Just picked up the 1866 Winchester from Uberti

These are both good prices.

About a quarter apiece.

There are vendors on GB.com who are asking half again as much. The sad thing is that folks will likely buy it for that price.

"A fool and his money....."
 
Howdy Again

I used to favor Winchester brand 44-40 because it has the thinnest brass at the neck of any. Only about .007 thick. This allows leeway if one has to use 'large diameter' bullets in the order of .429 or .430 because of groove diameter. I would pick up a bag or two at gunshows whenever I ran across it. But it got hard to find Winchester, so these days when I run low I just order direct from Starline. They have 44-40 in stock right now.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/order-online/cowboy-vintage.cfm

44-40 ain't cheap. It usually runs a little bit more than 45 Colt. Starline does not always have it in stock, so it's best to jump on it when it is in stock.
 
DJ

One way I build my stocks of brass is to get reloads at gun shows. There is a guy (Mac's Reloads) who almost always shows up at the shows here in Hampton Roads.

He does a great job with his loads. Good consistency and especially in COL.

I pick up fifty or a hundred rounds at each show, and before long I have the brass I feel I need to remain comfortable.

Up to now, I have not loaded anything as peculiar as .44-40. I may find that my Mac's Reloads technique no longer works because of the case thickness issue and the fact that I can't be certain what brass I will be getting.

He generally separates his brass such that a given box will only have brass with one headstamp. And a lot of his rounds are made with Starline brass.
 
44-40 can be fussy. I know some folks have had bad luck with Remington 44-40. I believe they said the rims were too thick and the extractor did not always grab them, at least that's what I seem to recall. That's why I have always used either Winchester or Starline, never had any problems with either.

Are you going to shoot Black Powder out of it? That's all I shoot in my 44-40 rifles.
 
Do yourself a favor and buy a Redding Profile Crimp die. Nice final crimp. I use mixed brass and have never had a problem but I use 200 grain soft lead bullets that are BP lubed and sized to .427 so they will chamber in my Colts. A 2.2cc dipper of Goex or other BP, seat and crimp a bullet and let 'er rip! This load works well in my Colts and my Uberti '73. Also does just fine in my two original 73's. I have been a cowboy action shooter for 18 years and started with .45's loaded with BP. I switched to .44-40 about 7 years ago and curse myself regularly for not starting out with that caliber.:)
 
Howdy again

Most current 44-40 rifles from Uberti are running .429, but my '73, which was made in the 1980s is .427. At present I own five rifles chambered for 44-40, some are .427, some are .429. I have compromised on .428 as my bullet diameter. I use the Big Lube Mav-Dutchman bullet sized to .428 and lubed with SPG in all my 44-40 rifles now. Yes, 2.2CC of FFg is what I use. It compresses about 1/16" to 1/8" when the bullet is seated.
 
My Uberti revolvers were also sized at .429 and had very poorly made forcing cones. Terrible leading issues since I was shooting .427 bullets.

I re-barreled with proper 44-40 barrels and haven't looked back.

My '66 rifle doesn't have the same problem though.
 
I have two differen Lee molds...

To use for this rifle.

The original is a 240 gr RNFP. The one I just purchased and haven't used yet is a 200 gr RNFP.

I got the second mold on the recommendation of one of our members who cautioned against heavy bullets in that rifle.

It sat well with me since I like a little speed.

I only have a sizer die (Lyman 450 press) for .44 Magnum and I can't recall the actual dimension it sizes to. I think it is .429. I also recall that most of my Lee molds produce a bullet which is slightly larger than the advertised diameter.

I have been traveling a lot and working a lot of hours for the University. I have even turned on my melting pot in about six weeks.

I gotta get my priorities straight.
 
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My Colts would not chamber .429's and the barrels slugged out at .427. My late 80's Uberti and my two original '73's are all .427. A soft lead bullet of .427 or .428 will obdurate into the bore even if the bore is .429-.430.:)
 
Just got a copy of....

....SPG Lubricants BP Reloading Primer.

I am much disappointed to see that the .44-40 is absent from the list of cartridges discussed in the book.

Still I am pretty happy wif it.

Haven't slugged the bore yet.

I bought some Cowboy loads at the last gunshow and the slugs measure .426. Surprisingly smallish.
 
I have been polishing on it.

A discussion came up some time ago about the relative qualities of Neverdull in comparison with Brasso.

For this application, Neverdull works better for me.

I have the 66 as well as a Henry Big Boy in .45LC shining like a ruby in a goats A __ __.
 
....SPG Lubricants BP Reloading Primer.

I am much disappointed to see that the .44-40 is absent from the list of cartridges discussed in the book.

Still I am pretty happy wif it.

Haven't slugged the bore yet.

I bought some Cowboy loads at the last gunshow and the slugs measure .426. Surprisingly smallish.
__________________
Doc
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Howdy Again

I'm going to suggest you try the Big Lube Mav-Dutchman 200 grain bullet in your 44-40 loads if you are going to be shooting Black Powder. My experience with other bullets, even the ones that stated they were for Black Powder, is that they did not carry enough lube to keep the bore lubed its entire length. Most 'BP' bullets are fine in revolvers, however most run out of lube about 6" before the muzzle, causing the fouling in the last 6" of the barrel to turn hard and crusty. This in turn ruins accuracy. Easy enough to fix by swabbing the bore a couple of times with your favorite water based BP solvent, but if you don't want to be swabbing the bore to maintain accuracy, the Big Lube family of bullets are the ticket. They carry a ton of BP lube. You want to see a nice Lube Star at the muzzle, indicating that the bullet still had some lube in it when it left the muzzle.

No sweat about 44-40 not being on the SPG website. Just use whatever bullet carries the most SPG you can get into the lube groove and use enough FFg (or FFFg) so that when you seat the bullet the powder is compressed by 1/16" to 1/8". That's all there is to it. No need for card wads or anything else, just compress the powder with the bullet. My standard BP 44-40 load is the aforementioned Mav-Dutchman bullet sized to .428 and lubed with SPG, seated over 2.2CC of FFg. I usually use Schuetzen, but any FFg will do. Don't use a heaping dipper full, scrape the dipper level at the top.

Regarding polishing the frame, if I owned a brass framed rifle, which I don't, I would not bother polishing it. BP fouling will bring a very pleasing patina to the brass in a short time.
 
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