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When Winchester introduced the 44-40 cartridge in 1873, the vast majority of American hunters, both individual and commercial, used muzzleloaders.
I'd guess the majority were like Hawkens or...

Got it figured out, and thank you. I'll describe the whole thing here, for the next poor guy with this problem.
Yes, it's the kind of indicator you show.
Found an ancient parts list on-line; here...

Thank you, sir; that would be great. Looking from the rear, it seems the diameter of the indicator shaft would intersect the bottom of the sight. It's possible the indicator has a notch in the shaft,...

I have a really nice Star Super in 9mm Largo, but the loaded chamber indicator is broken at the tip. Sometimes it jams on the rim and fails to go into battery; and sometimes it works but badly...

.452/.453 made for ACP. Have also used .454 made for Long Colt but they tend to be too heavy, and the extra length restricts the available powder space. Theoretical diff between ACP and 455 is only...

I have a shaved-for-45ACP MKIV, for which I load black powder (what it was made for) Whether using ACP in half-moon clips or 45 Auto Rim brass, I just used ordinary 45 ACP dies. The case mouth...

Just for fun, and comparison, I want to load some 32 Winchester Special in black powder, as ostensibly that's the reason it was invented. But I find the internal volume of modern cases can vary...

Nope, no liquid; and not-quite full drum, 3/4 or a bit more, to ensure good circulation. Must admit I do spend some time poking the rice bits out of primer holes, but I'm never in a hurry anyway, and...

Hmmmm..., never thought it could get so complex or expensive. I have a big Lortone rubber-drum tumbler for the big stuff, and a little Thumbler's Tumbler for small lots of pistol like 44-40 & 455...

Here are the notes I made after successfully reforming:

Bullet, closest I could get: .446 dia 385 grain flat nose RCBS from Montana

Flare the case heavily to accept the bullet; leave the flare...

OK, guys, I rounded up brass and measured it, as below. But first, I want to make sure everyone understands where I’m coming from:
1. All brass was purchased in a single lot of once-fired NATO brass...

I understand, and greatly appreciate, all the responses and detailed information. I will likely plump for an X-die just for the extra margin of safety. And I'll see if I have some of that LC brass...

Yeah, Gnostic, I've only re-reloaded a few that came from my gun, just to see. They worked fine, but I don't plan to make a habit of it: takes too much time to find the ejected brass, then sort...

I used the same Lee dies I used on the preceding 1100 -or-so cases.

Love my C308; over 1200 rounds thru it without a hitch, very accurate, amazingly little recoil, and easy to reload for. I use 150 Gr boat-tail spitzers over 40 Grns 3031, COAL 2.800; full-power...

Whatever, you just keep clutching your research in the face of actual physical reality. My pieces have all had a solid ridge on the chamber, corresponding to the longer 56mm cartridge, followed by a...

17Nut, your professed research and knowledge seem impressive, but permit me to present some conflicting facts:

1. I have two rifles now, and had a 3rd previously, that perfectly accept the...

Since 45-70 brass is almost 1/8" too short, I use StarLine 45-90 brass, shortened to the correct length. Verified my chamber length by chambering one piece of brass and trimming a bit, over & over,...

No disagreement about headspace causing your primer issues, but for those cracked necks: you have a heavily-compressed wad below the shoulder, looking like it's full case body diameter. When fired,...

Scorpion, there are two guys on Gunbroker.com making excellent .439 bullets specifically for the 43 Spanish; just search for "43 Spanish Bullets." And Buffalo Arms sells two excellent bullets for the...

Another route is to check eBay: there's always a few (5 right now) Model 11 barrels available, many with screw-on chokes, polychokes, or Lyman chokes (often with Cutts compensator) already in place....

Interesting, and I'll be fascinated to see the results of various compression levels. In my utterly ignorant mind, I would think that heavy compression, that turns the powder in a fairly solid slug,...

Yup, me too; but the point is that if you can't stuff 20 grns 3f in there, you also can't get 20 grns 4f in. But 18.5 grains of 4F would about roughly the performance of the original charge of 20...

When dealing with modern solid-head cases that do not have enough room for the original charge, I will go to the next finer grain size to achieve original performance. For instance, you couldn't get...

The front sight is there, barely visible in the poor photo, set well back from the muzzle as they were.
I unsweated the rear sight (correct carbine type) because it was damaged, before I stopped...