.38-40 Convertible

[Lee Martin]

Lipsey's 10mm Blackhawk moved me to dig out this .38-40 Winchester/.401 Bobcat. Dad built it for me when I graduated college in '94. I took it out yesterday for the first time in 20 years. Nice to find the ivory aged and frame plumbed since I last oiled it.



Random thoughts on 10mm revolvers:

• .38-40 Winchester is the logical choice for the .40 S&W cylinder. Sounds like most of you are headed down that road. With Starline brass and H110, you'll be surprised what the .38-40 is capable of from a New Model.

• 10mm Magnum - another good choice. Dies aren't a problem and Starline makes the brass.

• Wildcat bottlenecks - they don't net much over the .38-40.  Dad built a 10mm Auto cylinder for his convertible and it never got used. Later he reamed it to JD Jones' old .40-44 Woodswalker, which mimics Reeder's .401 GNR. In spite of better case design, the 40-44 only adds 100 fps to heavy .38-40 loads.

• .401 Herters Powermag - CH4D sells the dies for $103 and brass can be formed from .41 Magnum. But for all the headache, stick with the .38-40. Plus, I don't know anyone that chambers the Powermag.

• Colt's .400 Magnum prototype from the 60's. It looks and performs just like the Herters, except it's on .30-30.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"

[eskimo36]

Lee, that is a really good looking gun dressed in aged ivory and plum. I agree that the 38-40 is a very good round just like it is.

[magnumwheelman]

Beautiful gun... I don't own any Ivory, & with politics they way they are, I won't likely, unless I buy one already completed... but it is an incredible media for grips, & the grips pictured have aged nicely...

I'm actually surprised, that the 10 mm Magnum hangs on... I got "into" the cartridge back when I bought an Automag 4 in that caliber ( back when they were still making them... I don't regret buying it, but really wished I had the loose change to buy a 45 Win Mag back then as well ) I bought 2500 Starline cases back then, fully expecting they would disappear... happily that has not been the case

I later bought & chambered a S&W 610 in 10mm Magnum & it's one of my favorite double actions... I've never had issues with bullet creep, but just something about revolvers makes me want a rimmed cartridge, though the moon clips on the double action pretty nearly make up for the lacking rim... I guess because of my previous endeavors, if I bought one of the new guns, the 40, would become a 10 Mag... but I'd love to try playing with that "40-40"

[bushog]

What a gem!

[onegoodshot]

That’s a beauty. I have a matching serial number pair of buckeys in.32 and .40 cals. Also have a pair of th stainless 38-40 — 40 s&w convertibles. I fear This new gun won’t help the value of my guns.

[lscg]

that is a great looking sixgun Lee.

[mbaneacp]

Hamilton's working on mine as we speak 10mm Magnum and 38-40...he wants me to see if I can scrounge up another 10mm cylinder so I'd have 3 calibers...

Michael B

[hardscrabble]

After giving up on 44-40's for CAS shooting, I went to 38-40's (a pair of Uberti's). I shot with them for several years while I was experimenting with the 41 Long Colt. I picked up a pair of cylinders (.357 Magnum and 32-20), had them bored 0.410" straight through, and had them fitted to the frames. After practicing with them for about a year (and popping in the 38-40 cylinders for CAS shoots), I decided to go with the 41 Long Colt. I originally had concern that the 41LC would not be accurate enough for CAS shoots, but they worked out OK. I have been using 41LC for the pistol caliber ever since (10 or 12 years). Still use the 38-40 in the rifle, however.