.44-40

[1988rrc]

i have an old box of winchester .44-40 and have bought a new box of black hills .44-40;
the winchester case is bottle shaped (large at base and defined step down at neck) and the black hills case is is a gentle taper from base to neck.
why the difference in the cases?

[Griff]

1st: are you SURE the old Winchester ammo IS .44-40?


It is a very slight bottleneck. But there's ya some dimensions for comparison.

[greasy dan]

After you fire them... they assume the proper shape... sorta. I have one in my hand.

[Terry Murbach]

BLACK HILLS 44-40 IS THAT WAY BECAUSE THEY DID NOT TAKE THE TIME TO FL SIZE THE STARLINE BRASS TO IT'S PROPER DIMENSIONS. NOTING THAT WHEN YOU FIRE IT THE CASE WILL BE PROPERLY SHAPED IN THAT CHAMBER.

[1988rrc]

[w30wcf]

1988rrc,

Since the crimp groove on the bullet in .44-40 jacketed bullet ammunition is shallow, they have a case cannelure at the base of the bullet as extra insurance to keep the bullet from telescoping into the case while the cartridge is in the magazine.

On the other hand, since the crimp groove is much deeper on the lead bullets used in the .44-40 cowboy cartridges, the case cannelure is not needed.

w30wcf

[Lefty Dude]

When you buy 44-40 Starline brass it comes straight walled.
When I get the new brass I tumble it first, then lube and size on my RCBS single stage press.( one time only) I do this before I reload the new brass on my Dillon SDB.

If BH uses Starline brass then this would be the difference. BH uses a .429" lead bullet. If your older cartridges are jacketed they will be .426"-.427". This would show more of the bottle neck.

I sometimes load .430" lead for my Rossi 92/44-40, they show hardly any shoulder or bottle neck.

[Griff]

Since I don't have any .44-40s, thanks for all the good info guys.

[Lefty Dude]

Since I don't have any .44-40s, thanks for all the good info guys.

Your missing all the fun

[1988rrc]

if you fire form in in one chamber will it fit correctly in another chamber? i would assume so if all chambers are machined to spec.

[jd45]

Many years ago when I owned a Uberti 1873 carbine in .44-40, I bought a box of Winchester cartridges for it & the factory didn't even bother to crimp the bullets in the cases. I noticed it when, after pushing them up the tube, they came up into the carrier noticably shorter than they went in! Did their QC people NOT realize they might be used in tube-magazine firearms?!?! jd45

[jd45]

IIRC, in the pictures I've seen of blackpowder .44-40 cartridges, the slight bottleneck shape of the case was not easily discernable, similar to the modern Black Hills stuff. jd45

[Lefty Dude]

if you fire form in in one chamber will it fit correctly in another chamber? i would assume so if all chambers are machined to spec.

They are not the same. close maybe. If you shoot 44-40's in both a handgun & rifle you may have a problem.

I have my dies adjusted so they resize for my 73 Uberti, Rossi 92, Uberti Bisley Revolvers, and my pair of 3 gen. Colts. I use RCBS cowboy dies which are optimized for lead bullet reloading. Some 44-40 dies are for jacketed reloading and would be considered to do a small resize.

Try your dies, if ya have trouble get back to us, I will try and help.