.44-40 Data Dump

Most problems modern shooters experience with the .44-40 are caused by lingering effects of black powder-era design practices, dimensions and tolerances.

Lyman’s #42798 is a copy of typical traditional .44-40 lead bullets. It has two ample lubricating grooves which hold a generous amount of lubricant, needed to keep black powder fouling soft. It weighs 217 grains if cast in pure lead or about 215 grains in 1:40 tin/lead, my choice today in casting bullets intended for black powder cartridges. Cast bullets of the black powder era did not require a crimp groove, because a compressed case full of black powder prevented bullets from telescoping into the case under magazine spring compression. Crimping the case mouth over the ogive was sufficient to prevent inertial dislodgement in revolvers, because .44-40 loads have milder recoil than their modern, smokeless powder, magnum counterparts.

The .44 W.C.F. cartridge was loaded with a 200 gr bullet beginning in 1873. UMC’s .44-40-217 appeared in the mid to late 1880’s. The 1909 Winchester catalog stated a velocity of 1,245 f.p.s. measured at 50 ft. from the muzzle. In 1910, the cataloged velocity was changed to read 1,301 f.p.s., this time being corrected to muzzle velocity to get that nice marketable, larger number!

The late John Kort tested original blackpowder .44 W.C.F. cartridges, reprimed with fresh Remington 1 ½ primers which chronographed 1,319 f.p.s. in a 24” barrel. Savvy Jack, then fired clear gel penetration tests with modern blackpowder handloads, using bullets provided by Kort. Lyman #42798 bullets cast of pure lead, and also with 75/1 lead/tin alloy were loaded in modern Remington cases with Remington 2-1/2 primers and 36 grains of Swiss 2Fg, compressed 1/8”. These were fired in a 24” Marlin rifle and 7-1/2” Uberti Buckhorn revolver. Remaining velocity at 50 yards for the rifle loads averaged 1162 fps. The 75/1 bullets penetrated 27” of clear gel and expanded to .528”. The pure lead rounds fired from the rifle penetrated 23” and expanded to .603”. The handgun loads gave velocities from 941-963 fps at 10 ft., perforated and exited the 32” gel block! Hollow-point bullets, similarly loaded, cast of 50/1 lead/tin penetrated 14” from the rifle, expanding the base to .58 cal. and blowing the expanded nose portion off in fragments. Revolver penetration was 17-1/2” with the expanded nose also shedding in large chunks, but without expanding the base. These would be very effective hunting loads!

According to Hatcher (1935) the standard smokeless .44-40 load was 16.8 grains of Hercules Sharpshooter, a versatile powder which gave acceptable results in either rifles or handguns. Advertised handgun velocity from a 7-1/2” solid test barrel was 935 fps at 15,000 cup, with 385 foot-pounds of energy, giving penetration of seven, 7/8” pine boards. A 200-grain FMJ flat-nose loaded during WW2 for use by train, forestry and defense plant guards, used a charge of 7 grains of Bullseye, generating 920 fps, and penetrating eight 7/8” pine boards.

Sharpe (1937) said of the .44-40, “when properly loaded, has more knockdown than the .30-30, being excellent for game up to deer.”

Keith, in Sixguns (1955) favored the .44 Special, but still had much to say of the .44-40. “….a handy combination to have a rifle and a sixgun which could use the same ammunition… But…“a real stinker to reload with anything other than standard-length bullets…

Complicating matters, “Colt revolvers being chambered long in the body, leave only a fraction of the original neck, so that excessive case sizing results in short case life… The case body being as large in diameter as the .45 Colt, necessitates thin chamber walls, which limit safe pressure….With heavier bullets the base is below the neck, into the powder space, if cartridges are kept at a length to feed in magazine rifles…
“While very good when properly hand loaded, the .44 Special and .45 Colt are much better, in being able to handle heavier bullets…. While the short, stubby .44-40 bullets are very accurate and have light recoil, therefore being favored by exhibition shooters such as the great Ashley Haines, they don’t have the penetration needed for big game …. But when loaded with 215 grain bullets and 18.5 grains of #2400 at 1200 fps, Keith said, it is “more powerful than, and a better killer than the .357 Magnum.”

My high school classmate Dave Bryant, of Butte, Montana, has been a great fan of the .44-40, since boyhood. He says, “Every Colt I ever slugged had a .427” groove diameter, but they all shot well, whether with the .44-40 or .44 Special cylinder in place. The only cast bullet I ever used was the Ideal #42798 RFN, 200 grains, plain based, from wheel weights. For any game that needed more bullet weight, (hence greater bullet length) it was always easier just to use the .44 Special cylinder, which I also had. The longer frame window of your Ruger allows greater flexibility in cartridge OAL (up to 1.70”) than the Colt Single-Action. The biggest problem I’ve experienced with .44-40s in general is that chambers in old guns were so oversize that new tapered Starline cases come out like odd, bottleneck cases. It sure would be nice if somebody cutting new cylinders would dimension chambers so as to not allow cases to expand much beyond the dimensions of unfired, loaded factory ammo. Best is to have loading dies custom made to not resize to factory taper, but just reduce the neck diameter enough to obtain adequate bullet pull.”

“All of my .44 special and .44-40 lead bullets are sized either .429” or .430.” Out of my best Colt (a 7 1/2" New Frontier w/ .427 groove diameter) all my loads were exceedingly accurate and worked great on Blacktail deer, porcupines, opossums, spruce grouse, coyotes, and jack rabbits. Increasing neck expansion for .429 jacketed bullets is OK, but in production I wouldn't advise anything bigger than necessary for safe clearance for projectile release. S&W on the Model 29-5 (.44 Magnum) they put in very tight throats, designed for jacketed bullets, which were very accurate, and didn't have any pressure problems. Mine is in 5" length. When living in Alaska, my bear load was a 320 gr LBT GC LFN and 22.0 grs of 296 sized .430. No problems with this load in the S&W .44 Magnum.

“A concern with new production cylinders is that most new users will probably shoot .44-40 factory ammo. Severely undersized factory .425-.427” bullets being shot in throats and chambers cut for .430 or larger .44 Magnum projectiles, is a recipe for poor accuracy. Pre-WW2 revolvers having groove diameters of .424-.427” require chambers cut to Min. SAAMI dimensions for use with .427-.428" bullets, with cylinder throats not exceeding .428”. Modern guns, such as Rugers, usually have barrels of .44 Magnum dimensions, with groove diameters of .429-.430” need therefore chambers cut +0.002” over Min. SAAMI dimensions to provide safe release clearance for .430-.431” bullets, with .430” cylinder throats. Starline .44-40 brass has 0.007” mouth wall thickness, will accept .429” bullets in a Min. SAAMI chamber, and holds up very well to repeated reloading with ‘92 Winchester style .44-40 +P loads.“


Modern factory 200-grain soft point smokeless loads have a deep cannelure at the case / bullet base juncture to support the bullet base, having a case neck length of about .33 " Winchester and Magtech Cowboy loads have a longer neck to support the 225-grain bullet then-used, whereas Winchester component brass has the common .33” SAAMI neck with rolled cannelure at the base of the bullet.

The late John Kort recommended that case necks be sized .03" longer than bullet seating depth to give needed base support in addition to the crimp. This is consistent with industry practice in loading lead bullet ammunition in other calibers, such as the .38 Special, and is necessary when using smokeless powder due to increased free airspace in the case. The common .33" SAAMI length neck does not work well with smokeless powder when loading “historically correct” black powder bullets, such as #427098, which lack a crimp groove, requiring that they be crimped over the ogive or front band, if the bullet has one. This is because the unsupported bullet base yields under magazine spring compression, increasing seating depth, which can cause a steep pressure rise with fast-burning smokeless pistol powders !

An effective expedient is to grind about .10" off the base of the sizing die, to allow the case neck to be set back up to .40," to allow use of heavier bullets for hunting purposes, ensuring adequate base support. Sizing can then be adjusted as required for the particular bullet. Having this capability is also necessary when loading .44 Speer shot capsules in .44-40 cases, because the base plug-obturator, requires internal support from the case wall to prevent its being dislodged, to prevent spilling shot into the powder space.

The Redding Profile Crimp die is recommended to provide a suitably strong crimp, especially for lever-action rifles. The Lee Factory Crimp Die is fine for old guns which require .427-.428 bullets, but excessively sizes the cartridge neck to .002” less than SAAMI Max. cartridge dimensions. This will reduce bullets over .429” by compression inside the case when loaded in Starline brass, such that bullets are too small to fit the cylinder throats of modern revolvers and rifles having barrels of .44 Magnum dimensions .

Ruger Vaquero .44-40 cylinders typically had too-tight cylinder throats, smaller than barrel groove diameter, coupled with tight-necked chambers, which precluded using bullets larger than about .428”, so they didn’t perform well. I determined the only way I could be assured of a correctly-dimensioned , .44-40 cylinder for my Ruger, was to have John Taylor rechamber it, enlarging chamber necks from .444 to .448 and the cylinder throats from .427 to .4305, which provide rifle-like accuracy. My Ruger .44-40 and .44 Magnum Marlin barrels both slug .430 groove. The Marlin .44-40 action closes with resistance on Starline brass loaded with a .432 bullet (.448 neck). Bullets are sized .430” for both guns.

Loading .44-40 cartridges requires more finesse than do modern handgun rounds, because their case mouths are only 0.007” thick and more fragile. Mastering the task is easy if you slow down and pay attention. Starline cases are slightly stronger and heavier than other makes. When loading .44-40s, don’t seat and crimp bullets in the same operation, thus to avoid buckling the case body.

Factory .44-40 loads are mild, and pressures not over 13,700 cup and with 200-215 grain bullets are approximated by 6 grains of Bullseye, TiteGroup or Trail Boss, or 6.5 grains of 452AA or WST. Loads intended for the modern Colt clones, Rugers, Winchester 1892 and Marlin 1894 can safely achieve full black powder velocity by increasing charges one grain with the above powders at <20,000 psi.

A nominal case full of RL7, lightly compressed by a seated bullet, is safe in your GrandDad's original 1873 Winchester, is accurate and powerful enough. The Hercules powder pamphlet from 1995 listed data for a 240 grain lead bullet in the .44-40, using 23.5 grains. of RL-7 for 1,290 fps from a 24" barrel at 12,100 cup, well within SAAMI pressure limits. With the Accurate 43-230G bullet, 24.5 grains fills the case gently to the shoulder without compression, producing 1353 fps from the 20-inch Marlin with 3-inch, ten-shot groups with scope at 100 yards and 2 to 2-1/2” groups at 50 yards with iron sights.

From the 5-1/2” Ruger velocity with the 230G bullet and 24.5 grains of RL7 was 957 fps and six shot group extreme spreads were 5-6" sandbagged at 50 yards. Good enough, with a useful, but not punishing power level Some unburned powder does come out with the brass, especially in the revolver, but no worse than with “book” loads of 4227 or #2400 and, unlike with those, velocities were acceptably uniform. So, while RL7 is not the revolver powder of choice, it gave satisfactory results in the 5-1/2” Ruger, such that I would have no hesitation carrying RL7 in full-charge hunting loads as a dual-use, rifle-revolver expedient.

Revolver data represents extremes of barrel gap and cylinder dimensions, El Tigre carbine for comparison:

1986 S&W 544 Texas Wagon Train has 0.006" cyl. gap, 0.4285" cyl. throats and .429" groove diameter
1905 Colt Frontier Six Shooter has 0.012" cyl. gap, .4285" cyl. throats and .427" groove diameter.
1920s Eibar El Tigre carbine slugs .425" groove diameter.

Cast bullets of wheelweight alloy sized .430" Bullseye and 452AA powders gave best accuracy, with the most uniform velocities. The ballistic uniformity of #2400 and 4227 was less than ideal in the revolvers, OK in the rifle. IMHO loading heavier rifle loads which are not useable in the wheelgun defeats the purpose of a rifle-revolver combo. Revolver velocity of factory 200-grain loads was stated by Hatcher (1935) as 935 fps, being a good target for load development.

Ammunition_________S&W 544, 5”______Colt SAA 5-1/2”_____El Tigre 22”
Description__________0.006” cyl. gap____0.012” cyl. Gap_____solid barrel
Old Western 1940s_______958 fps__________916 fps____________1273 fps
200 JSP________________36 ES, 13 Sd_____75 ES, 35 Sd________32 ES, 12 Sd
“Bullseye Box” Solid Head

Rem-UMC_1930s_________923 fps_________893 fps____________1252 fps
200 JSP________________94 ES, 36 Sd_____93 ES, 31 Sd________76 ES, 29 Sd_
“Dog Bone Box” Balloon Head

Modern W-W_1990_______866 fps_________826 fps____________1218 fps
200 JSP________________73 ES, 30 Sd____45 ES, 15 Sd________76 ES, 29 Sd
Solid Head case

Avg. Factory Load Vel.____916 fps________878 fps____________1248 fps

Cast Bullet Handloads:
#42798 wheelwts________771 fps________769 fps____________1133 fps
W-W case, WLP__________119 ES, 46 Sd___104 ES, 36 Sd_______52 ES, 17 Sd
35Goex2Fg

#42798________________887 fps________854 fps____________1079 fps
6.5 grs. 452-AA___________94 ES, 39 Sd___75 ES, 28 Sd________68 ES, 24 Sd
W-W case, WLP

#42798________________947 fps________887 fps____________1142 fps
6.0 grs. Bullseye__________24 ES, 9 Sd_____29 ES, 9 Sd________43 ES, 12 Sd
W-W case, WLP

#42798________________951 fps________878 fps____________1178 fps
16.0 #2400____________150 ES, 44 Sd___133 ES, 36 Sd_______76 ES, 22Sd Unacceptable ballistic uniformity, unburned powder in revolver, OK in rifle.
W-W case, WLP

#42798________________970 fps________953 fps____________1364 fps
18.5 IMR4227____________96 ES, 37 Sd___108 ES, 37 Sd_______89 ES, 26 Sd Better ballistic uniformity and cleaner burn than #2400
Rem-UMC factory primed balloon-head case, REDUCE 1 FULL GRAIN IN MODERN SOLID HEAD BRASS!