two Uberti model 73 rifles.
I don't understand the poster who had problems with a 73 as it has what is known as a elevator type of carrier and feeds very easy as long as you load to the correct OAL. The 92 rifles also load very easy if you adhere to the oal.
I shoot the bullet that I designed with Tom at Accurate Molds and they feed very well along with having good accuracy.
It's the 43-210B which is a design taken from the Lyman 427098( today's number). This bullet was the original design for the 73 Winchester.
Slug your bore and check all of the dimensions to make sure the rifle is within correct measurements.
The bullet designed by my friend w30wcf is the 43-215C and it has proven to be a good one to use also.
Look at the site on this forum by Springfield which goes by Whytesleather as he sells bullets as those I talked about. I shoot bullets that are sized to .429 out of my guns. Take care David

[MT Chambers]

NOE makes a lovely mold for 200grain boolits at .432" for the .44 Wcf. and are avail. in Canada from M.T. Chambers supply.