I'm not sure if it is still available but a few years back one of the manufacturer's offered a Colt clone in 44/40 with a spare cylinder in 44 Magnum. Apparently the revolver itself was strong enough for the 44 mag.
In any event that got me to thinking. The 44/40 has historically been loaded pretty soft because it originally had a ballon head on the case but nowadays I would think all the cases are pretty much the same. If so, then it would seem that a 44/40 could be loaded a lot hotter- maybe not up to 44 Mag but maybe close to it. Now on a revolver- that doesn't make much sense if you could just pop in a 44 Mag cylinder but if you had a 1873 Winchester in 44/40 for Cowboy action events and could load the 44/40 to a better level, then the 44/40 ought to do pretty good on deer at fairly close range.
So.....
I don't know anything on this idea or if it is even doable but can the 44/40 be loaded hotter and to what level that is still considered safe in a replica revolver and replica 1873 lever action? Thanks.
In any event that got me to thinking. The 44/40 has historically been loaded pretty soft because it originally had a ballon head on the case but nowadays I would think all the cases are pretty much the same. If so, then it would seem that a 44/40 could be loaded a lot hotter- maybe not up to 44 Mag but maybe close to it. Now on a revolver- that doesn't make much sense if you could just pop in a 44 Mag cylinder but if you had a 1873 Winchester in 44/40 for Cowboy action events and could load the 44/40 to a better level, then the 44/40 ought to do pretty good on deer at fairly close range.
So.....
I don't know anything on this idea or if it is even doable but can the 44/40 be loaded hotter and to what level that is still considered safe in a replica revolver and replica 1873 lever action? Thanks.