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New to the 44-40

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12 February 2004, 01:48
John Y Cannuck
New to the 44-40
So, using it in the '92 Winchester, I find that a lot of the moulds throw bullets that have to be seated in the basement to feed. I guess most are for the 44 mag.
What's your favorite for the 44WCF? Probably with hard bullets (wheelweights)
12 February 2004, 02:57
Calamity Jake
John, I use the Saeco #446 a 200gr pbrnfp in my Uberty 1866
copy. It too is a little long and must be seated to crimp over the front driver to feed. IF you want to try some I will be glad to send ya some.
You might look at Saeco # 444, a true 44-40 bullet as is Lyman #427666 but they both cast at .428� which is a little small for todays guns, my 1866 requires a .430� to shoot good.
12 February 2004, 06:14
John Y Cannuck
Thanks very much, I have three 44mag moulds, two Lymans that are variations of the Kieth design, and a Lee Tumble Lube. The 240gr Kieth designs have to be seated way too deep, and the case mouth ends up with a lip on it that hangs up going into the chamber if I work the action a bit slow. I have not tried the tumble lube job yet, It may work, but I suspect it will also be a bit square mouthed.
My barrel is a modern '94 barrel on my '92, so yes, sizing to .430 is best for accuracy for me, at least so far.
Bore slugged .429
12 February 2004, 07:04
z1r
My favorite for the .44-40 is the lyman 42798 now sold as the 427098. It is nominally a 205 grain flatpoint but mine cast at 225 grains. I use it in my S&W N frame .44-40 or my Marlin 94 in 44 mag. It feeds slick as snot in a levergun.



My favorite for the Marlin is a Lee 240 roundnose. It feeds great, fills the .430" bore better, and shoots tiny little groups. Doesn't displace much powder capacity.
12 February 2004, 09:42
fourarmed
A couple of years ago I had Redman reline my 73 Winchester, which had a bore like the surface of the moon. His ads claim .428" groove diameter, but the one I got slugs .431". That wouldn't be a problem, as my Lee mold drops them a hair over that. My problem is the chamber. It isn't big enough to accept a round loaded with a bullet that size. I experimented a little, and got fair accuracy by sizing .430" and loading a relatively slow powder - 4227. It was very disappointing, though. I have heard that using shotgun buffer will help an undersized bullet. I will report results...if I ever get off my duff and test it.
15 February 2004, 00:38
John Y Cannuck
Bump
I don't understand why this page is so F'n short. It's supposed to be showing posts active within the last three weeks, but is really only showing about ten on my screen.

Anyway

Thanks for all the info, I'm watching Ebay and the gun shows for prospects.
15 February 2004, 00:41
John Y Cannuck
I fixed it!
Anyone having the same problem can go to their "My Home" and adjust "display prefferances" to show 20 threads. This is the supposed default, but mine was set to 10.
23 February 2004, 15:24
sunvale
I have been shooting 44-40 for some time. Now I want to down size the bullet weight to a 165gr bullet. Any of you fellows know of a mold that will cast a .430 in a 44-40 with a weight of 165gr. Id like a 4 or 6 cavity mold if at all possible.
I lucked out and my pistols as well as my 73 all slugged at .429.
Peter
15 April 2007, 23:40
John Y Cannuck
This thread didn't really get a lot of responses, but the help is apreciated.
I finally came to the conclusion, that the .430 bullets just didn't feed well enough. I've gone to sizing to .427. I now even size Hornady Jacketted bullets to .427. They actually end up at .4275 after they grow back a bit.
I used a Winchester bulk .427 to take a whitetail doe last fall, at less than 50 yards, with the bullet just steaming along, at 950 fps.
The sized .427 Hornady, shoots best in my rifle. I'm still trying to get a load above 950fps that will shoot accurately though.


The only problem with being Canadian, is the presence of Liberals
Canadian Liberal Government= Elected Dictatorship!