44 special/44-40

[w30wcf]

I recently came upon a "bubba'd" original M92 in 44-40. Spent quite a bit of time getting it functional and safe to use (another story) though it was inherently sound and cycles smoothly. The groove diameter is 0.433. While it shoots usably with .427 200gr slugs (they seem to "bump up" to fill the barrel) I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with a similar situation.

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/ind...c,57707.0.html

w30wcf

[w30wcf]

A carbide neck sizing die for the .44-40....
41 Magnum carbide die - several years ago I bought the die and had it opened up to neck size .44-40 brass. It works very well for brass used in my Marlin Cowboy rifle.

For my oversized '73 Winchester in which I normally use oversized .436" bullets, a .44 Magnum carbide die neck sizes the case down enough for use with the larger bullets.

w30wcf

[iron brigade]

Not going to wear the die out but you will very likely stick a case in the die . Lube is to keep the case from sticking in the die . Brass is softer than steel and would not wear the die . I have a set of C&H .22-250 dies with a case that has been stuck for 45 years . I left it in the die and keep it on my bench to remind myself to never again forget to lube the case .

Eddie

P.S. Who do you shoot while skirmishing with your Uberti ?

Hi Ed
Skirmishing is not re-enacting, they shoot blanks. Skirmisher's break stuff. I shoot with the ACWSA, similar to the NSSA. Boat load of fun.
Say, if anyone has a rear sight for the Henry I need one. Prefer the rich cross sight if I can find one.

[1Hawkeye]

Iron , try s&s firearms they have a lot of skirmishing parts and supplies.

[Walkingwolf]

If your Henry has a tight chamber, you will get hang ups if the case is not sized enough slide in smoothly. This is a common problem with straight walled cases. Try a limited number of rounds, and test them with a dirty gun to see if they feed.

[Me not you]

I tried a batch of these and got the rifle shooting decently (finally, after key holing bullets scattering all over the paper using soft 0.427 to 0.430 bullets):
https://www.montanabulletworks.com/p...-220gr-owc-pb/
Best of all, they feed through the action with absolutely no problems.
The bottom of the grease groove is just above the bottom of the case neck with FL resized cases.

[iron brigade]

Me not you,
Do you get any bore leading with that bullet?
I have found I have to use 20:1 lead/tin or the bore leads terribly.
Also I have to use a good lube. While shooting the rifle in competition, we shoot 3 relays and usually shoot 15-20 rounds. So 50-60 per event.

The barrel gets quite hot. I do wear a leather glove on my left hand. 5 of us on the team shoot the Uberti Henry, and all size to .429 bullet .dia.

[w30wcf]

I tried a batch of these and got the rifle shooting decently (finally, after key holing bullets scattering all over the paper using soft 0.427 to 0.430 bullets):
https://www.montanabulletworks.com/p...-220gr-owc-pb/
Best of all, they feed through the action with absolutely no problems.
The bottom of the grease groove is just above the bottom of the case neck with FL resized cases.

Glad to see that you have had some success. Interesting looking bullet. I see they offer a .433" bullet as well... https://www.montanabulletworks.com/p...-230gr-swc-gc/

The original .44-40 b.p. velocity was 1,300 f.p.s. with 200-217 gr bullets. What powder / charge weight are you using to try and replicate?

w30wcf

[Me not you]

The original .44-40 b.p. velocity was 1,300 f.p.s. with 200-217 gr bullets. What powder / charge weight are you using to try and replicate? w30wcf

First I must confess to committing a bit of heresy for this thread. I'm using Unique, not black.

I don't have a chronograph, but with Quickload, I get 1225 fps and 13,000 psi. Being an explosive, black reaches peak pressure before the bullet leaves the case. Unique does so when the bullet is almost entirely out of the case. The barrel is badly corroded, especially back towards the chamber (old primers and lack of cleaning many years ago?) but the rifling is strong all the way along the bore. If it were smooth and shiny I'd be more willing to use black. I could be sure of getting all the fouling out after. The bore is certainly way oversize and I'm using samples of purchased cast bullets to find what works. I also tried some soft 0.430 bullets with Green Dot. That combination did better than all the previous loads, but was completely eclipsed by the 0.432 OWC slug. It's actually my wife's rifle, and she's becoming quite a good shot with it. She's very pleased with the way it shoots.

[w30wcf]

I have an oversized '73 (.435" average groove) with a rough barrel. With that rifle, the cleaner burning b.p.'s (Olde Ensyford & Swiss) in combination with a large lube grooved bullet (Accurate 43-215C) filled with SPG will, thankfully, shoot accurately for many rounds.
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=43-215C-D.png

That bullet also works well with smokeless and a mold can be ordered in the diameter that one requires.

Alliant data from 2006 shows 1,100 fps in a 24" barrel with 8.5/Unique generating 12,400 CUP but that was with a 200 gr. jacketed bullet.

w30wcf

[Me not you]

"Alliant data from 2006 shows 1,100 fps in a 24" barrel with 8.5/Unique generating 12,400 CUP but that was with a 200 gr. jacketed bullet."

I'm caalculating higher pressure and velocity with slightly less powder. Quickload is inherently more conservative than most reloading manuals. Your data is no surprise. What I like about Quickload is it lets me try a variety of powders and bullets with at least safe results (within the limits of the program), in combinations you won't find in most reloading manuals. In any event, with the rifle being made in 1894, I prefer not to push it very hard. I used it to try GreenDot with 200gr bullets to see if I got better bullet fill of the bore without overdoing it. That's not a common combination in reloading manuals.

I can "tweak" the inputs in Quickload to be closer to real world, by using the capacity of a fired case, working the bore cross-sectional area, bullet hardness and so on.