My 44-40 "go to" loads for 2020

[Bryan Austin]

2020 Starts a new year for shooting. Not sure what my plans are but I just might use the same loads and see how they perform from day to day, or in my case month by month. I won't be shooting anywhere near as much as I use to so don't expect many updates. Maybe check every couple months.

I am back to using the public range too so I will be mainly using the 50 yard range.

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This trip I wanted to try all three loadings and see what I could come up with.

1. Target 2-22-20-5. Replicating Winchester's early High Velocity loads of 1,500fps
23gr of IMR-4227/1,519fps @ approx 18,000psi/22,000cup/Speer 200gr SJHP #4425/Marlin 1894CB scoped

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2. Target 2-22-20-7. Replication Winchester's late High Velocity loads of 1,570fps
24gr of IMR-4227/1,590fps @ approx 18,000psi/22,000cup/200gr Winchester JSP/Marlin 1894CB scoped

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3. Target 2-22-20-8. Replication Winchester's 1895 Smokeless powder loads of 1,300fps
25.8gr of Reloder 7/1,361fps @ 13,000psi/14,500cup/Accurate Mold 220gr 43-214A/Uberti Winchester 73' (technically they should be 200gr).
This load grouped 40 shots into a Group: 3.30" (3.15 MOA) @ 100 yards last year. (photo at bottom of page.

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I plan on zeroing the scopes in on both rifles for targets -7 and -8 as my "go to" loads @ 100 yards 1,300fps and 200 yards 1,590fps

For more 2020 targets, visit: https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... nly-rifles

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100 Yards/40 Shot group
Group: 3.30" (3.15 MOA)
W/H: 2.69"/2.98"
ATZ (inch): U:0.48 L: 0.50
Elevation Offset: -0.48
Windage Offset: +0.50
Target: 8-17-19-3

[Bryan Austin]

I was also playing with Ballistic-X, kind of cool.

High Pressure Loads

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[AJMD429]

Cool. I don't have a 44-40, but I love educational posts like this; they encourage me to do the same with one of my leverguns...!

[Bryan Austin]

Cool. I don't have a 44-40, but I love educational posts like this; they encourage me to do the same with one of my leverguns...!

Thanks...just make sure you are using strong action leverguns like the Winchester 92', Marlin 1894 for the high pressure loads.

https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... city-loads
https://sites.google.com/view/44winchester/velocities

Lyman lists nineteen rifles chambered for the 44-40.


​Group 1 (weak actions)

Winchester Model 1873
Whitney Kennedy lever action
Colt-Burgess lever action
Marlin Model 1888
Colt Lightning pump action
Replica Model 1873s (And I'd include replica Henry and 1866s in 44-40)
Remington No 2 Rolling Block Single Shot
Ballard No 2 Single Shot
Stevens Model 44 Single Shot


Group 2 (Strong Actions)

Winchester Model 1892 (& replicas)
Marlin Model 1889
Marlin Model 1894
Remington Keene Bolt Action
Remington Model 14 1/2 pump action
Winchester Single Shot rifles
Remington No 1 Rolling Block single shot
Remington "Baby Carbine" single shot
Stevens Model 44 1/2 single shot

[ollogger]

Thanks for a great post, I have a 1894s in 44-40, loaded mostly unique, Rl7 or 2400, put a scope on it just to test how well it shot
used above powders in 200 - 265 gr. Hornady & 200 - 240 cast bullets of Lee & Lyman molds with gc
I was shocked how well the micro grove bbl shot cast bullets most would touch each other & ended up with a one inch hole at 60 yd
after 20 rounds



Brad

[Bryan Austin]

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ollogger,
I have used 240gr with great success with Reloder 7 at 1,425fps velocities at just above 11,000psi...about 13,000ish psi. What I discovered in my testing is that I got extreme spreads on pressures with same weight bullets of different designs. Regardless the highest pressures i have shot in my 1894CB was about 27,000psi and it wasn't real fun...LOL!!! My 18,000psi loads are enough for this old man (I am 53

There is a fellow out west that emails me from time to time and tells me how his tests pan out. He shoots up to 260gr I think it was.

It does amaze me how accurate those heavier bullets can be in the 1:36"

[Jay Bird]

Nice report Byran....you spent a lot of time doing that..thank you..........I'll share some of mine....the 44-40 can be a finicky cartridge due to the many variations in groove diameter and twist rates but once ya get it down on a particular rifle or revolver it's a piece of cake. I've been fooling with this cartridge since 1973 or 4 to the tune of a lot....pretty much continuously. My "go to load" for plinking and playing was a simple 6 grains of Bullseye with a 210 gr. Hensley and Gibbs mould but have since changed to 7 gr. of 231 for 1100 out of various antique long guns of most makes along with single action Colts. It's almost enough velocity for me.

When I do feel like a bit more velocity I'll use 10 grains of Herco or 9 of Unique for around 1350. Never saw a need to push it any faster.

The biggest issue is groove diameters which vary greatly from a narrow .425 on my best shooter, a semi-late production 1894 Marlin made around 1912 to .431 on several 1873's. A Colt Lightning is also tight at .427.

The Lee bullet at 200 grains shoots great and with the 6 cavity mould I can have a bucket load in an afternoon of casting but my favorite is the 210 gr. Hensley & Gibbs which shoots as good as a scoped bolt gun at reasonable distances from the old Marlin. I'll be using this rifle for pistol caliber levergun Silhouette at the National Champs this year.

Good shooting.....----6

[Bryan Austin]

Nice report Sixgun, thanks!!

You bet, as you already know the 44-40 saga is a bit complicated and could be one reason it doesn't get the attention that the 45 Colt or the 45-70 gets as far as extending the loads.
https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... ory-part-1
https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... ory-part-2

Bullesye is one of the oldest smokeless powders used in the 44-40, introduced by Hercules in 1898, but I have actually yet to try it. For some reason it just never seems to be on the shelves when I buy powder. The other oldest smokeless powder used is Unique introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1900. https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... tion-years

One of my favorite loads is 6.4gr of Trail Boss under a 200gr "Magma". Although the pressures are higher than some pet loads and velocities lower for cowboy action shooting, I still get fairly good accurate plinking loads. Not a cheap load by any means but still fun.

To replicate Battles at the Little Big Horn https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... le-bighorn for which many were 200 yards or more shots, I used Trail Boss to replicate the Henry ballistics of 1,125fps but actually...this load is only 1,000fps or less. In this video https://youtu.be/Y0rpQsSVUH8?t=265 one can see the accuracy this Trail Boss and a 200gr bullet has at 265 yards from a Winchester 73'.

When folks complain that there is little "power" in such a light load, that is when I bring out those high velocity loads, it shows just how much the 44 has changed between 1860 and 1903. The need for the 44-40 to be increased from 1,325fps to 1,570fps...even greater than the Henry's 1,125fps...is is for a flatter trajectory...and to retain energy. A 200gr 44-40 traveling at 700fps is enough to penetrate the broadside of a horse because the bullet is traveling to slow to expand...700fps is the estimated velocity from a 1,570fps or higher bullet at 600 or so yards. https://sites.google.com/view/44winches ... and-trials. IN the same video I posted above, at the beginning are shots at velocity. When replicating the Big Horn shots, velocity has dropped to Henry specs. One can note the huge difference in trajectory.

When a shooter really wants a good load for strong action rifles, greater velocities at greater and unpleasant pressures will find the target the size of a golf ball at 265 yards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4exkGBF_yq0&t=17s

All of this comes at a cost, the cost of knowing your firearms, their limits to include the dimensions of the chambers, bores, projectiles, loads and even the cases themselves. A problem that has plagued this caliber it's entire life which has lead to many myths and inaccuracies.

The below screen shot is from Winchester's website and shows the trajectory of the 200gr wimpy 1,100fps factory loads. Still says it produces over 800fps velocities at 300 yards. 1,570fps or higher retains much more.

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[Jay Bird]

Wow Byran...your waaayyyy ahead of me.......there's some good reading in your post...thanks!......I'm retired and sometimes wonder what to do with myself but it looks like I have plenty to do now.

I like that Winchester thingy......I shoot in multiple competition disciplines and one is long range 1/5 scale Silhouette at 77, 100, 150, and 200 meters using 22 rimfires of which most everyone uses 1080 match velocity ammo........in the early afternoon the sun is to our back and you can easily see the bullet shining on its way to the 200 meter ram. A good guess is a 2' mid range trajectory......

Your a knowledgeable guy...stick around....pleanty to learn and learn from.----6

[OldWin]

Great info! Thank you for posting this.
Good timing too. I'm starting to play with one of my old 44s again.
I haven't shot them much in several years, deferring to my 38-40's. Just always been less hassle to get shooting for me. They seem more consistent over multiple rifles.
The 44 (and 38-55) was the cartridge that got me interested in old Winchesters when I was a kid.

[M. M. Wright]

As 6 knows, I've been a 44-40 fan since my first one in 1955. Mostly I use ffg but am wanting to work up a load for SASS with smokeless and looking at my inventory of powders I see that 5744 is next door to RL7 in the powder relative burn rate chart. Unique of Herco would be good too. I even have some HS6 and Green Dot, all candidates. My problem is that I have 4 73s and 7 SAAs that must digest the same load. I just hate keeping rifle and pistol loads separated. The Colts have (had) very tight chamber throats and bores of .427. I have a Winchester SRC from 1885 that slugs .431 so I bought a Miroku one thinking surely it would slug .429 like all other modern 44s but NO. Those Japanese faithfully copied the old Winchester and this brand new one slugs .431 too. I also have a couple of Ubertis which do slug .429 so may be forced to shoot one of them for SASS. The problem is that the Colts will only accept loads with .429 bullets when I load Winchester or Starline brass. Remington is just too thick to work in the Colts with .429 bullets. I got along for years by using the .429 bullets and Starling brass and those loads worked in both the Colts and my Uberti 24" rifle. I did open the throats of the Colt chambers so the bullet doesn't get sized down to .425 when it goes through the throat. One of those Colts is a 2nd gen from the Custom Shop that I sent back to Colt because of bad chambers in the cylinder and they quickly replaced the cylinder and some other small parts, making it just perfect. Full Blue and Ivory so I got a 125th Alnniversary Model and rebarreled and cylindered it to 44-40. Even put ivories on it just to make them similar.

I still have 5 lbs. of 1 1/2 Swiss that I could use. So what do you think? Try the 5744? Unique or Herco? How much?

[Bryan Austin]

NICE!!!!!!

Yeah, the wonderful world of the nutso 44-40...lol