I read somewhere that the 44-40 round has its limitations for accuracy at about 50 yds. Can anyone comment on that?
Howdy Again
Whoever said that simply did not know what they were talking about. I have four rifles chambered for 44-40, an original Winchester Model 1892 manufactured in 1894, a Marlin Model 1894 manufactured in 1895, an Uberti Model 1873 and an Uberti 1860 Henry. All of them are tack drivers, they shoot far better than I can see. It all has to do with how consistent your ammo is. Yes, 44-40 is a little bit fussier to reload then 45 Colt, but I have been reloading 44-40 for years now and I can crank out plenty of ammo without crushing any cases or having any problems with my crimps. You just have to be a little bit more careful than loading 45 Colt.
The Uberti Henry and '66 have a brass frame, not magazine. The magazines are steel. Yes, modern brass framed Uberti 1866s and Henrys can safely digest any SAAMI spec 44-40 or 45 Colt ammo without damage to the frame or action. What Nate is referring to is the fact that with the old toggle link design, the bolt is never truly locked like it is with a modern rifle. Modern rifles have steel lugs on the bolt which rotate or slide into matching slots in the receiver, locking the action up like a bank vault. This includes the Winchester Model 1892 design. With the toggle links like the Henry, '66, or '73 the bolt is held in battery when the toggle links are straightened out. There are no physical locking lugs. Working the lever folds the links, which withdraws the bolt. With this design really heavy recoiling loads can batter the pivots or the shoulders of the links, where they rotate in the frame, ruining headspacing. But even with the brass framed Ubertis, this is not a problem as long as you stay with standard SAAMI spec ammo, which is what you are most likely to find on shop shelves.
If you don't reload, shooting much 45 Colt or 44-40 ammo will quickly put you in the poor house. Factory 38s are not cheap anymore, but they are still cheaper than 45 Colt or 44-40.
Lastly, I prefer the '73 design over the '66 for the same reason somebody else said. The '73 comes standard with a trigger block that prevents the trigger from being pulled until the lever is completely closed and the bolt is in battery. The Henry or '66 do not have that feature, and if you carelessly trip the trigger with your finger as you are closing the lever, you can get an out of battery discharge.
P.S. My avatar is a photo of my steel framed Henry. I only got the steel framed model because it was on special at Dixie Gunworks at the time, otherwise I would have gone with a brass framed Henry like everybody else. It is chambered for 44-40, which I load with Black Powder, and I love shooting it. Today I was shooting both my 100 year old Marlin and my Henry at a CAS Iron Man match. Ten rounds from each rifle at each stage. What a rush, blasting away with all that Black Powder today.
I don't know where we're going but there's no sense being late.