Heavy Bullets in the 44-40?

[Andy_P]

I have a Win M1892 in 44-40 with a large bore - 0.434" All my 44 cal molds in the 200-250gr range are way undersized, but I have a couple of heavy molds in the 320gr range that would fit the bore.

I know that the base would extend below the shoulder and that the twist might not stabilize a bullety that heavy, but I'd like to try.

Has anyone here tried this? Can anyone suggest loads? I need to keep the pressure in the 15K range, and would prefer consistent, not-sticking-a-bullet-in-the-bore velocities, likley in the 800 fps range. It might not work well, but would be fun to try.

I'm thinking:

7.0 grs of Unique
16.0 grs of H110 or H4227

[missionary5155]

Heaviest I have is a Rapine mold that drops a 260 grain at .436 which works fantastic in my 1892 44-40 (27xxx)... 8-10 grains of Unique I can shoot 3 inch rocks out to 70 yards all day long. Why not just "Bump" up your undersize Boolits.... I regularly do this with 200 grain origonal ( 44wcf Winchester mold)... easy to do.
OR go to Casting Felows... John Goins... Bullet Diameter Enlarging... Excellent solution !

[Trailblazer]

Have you checked the COL with the heavy bullet? Will it feed or is it going to be a single shot? That is the problem I have with my 1873 when I look at heavier bullets.

[6pt-sika]

I have a pair of Marlin semi recent manufacture 44-40's . Both were made since 1998 !

And the barrels used for these are the same as the barrels used for the present manufacture 1894CB's in 44 MAG . So I size to .430" .

Anyway the heaviest I have used so far has 250 grainers with pretty decent accuracy !

Now if I ever get my hands on an "original" Marlin 1894 in 44-40 that was made 1920 or earlier I will most likely change my bullet selection a bit [smilie=1:

[Andy_P]

Have you checked the COL with the heavy bullet? Will it feed or is it going to be a single shot? That is the problem I have with my 1873 when I look at heavier bullets.

It will "just" feed the bullet in question at an OAL of 1.650". The bullet is 0.905" long.

[26Charlie]

I have the Rossi M92 copy .44-40, and have the best accuracy with the 44-200-FP from RCBS and the SAECO 446 which is quite similar. Both are around 200 gr. I have tried the Lyman 429434 which is about 240 gr. and the groups are not that much larger, maybe 3 1/2" instead of 2 1/2" at 100 yds., but it is a GC bullet and requires a Lee factory crimp die since there is no crimp groove. This doesn't really matter, but is extra operations and cost for the GCs, and only gains 40 gr. of bullet weight. In the big picture, up to 100 yards I don't think much is gained.