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44 bisley
- Thread starter billybob1
- Start date
It would not be hard to do, but I don't know why you'd want to.
The correct bullet diameter of a 44-40 is .427. A 44 mag is .429" and some run as large as .431". So you would not get good accuracy unless you used
.429"-.430" bullets.
You should also change the expander in the loading die to .001" under bullet size.
If you did that you should get very good accuracy, but no better than just loading the 44 mag down to 900 FPS with a 200-225 grain bullet, or using a 44 special at the same velocity and bullet weight.
Seems like a lot of work to do for nothing in return to me, but hey.......that's just my opinion.
The correct bullet diameter of a 44-40 is .427. A 44 mag is .429" and some run as large as .431". So you would not get good accuracy unless you used
.429"-.430" bullets.
You should also change the expander in the loading die to .001" under bullet size.
If you did that you should get very good accuracy, but no better than just loading the 44 mag down to 900 FPS with a 200-225 grain bullet, or using a 44 special at the same velocity and bullet weight.
Seems like a lot of work to do for nothing in return to me, but hey.......that's just my opinion.
Jim Watson
New member
A .44-40 reamer will not "clean up" a .44 Magnum chamber.
The WCF is faintly bottlenecked and larger near the base, but the thin brass and smaller nominal bullet make it smaller in the neck. It would work after a fashion but I would not expect great accuracy and brass life would be short.
There was a guy who rechambered Herters .401 Power Mag to .38-40 with a similar situation. He said it would not affect the shooting, but then he was advertising a service.
The WCF is faintly bottlenecked and larger near the base, but the thin brass and smaller nominal bullet make it smaller in the neck. It would work after a fashion but I would not expect great accuracy and brass life would be short.
There was a guy who rechambered Herters .401 Power Mag to .38-40 with a similar situation. He said it would not affect the shooting, but then he was advertising a service.
This thought had crossed my mind,but,for me,I do not think I will pursue it.
As I understand how it all works,the 38-40 and 44-40 ,with the thin brass and shallow bottleneck,could feed up into a lever action chamber well,and the brass obturated very well to keep the black powder fouling forward of the case mouth.
What I was wondering about: Necking down modern,strong 45 Colt brass to feed a .44 magnum barrel.Rim size is pretty much the same.So,this would be a hot rodding effort.
In theory,some case capacity could be gained,and turning the corner into a lever gun chamber would be easier.Mag tube would be the same.
On balance,a straight sided pistol case is real easy to work with.Ideas!!Get a lot of them,life and money are too short to chase them all!!This one did not make my list.
As I understand how it all works,the 38-40 and 44-40 ,with the thin brass and shallow bottleneck,could feed up into a lever action chamber well,and the brass obturated very well to keep the black powder fouling forward of the case mouth.
What I was wondering about: Necking down modern,strong 45 Colt brass to feed a .44 magnum barrel.Rim size is pretty much the same.So,this would be a hot rodding effort.
In theory,some case capacity could be gained,and turning the corner into a lever gun chamber would be easier.Mag tube would be the same.
On balance,a straight sided pistol case is real easy to work with.Ideas!!Get a lot of them,life and money are too short to chase them all!!This one did not make my list.