LOADING BENCH
Handloading The .44-40 Win. I
ntroduced in the Model 1873, the .44 Winchester Central Fire, as it was originally called, was the first center-fire cartridge to become available in a Winchester lever-action rifle. Winchester also chambered experimental single-action revolvers to what we call the .44-40 Win., but what really got the attention of those who desired a handgun chambered for the same cartridge as their 1873 was its availability in Colt’s Frontier Six Shooter beginning around 1879. The .44-40 Win. later became available in the Winchester Model 92 as well as various rifles built by Remington, Marlin, Colt, Stevens, Ballard and others. A huge hit among hunters, it remained popular in deer camps long after the .30-30 Win. and other smokeless cartridges were introduced. Originally loaded with 40 grs. of blackpowder, the .44-40 pushed a 200-gr. lead bullet from a 24" barrel at about 1300 f.p.s. The case has a bottleneck shape with a 4 degree shoulder angle. One of those grand old survivors that will never die, the .44-40’s health got even better when the
38
game of cowboy action shooting came galloping hard across America starting in the 1980s. Almost overnight, domestic and foreign companies began offering rifles and revolvers chambered for it. Most were singleactions and copies of lever-action and slide-action rifles of yesteryear. Adding to the appeal, at least for me, is the Henry Repeating Arms New Original Henry (April 2014, p. 66). Original barrel groove diameter for the .44-40 Win. was 0.427", but SAAMI today has it at 0.4285". It varies considerably, not only among rifles from different manufacturers, but among those from the same manufacturer as well. Winchester Model 1873 dimensions seem to be the most generous, with the barrels of some reportedly measuring as large as 0.434". Foreign-made replicas of that rifle usually range from 0.426" to 0.429". The barrels of rifles being manufactured today often measure
BY LAYNE SIMPSON
0.429" across opposing grooves, same as for the .44 Rem. Mag. Bullets weighing 200 to 205 grs. in ammunition loaded by Black Hills, Hornady, Remington and Winchester measure 0.427" or close to it. While all were a bit undersize for the 0.429" groove diameter of the New Original Henry test rifle, the two loads with cast bullets delivered excellent accuracy at 50 yds. This came as quite a surprise since lead-alloy bullets usually deliver their best accuracy when sized the same as or 0.001" to 0.002" larger than the barrel-groove diameter. Jacketed bullets proved to be a different matter; the 0.427" bullet of
The author brought years of experience and a variety of equipment to bear on reloading for the .44-40—a cartridge that dates back more than 150 years. Diligence paid off, as accuracy of some groups for loads fired from a New Original Henry hovered near 1.5" at 50 yds. APRIL 2018
AMERICAN RIFLEMAN
Photos by author
