Folks,

I have a chance to get a Winchester 94 barrel in 44-40, was wondering if it can be rechambered into 44 magnum.

The barrel is 20", the barrel after work will have to be at least 18.5" long to comply with silly Canadian gun laws.

Thanks in advance

I suggest you look into hot loading the 44-40 first. Might be all you really need.

No, it can't be just rechambered to .44 Mag.!! The .44/40 is a necked down .45 Long Colt case, and is bigger around at the breech end than the .44 Magnum. You'd have to set the barrel back enough to remove this sloppy condition before rechambering. But it still should be at least the legal length !!

[ 05-27-2003, 22:26: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

You also need to slug the barrel before you start. 44-40 barrels may run from .426" up to .431"; 44 Magnums need at least a .429" barrel.
There are lots of 44 Magnum 1894's out there, it would probably be much cheaper to get one of them instead of trying to re-chamber a fairly rare (at least for an 1894) rifle. You could also give Numrich Gun Parts a call, they may probably have 44 magnum barrels for sale.

Thanks for replies,

The barrel is actually going on an SMLE (see other thread). The guy that advertised 44-40 barrel can read my mind and said he also have .44mag barrel.

Problem solved