Ruger Vaquero 44-40

[sharpshooter79]

Howdy Folks,
I have a Ruger Vaquero in 44-40 that I reload for. I recently got a Lee 200 grain RNFP mold so I could start casting my own lead. I was in for a shock, as my barrel slugs to .429-.430 and my cylinder throat is .425. How I will get any accuracy without leading with this setup in beyond me. I did however buy a 44 mag cylinder here at a local gun show. The throat on this cylinder slugs to .431 however, the barrel to cylinder gap is .007-.008". Is this too large of a gap? Could it cause the frame to cut from the gas escaping between the barrel and cylinder? Thanks!

[John Taylor]

Your 44-40 cylinder can be reamed out, should be about .001"-.002" over groove diameter.
The Cylinder gap on the 44 mag is a little large, .006" is standard. All revolvers are subject to flame cutting, depends on the pressure you are running and how close the frame is to the gap. I have seen several revolvers that are relieved in the area of the gap to try and reduce the problem. Some S&Ws come from the factory with a radius cut in this area. I had an 1858 Remington that was flame cut bad with BP loads.

[Firebricker]

This is very very common in Ruger revolvers the easiest fix is to have them reamed out. You can google "cylinder smith" he does good work from what I hear or hire a local gunsmith. There is also the option of doing it your self. I had a gunsmith do a pair of .45 Colt Rugers for me can't remember the price but it was reasonable. It is a shame that Ruger with great gun designs and modern cnc equipment can't cut a cylinder to the proper dimensions. FB

[sharpshooter79]

I wonder if it would be worth it just to have the 44-40 cylinder re-chambered to 44 mag by a smith? I bet this would not be an easy job either...

[Piedmont]

I wonder if it would be worth it just to have the 44-40 cylinder re-chambered to 44 mag by a smith? I bet this would not be an easy job either...
Not worth it since the base of .44-40 rounds is larger than .44 mags. The gunsmith would have to weld the hole and redrill and no one would see it as a viable solution.

[MtGun44]

Before you ream, make sure that the chamber will accept a .430 boolit seated in a
case or you may be just spending money with no benefit. If the gun will chamber
dummy round with a .430 boolit seated, then having the chambe reamed to .430 and
shooting .430 boolits should work well. Throats that are too large are bad, too, so
be careful here. Hard to ream it smaller. . . . . . .

Bill

[S.R.Custom]

This is a common problem with the Ruger .44-40 revolvers, and the reason I got out of the .44-40 "business" altogether. And it's not just Ruger. I have yet to see a .44-40 revolver or rifle made in the past 40 years that wasn't made with a barrel dimensioned to .44 Spl/Mag specs, namely .430". (Or larger.)

And then the MFRs make the problem worse by cutting the chambers & throats to nominal .44-40 dimensions, meaning that even if you opened up the throats fat enough to pass an acceptably large bullet for the groove diameter, the loaded round would be so fat that you wouldn't be able to chamber it.

(Indeed, if you have an opportunity to buy one of those .44-40/.44Mag convertible Buckeyes Ruger made years ago, KEEP WALKING.)

To me, there are two solutions:

(1) Rebarrel with something .44-40 appropriate, namely a .426" or so groove diameter. The problem with that is, you'll be $900 (minimum) into what is still just a Ruger Single Action.

(2) Get out of the .44-40 business and concentrate on a caliber with similar historical significance and ballistics that won't cause so much heartache, namely, the .44 SPL.

[Casting Timmy]

Try shooting a hollow base bullet with some Unique powder, sometimes you can get it to work that way.

I think this is a common problem with some old black powder rifles. It seems like a lot were bigger in the barrel that what the chamber would allow. I think a lot of it was to account for the powder fouling decreasing the bore size so much.

[downwind]

:
]Before you ream, make sure that the chamber will accept a .430 boolit seated in a
case or you may be just spending money with no benefit. If the gun will chamber
dummy round with a .430 boolit seated, then having the chambe reamed to .430 and
shooting .430 boolits should work well. Throats that are too large are bad, too, so
be careful here. Hard to ream it smaller. . . . . .]


WHAT BILL SAID!

Rugers whole run of 44-40's had same problem They seem to have used 44 spl/mag barrels

GOOD LUCK let us know how it works out

DOWNWIND:guntootsmiley:

[mroliver77]

Before you ream, make sure that the chamber will accept a .430 boolit seated in a
case or you may be just spending money with no benefit. If the gun will chamber
dummy round with a .430 boolit seated, then having the chambe reamed to .430 and
shooting .430 boolits should work well. Throats that are too large are bad, too, so
be careful here. Hard to ream it smaller. . . . . . .

Bill
Could you use a straight reamer to open up the neck portion of the chamber to accept the larger cartridge neck? Then the sizing die would need opened also.
Jay