.44 WCF 240gr loads

[SPQR476]

Gents,
Hi to all. I'm new around here, and looking for some 240gr .44WCF pistol data. I've searched to no avail...maybe my search-fu needs work.

Anyway, I'm working on loads for a Cimarron Model P in .44 WCF. My bore slugs .4295, and my chamber throats .430. I have a 4 3/4" Bbl. I am using starline brass, WW LP primers, and currently working with Unique. I currently plink with 205gr boolits sized .430 and 9.0gr of Unique, which gives me 840 fps. I am trying to work up a load for 240gr RFN lead from Missouri Bullet company for a good "woods" load with a little more "oomph". I am currently at 7.0 gr of Unique, which gives me 745 fps. I have no extraction or primer signs, and my case heads measure exactly the same as 8.0gr Unique loads with the 205gr boolits. Do I keep going, or is this about where I should call it a day? This load exceeds what I've seen published for 240 gr loads in the caliber, but the velocity is low, and as before, no signs of pressure. This is my first SAA clone, and although I've reloaded for 20 years, I've never worked anything up for one of these.

Does anyone have any good 240 gr loads for the .44 WCF?

Thanks!

[BerdanIII]

I've shot some 246-gr LSWC's in a Model 92; I'll see if I still have the notes. I think I used 8.0 grains of Unique, but can't swear to it. Sharpe has some pistol data going up to 250 grains with Unique and Bullseye; if you need it, I'll post it.

[SPQR476]

I've shot some 246-gr LSWC's in a Model 92; I'll see if I still have the notes. I think I used 8.0 grains of Unique, but can't swear to it. Sharpe has some pistol data going up to 250 grains with Unique and Bullseye; if you need it, I'll post it.

The pistol data would be fantastic. I appreciate it!

[Coffeecup]

I used 9.1 grains of Unique with the Keith SWC; load was sourced from PB Sharpe's "Complete Guide To Handloading." He gave a maximum of 9.3 grains Unique with that weight bullet, with a nominal velocity of 930 fps. I don't know what the actual velocity was, but it matched the sights in an old Great Western.

[BerdanIII]

What Coffeecup said. Barrel length on the test gun was 5.5".

I couldn't find my notes, but recoil was noticeably greater than the 200-gr bullets I used before. I will post the Sharpe data on Friday unless Mr. Cup beats me to it (Got out of an appointment early, didn't expect to make it to the library today.)

[BerdanIII]

From Sharpe:

244-gr cast - seating depth 0.320" - 5.5" barrel
4.0 - Bullseye - 630 fps
5.0 - Bullseye - 720 fps
6.4 - Bullseye - 845 fps

5.0 - Unique - 620 fps
7.0 - Unique - 760 fps
9.3 - Unique - 935 fps

250-gr Ideal
3.0 - Bullseye - 545 fps
4.5 - Bullseye - 690 fps
6.5 - Bullseye - 890 fps

5.0 - Unique - 620 fps
7.0 - Unique - 780 fps
9.4 - Unique - 965 fps

[9.3X62AL]

Interesting data, that.

One of the ideas I've had on the Back Burner for a while is to get a revolver to match up with my '73 Winchester in 44-40 WCF. From test firing of 240-250 grain boolits in the carbine, I've proven to my satisfaction that its 1-38" twist won't sufficiently stabilize boolits of that length at the 900-1000 FPS limit of the platform with that bullet weight. The targets show evidence of boolit tipping, and the groups are more like patterns from a 12 gauge at similar ranges. About 'full choke', I'd call it. :)

The revolvers use a 1-16" to 1-20" twist, though--and I'm certain that at 700-900 FPS the bullets of that length would be stabilized well.

I lean toward a Bisley Blackhawk in 44 Magnum, and having a swap cylinder made in 44-40 WCF throated to jibe with whatever groove diameter its barrel dictates. One of these days.

[BerdanIII]

From: Speaking "Frankly", Grandpa Jim's Custom Favorite .44-40, The Fouling Shot , 50-4, July-August 1984.

"…Since Jim was quite familiar with the Russian and Smith & Wesson get-together with the .44 Russian S&W revolver and cartridge resultant, and since his new '92 Winchester could stand the new smokeless powder, Jim insisted on a 20" twist in his custom-cut Winchester, or "Just what the H*** does custom made mean?" The idea was, he was going to hand load using bullets of a weight known to work fine in the .44 Russian with smokeless loads. In a .44-40 they would be that much better, and to his logical mind it was that simple. The flat nose requirement in a tube magazine was no problem, as he and the Ideal people would work that one out.

Not only that, but he wanted his custom-cut M-92 to have a .427" groove diameter and a minimum chamber, as that's what he meant t o get for his money, and he did, along with a 14" pull on a little straighter than normal stock with what they then called a shotgun butt. The wood was their deluxe grade, but straight grained, and the barrel was the 24" standard weight with a half-length magazine. All metal was regular Winchester blue with no engraving.

The 14" pull made that rifle a snap shooting natural fit, perfect for Jim's 6'3" frame, and the standard octagon barrel was hefty enough to " stay steady on what you were swinging down on", and it pointed "right where you were looking right now".

…Jim's idea o f a .44-40 with the new cool burning smokeless powder was a combo slinging a 245 gr. flat nose slug at 1400 f.p.s., which he realized with Unique when it became available around 1900. I know he didn't care to shoot smokeless factories in his '73 until later on when he learned they held them down because of those old '73 Winchesters and Colts made for black powder.

A big satisfaction from his 20" twist was that when Remington brought out their .44-40 pump gun, it had a 20" twist and shot better than the 36" twist Winchester, even with factory loads. After smokeless powder came on as standard, he felt they should have gone to the fast twist especially in the late '92s, even though it was a black powder rifle to start with. It is just as amazing now t o see the resurgence of interest in rifles for the .44 Mag. with 240 grain bullets as standard, in the slower twist of 38", which is still too slow even at the magnum velocities in rifles.

…Jim had many fine guns, but that '92 Win. was his pet, and his final standard load was with Unique to give the 250 grain flattened nose Russian slug about 1400 f.p.s. mean velocity between the muzzle and 100 yards. Today I still use a similar load, with old Unique, in a Marlin M-94 Sporter in .44 Mag. It shoots pretty good, but not like Jim's 20" twist. I use the B&M flattened nose #429240 PB B.O.W.M. form, similar to but a little shorter than Jim used, and size them .430" for my .429" groove.

Jim's .427" groove shot best with exact groove size bullets, but they later figured out that in his tight chamber, the inside of a fired case neck was about .4275", which is how Pope and the other masters used to get their kind of accuracy.

As long as Jim kept his loads down in that 1400 f.p.s. area his cases stretched very little in that close headspaced rifle, and practically no case swell was evident to the naked eye. The only thing that separated that rifle from a target rifle was that after about seven shots in warm weather or 10 shots in cool weather, the group might walk North a little. Grandpa would kid about that by saying if he had to shoot that much at a buck that wasn't even shooting back, he'd quit huntin'.

Funny thing was, that rifle would put a couple high when it warmed up, and then settle back to center and shoot all afternoon, which I found out when we had a big shoot out on the river."

According to Lyman, 1400 fps with a 250-gr bullet is .44 Magnum territory. I know that Model 92's have been rebarreled to .44 Magnum, but I'd think twice (or more) about uncorking that kind of load in .44-40 brass, perfect headspace and tight chamber or not.