Ancient History Part 2

August 28, 2014

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Colt’s Frontier Six Shooter, paired to a Winchester 1873, both in .44 WCF, started it all.

An outdoorsman having both rifle and revolver capable of using the same ammunition back in the frontier era was well armed. The concept still works. I’ve always advocated .357 rifles and revolvers, and used a variety of .44 Magnum rifles and revolvers over the years, but until very recently I never owned either a .44-40 rifle or revolver. So, I have corrected that sin of omission.

  On GunBroker I found a Marlin 1894S chambered in .44-40. It was not a cataloged model, but part of a special run of less than a thousand guns made for Jerry’s Sport Shops of Pittston, PA, back in 1993. These were serial numbered in a unique range prefaced with the digits 4440. I bought the used rifle for a “shooter’s”, rather than a “collector’s” price, so it was a really great deal. My Marlin .44-40 is identical to my 1894S in .44 Magnum except for its chambering. It has the cross-bolt safety, which I prefer (I’ve never trusted half-cock safeties)!  Its round barrel has 12-groove Microgroove rifling with 38” twist, 0.430" groove diameter and .447” diameter chamber neck, permitting safe release clearance of 0.431" bullets assembled into Starline brass. My .44 Magnum 1894S requires that cartridges not exceed 1.61” overall length, but the .44-40 will feed rounds up to 1.70 OAL,” the length of my Ruger Super Blackhawk cylinder!   First half of my combo was done.  Then, to get a .44-40 cylinder for my Ruger to complete it.

In planning my .44-40 revolver, I had no interest in shooting black powder.  Nor did I want to be restricted in load choice by strength limitations of older black powder action designs or be hindered by the confusing variety of incompatible barrel, bullet and chamber dimensions. It made sense to do whatever it took to get a custom cylinder made for my Ruger, which matched my Marlin’s chamber dimensions so that ammunition could be loaded for use in both two guns and be truly interchangeable. In practice that has worked out exactly as I hoped that it would. 

  I would not shoot factory .44-40 ammo, of either jacketed or Cowboy persuasion, except, for academic curiosity. My objective was to exploit the potential of the .44-40 cartridge, using smokeless powder, in strong, modern firearms, using common .44 Magnum dimensioned .429-.430 bullets. This goal was met and produced satisfactory results in both power and accuracy.

   My lack of interest in black powder doesn’t exclude simple loading tools and cast bullets.  Among my black powder stuff I discovered a CVA Titan pistol flask with 20-grain fixed tube which throws 20 grains of 3Fg black. It came with a cap & ball revolver I no longer own. See:   I always felt that using Lee dip powder measures with my 310 tool was a nuisance.  I do enjoy occasional indulgence in primitive hand tool nostalgia by camp fire light, so I weighed charges thrown by the CVA measure using powders I had on hand to see if any had potential. 

  A 20-grain black powder flask tube equates in volume to RCBS Little Dandy Rotor #19, which throws 7.8 grains of Red Dot, 10 grains of Unique or WST or 15.4 grains of  #2400. The #2400 charge is a Group 1 load suggested by Alliant for the .44-40. Faster powders produce full-charge Group 2 loads with 200-grain bullets suitable for the Winchester ’92 and 1894 Marlin, or Ruger revolvers and are useful in the .44 Magnum as “medium velocity” loads approximating .45 Colt energy.  These charges also make good plinker loads in my .30-‘06 hunting rifles. 

  So, I stashed that CVA flask in an ammo box with my Lyman Tong Tools and dies, along with a 3x5 card listing appropriate charges for the calibers I load!  I then tried using my .44 Magnum tong tool dies to load .44-40s.  The muzzle resizer reduces .44 Mag brass MUCH more than needed. But, on .44-40s it kisses the neck just enough so that the Accurate 43-200Q heeled bullet is a snug push-fit, inserting it into the case mouth with the fingers. The .44-40 case body is too large to enter the .44 Magnum 310 seater die. My field expedient method of loading is to insert a bare Accurate 43-200Q bullet base into the case mouth, then smear a pea-sized dab of any soft grease around its shank with the fingers, before pushing the bullet nose against a table edge until it stops against its nose flange, wiping off any excess grease with a rag. 

  Accurate’s 43-200Q bullet is the easy fix for .44-40 rifles having tight chamber necks, combined with worn throats or large groove diameters. It is not unusual to find .44-40s with chamber necks, too tight to chamber rounds assembled with bullets of barrel groove diameter. The 43-200QL has a larger lube groove intended for black powder use. I got the standard one.

Push-seated bullets held by friction only, work in tubular magazine rifles as-is.  For revolvers you should crimp to prevent inertial dislodgement. The Lee .44-40 seater die works well to separately roll crimp the case mouth, neatly into the groove under the enlarged nose flange of 43-200Q.  With soft alloy no harder than 10 BHN, this reshapes the nose flange into a front band which conforms to the seating die interior, so that cartridges chamber easily. With harder alloy, bullets should be sized to throat diameter and loaded in the normal manner, thus leaving the smaller diameter shank is untouched, to fit old guns with tight-necked chambers! A .303 British priming chamber in the 310 tool primes .44-40 brass just fine if you have one.  

My .44-40 and .44 Magnum Marlin barrels both slug .430 groove. The Marlin .44-40 action closes with resistance on Starline brass loaded with a .432 bullet (.447 neck).  Bullets are sized .430” for both guns. My Ruger .44 Magnum barrel is .429”, so I inquired about having a .44-40 cylinder made with chambers closer to the Marlin’s neck diameter with .430 throats. 

  John Taylor is a skilled gunsmith and clever mechanic who has done other work for me.   He’s done Ruger cylinders before and had a suitable .44-40 reamer which cut a .446” diameter neck, slightly tighter than the Marlin’s chamber, with .4305” diameter cylinder throats, perfectly suited for loading .430 bullets in new Starline brass. I had Erik Ohlen hone the sliding collar in my Lee Factory Cramp Die from .4425 up to .4455 so that bullets are not reduced smaller than .430 inside the case, but to “kiss” the case necks only. Upon return the .44-40 cylinder fitted to my Super Blackhawk had only 0.004” cylinder gap, zero end shake and perfect lockup. 

  Because people will ask, a New Model Blackhawk or original Vaquero cylinder is too short to fit the Super BH frame window. John used a Hamilton Bowen cylinder blank (cost $300). Cost to line-bore, fit and chamber the cylinder runs about another $300 or so. Add to that the cost of a custom chamber reamer, if your gunsmith doesn’t already have one of the correct dimensions, bluing the finished cylinder, shipping and insurance both ways. Total costs approaches that of a good used gun, but is MUCH cheaper in both money and frustration than buying an unknown used .44-40 revolver, to find out that its barrel and chamber dimensions are incompatible, so that the gun won’t shoot accurately or be able to also use your rifle ammo, defeating the whole purpose of the rifle-revolver combo. A custom, strong, modern wheelgun, skillfully executed, having correct dimensions, which digests any load I can stuff in my Marlin is worth every penny! 

  After receiving my Super Blackhawk back, I bought a .44-40 Original Vaquero, a 55-prefix made in 1994 with “too-tight” .425 cylinder throats, with .445 chamber necks and .429” groove diameter barrel. When it arrived, the cylinder went immediately to John to rechamber to match my SBH and it now does and shoots well. I now have both fixed and adjustable sight .44-40 single-action Rugers, one for each hand. Gee, I could hold the reins in my teeth as I galloped down the mountain mumbling, “…fill yer hand you sonofa….” Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself….too many John Wayne westerns! But had such a stout .44-40 revolver been available in Elmer Keith’s day, we might still be shooting “.44-40 Magnum +Ps” and the .44 Magnum might have never seen the light of day! 

  .44-40 cartridges longer than SAAMI maximum length neither fit nor feed in Colts or ‘73s. “Loading Hot Rounds Long” and using .430 bullets, (as are required to fit modern barrels) of .44 magnum dimensions (thus requiring greater chamber neck diameter) all combine, as useful safety features, which preclude inadvertently chambering my .44-40 “+P” loads in weaker guns. Having that additional 1/10th inch of cartridge length addresses Elmer Keith’s main objection to the .44-40, enabling heavier bullets to be seated out, without their bases protruding below the short .44-40 neck. Accurate’s 43-230G is so designed for the .44-40, .44 Special and Magnum. 

  Further exploiting the 8% greater powder capacity of .44-40 brass, compared to the .44 Magnum, facilitates loading compressed charges of Alliant RL7, to support the bullet base just like black powder did. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that RL7 works in the revolver too! 

  Loading .44-40 cartridges requires finesse than do modern handgun rounds, because their case mouths are only 0.007” thick and more fragile. Mastering the task is easy if you slow down and pay attention. Use only Starline cases, because they are slightly stronger and heavier than other makes. When loading .44-40s, don’t seat and crimp bullets in the same operation, thus to avoid buckling the case body. 

  Traditional .44-40 bullets like Ideal #42998 (today’s #429098) didn’t need a crimp groove, because black powder charges were compressed, supporting the bullet base against compression by the magazine spring. Black powder loads didn’t suffer inertial dislodgement in revolvers, because their recoil impulse was much less than with modern magnums. Crimping the case mouth over the ogive of the bullet was adequate. 

  Factory .44-40 loads are very mild, and their pressures not over 13,700 cup. My “Group 2” +P loads, intended for Ruger Vaquero, Winchester 1892 and Marlin 1894, achieve full black powder velocity with modern, fast-burning powders at about 18-20,000 cup, similar to .45 ACP. 

  The old High Velocity loads can be approximated with #2400 or 4227, but in my testing, these powders (while acceptable in full .44 Magnum charges) did not produce acceptable ballistic uniformity or accuracy at levels commonly recommended for the Winchester 92 and Marlin 1894. Velocity spreads for 10-shot strings were over 100 fps, So I won’t use them! 

  A nominal case full of RL7, lightly compressed by a seated bullet, is accurate and powerful enough. You can’t get enough RL7 into a .44-40 case to get into any trouble. A Hercules powder pamphlet from 1995 listed data for a 240 grain lead bullet in the .44-40, using 23.5 grains. of RL-7 for 1,290 fps from a 24" barrel at 12,100 cup, well within SAAMI pressure limits. With Alliant RL7 I get 1300 fps from the Marlin with 22.5 grains using 250-grain bullets long-loaded to 1.69” OAL, and 1,400+ fps with 200-grain cast bullets loaded with 26 grains, also compressed when assembled at the factory 1.61” OAL. With the Accurate 43-230G bullet, 24.5 grains fill the case just to the shoulder being lightly compressed at 1.61” OAL, producing 1353 fps from the Marlin with 3-inch, ten-shot groups with scope at 100 yards and 2 to 2-1/2” groups at 50 yards with iron sights. 

  From the 5-1/2” Ruger velocity with the 230G bullet and 24.5 grains of RL7 was 957 fps and six shot group extreme spreads were within “One Inch Per Ten” (Yards).Good enough, with a very useful, but not punishing power level Some unburned powder does come out with the brass, especially in the revolver, but no worse than with “book” loads of 4227 or #2400 and, unlike with those, velocities were acceptably uniform. So, while RL7 is not the revolver powder of choice, it gave satisfactory results in the 5-1/2” Ruger, such that I would have no hesitation carrying RL7 in full-charge hunting loads as a dual-use, rifle-revolver expedient. 

  When loading less than a case full of smokeless you want a bullet with a crimp groove! While the Ideal bullet and its modern clones are the choice of Cowboy shooters and traditionalists, there are better designs today. If using smokeless powder exclusively you don’t need huge lube grooves. Tumble-on films like LSStuff’s 45-45-10 or Lee Liquid Alox are fully adequate at .44-40 and .44 Magnum velocities. Accurate’s 43-200Q and 43-230G bullets perform well in full charges with modern smokeless lubes such as LSStuff 45-45-10. 

  Faster powders like Trail Boss or Bullseye are preferred for Cowboy action loads. In the Marlin and Rugers, you can safely increase velocity considerably over current factory levels. But, due to very erratic velocities with 4227 and #2400, often recommended for the .44-40, I chose not to recommend them. I got MUCH better velocity uniformity and accuracy with Bullseye. If limited to only one smokeless powder to use in .44-40 rifle and revolver, I would be happy using only 7.2 grains of Bullseye, with any suitable bullet from 200-250 grains, metered with the RCBS Little Dandy rotor #13 in either the Ruger single action wheelguns or Marlins. 

  With 200-grain jacketed bullets 7.2 grains of Bullseye gives 920 fps in the 5-1/2” Ruger and 1140 fps in the Marlin. Lubricated lead cast bullets give higher velocity with the same powder charge, due to reduced bore drag, 200-grain Cowboy slugs from Missouri Bullet giving 970 fps. In the Ruger and 1190 in the Marlin. With 200-grain bullets 7.2 grains of Bullseye is safe in modern smokeless frame Colts and 1873 replicas. With bullets heavier than 200 grains, 7.2 of Bullseye is a Group 2 +P for Winchester 92, Marlins and Rugers only. 

  Using the Accurate 43-230G bullet, seated to factory OAL using the front crimp groove with 7.2 grains of Bullseye velocity was 997 fps from the 5-1/2” Ruger and 1201 fps from the Marlin. This is a Group 2 +P load. This same 7.2 grain Bullseye charge also makes a nice “medium velocity” load in the .44 Magnum, pleasant to shoot, accurate, with good field utility. Getting almost 1000 rounds from a pound of powder is attractive.

  The following table lists my proven .44-40 loads which “work:”

1.   Group 1 loads - safe in modern replica Colt, and Winchester 1873 .44-40 rifles or revolvers: 

• 200-grain (Accurate 43-200Q, wheeweights, .430")

• 15.4 grains Alliant #2400 1178 fps Marlin 1894S 20"

• 6.5 grains Alliant (2012) Bullseye 1142 fps Marlin 1894S 20"

• 7.2 grains OLD (1965) Hercules Bullseye 1178 fps Marlin 1894S, 965 fps Ruger 5-1/2”

• 5.0 grains Red Dot 894 fps Marlin 1894S 20" - Do Not Reduce

• 7.4 grains Red Dot 1203 fps Marlin 1894S 20" - Max., in Colts and link- locked levers

• 24.5 grains RL7 1359 fps Marlin 1894S 20", 901 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

2. Group 2 +P LOADS – for Winchester 1892, Marlin 1894S and RUGER revolvers only: 

• •  200-grain Remington JSP .427", Starline cases, Rem. 2-1/2 primers, OAL 1.60"

    • 8.4 grains Alliant Bullseye 1264 fps Marlin 20", 1000 fps 5-1/2" Ruger

•  200-grain Hornady XTP .430", Starline cases, Rem.2-1/2 primers, OAL 1.60"

  • 8.4 grains Old Hercules Bullseye 1197 fps Marlin 20", 1036 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

• •  200-grain cast lead bullet (Accurate 43-200Q Wheelweights, .430", OAL 1.60")

    • 7.2 grains Alliant Bullseye 1284 fps Marlin 20", 967 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

    • 7.8 grains Red Dot 1248 fps Marlin 20", 1023 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

    • 8.3 grains Red Dot 1317 fps Marlin 20", 1073 fps Ruger 5-1/2"26 grains Alliant RL7 1420 fps Marlin 20", 1050 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

• 230-grain cast lead bullet, (Accurate 43-230G, wheelweights, .430", OAL 1.61")

  • 7.2 grains Alliant Bullseye, 1201 fps Marlin 20”, 997 fps Ruger 5-1/2”

  • 8.3 grains Red Dot 1254 fps Marlin 20", 1027 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

  • 24.5 grains Alliant RL7 1355 fps Marlin 20", 957 fps Ruger 5-1/2"

These loads were safe in my Marlin rifle and Ruger revolver.

Use at your own risk.