Need Advice with loading 44-40

[fredj338]

I used to shoot 44-40 in CAS. It took a bit to get dies setup correctly to give reliable ammo that fed in a rifle. The crimp is one factor. Over crimping can cause loss of neck tension & a round failing to chamber. Its a Goldie locks thing, not too little, not too much. The thin cases will stretch quite a bit & have to be checked after each firing so crimp is unifrom.

[Outpost75]

If bullet diameter was an issue don't you think all rounds, not just 1/3, would fail to chamber or to not fit in the gage?

Not necessarily. Variation in case lengths can be the cause. Older .44-40 cases are frequently up to 1.305" whereas new Starline are 1.28-1.285 like their .44 Mag brass. I trim all cases to 1.285, size bullets .429 and use the Redding Profile Crimp die. No issues in any of my .44-40 guns, old Colts, Rugers, Pietta, Uberti, Marlin, Winchester, Rossi.

[BoBSavage]

Troops...

Methinks hwilliam01 found his problem in Post #35,
And his solution in Post #36.

Bow to the God!

[Tall]

Get this and simply size them down to a uniform .429 or even .430
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categ...2/LEE-SIZE-429

I would size them down to .427" and then they would for sure work. I ran a round through my revolver and that is what I came up with for bore dimension on my Uberti SAA. The SAAMI Spec is .427" - .0030" so this ought to be spot on.

[mehavey]

I would recommend the OP size them for as large a diameter as will chamber.
(.429 min to start)