44-40 handloading education and advice

[oddshooter]

I'm trying to help out a buddy and start handloading the 44-40 for his new Henry lever gun.  GunBroker is getting $4 per round. 
I currently handload for the 44 special and the 44 magnum; Dillon 550.  What new gear do I need?
My buddy has some brass he's saved, but that's it.  I have powder and primers.

So far, I understand that the brass is bottle-nosed as in rifles.   I handload a lot of 32-20, which is bottle-nosed as well.  32-20 is another vintage caliber from black powder days.

I also have read there may be a difference in shell holders for the different 44 calibers.  One person mentioned a #9 for the 44-40.  Is #9  a Lee designation?

I read that 200gr is about right for the bullet.

I have read that there are different diameters for the 44-40 bullets in the past; .4275.  It seems some manufacturers have gone to current standards for 44's, .429. 


I would appreciate any thoughts on the 44-40 and where to start with handloading.


Prescut
I might as well start with slugging the barrel.

[nicholst55]

The .44-40 uses a different shell holder than .44 Spl or Mag.  Shell holders:

Redding: 9
Hornady: 9
Lee: 14
Lyman: 14B
RCBS: 35

[oddshooter]

excellent!
nice, complete list of 5 manufacturers.

much appreciated.



prescut

[taffin]

I would appreciate any thoughts on the 44-40 and where to start with handloading.


Prescut
I might as well start with slugging the barrel.[/quote]

Forget the barrel but definitely measure the chamber mouths and choose your bullet sized accordingly. I just barely kiss the mouth of the case to accept the bullet and then use a LEE factory crimp die. Use only Starline brass. The

[dmize]

I load pretty much all of the "dash" cartridges. I personally would suggest buying a cheap Lee single stage press and move slowly I guess. I know by my typing this people are going to disagree but dash cartridges and progressive presses dont usually get along well/

[sharps4590]

It's a good ol' cartridge. The Lee 429-200FN is an excellent bullet and the only one I use in my two 44-40's, an Uberti Schofield and a Cimarron '73 by Uberti.

The original 44-40 was .427 but I believe anything made since at least the turn of the century will be .429. Of course slug the bore to make certain.

Unique has been the go to powder for generations but several provide good results. As with all, the firearm will tell you what it likes. My revolver likes Trail Boss and the rifle likes SR-7625. Trail Boss is evidently extinct and SR-7625 has been for years. I happen to have a surfeit of it.

As it started life as a black powder cartridge, that powder still excels in the cartridge.  The 32-20, 38-40 and especially the 45 Colt all do well with black powder as well.  I could happily go through the rest of my life using just black powder in all of them.

With smokeless I cast about 12-14 BHN, Lyman #2 is excellent. For black powder, 25-1 is the alloy I use. 

I don't know spit about progressive loaders so dmize might be right on the money.

Skeeter called the 44-40 and 32-20 "slope shouldered", I always thought that was kinda cool. I never heard any bottle neck cartridge called bottle nosed, interesting. As you load the 32-20 you won't have any difficulty with the 44-40. I've loaded the 32-20 since the early 80's and it's still a favorite.

I have Lee and RCBS shell holders and use them interchangeably without difficulty.

If my rifle was any more accurate I don't know what I'd do with the increase. The Schofield is a lot more accurate than those lousy sights will let me shoot it, and I've worked them over to make them more user friendly!!

There isn't anything out of the ordinary about loading the 44-40, it's as straight forward as anything else. Probably the biggest thing is the same as the 32-20, don't get ham handed and start slamming things around or you're going to ruin some brass.

[mhblaw]

Been shooting for years: 200 grain bullet over either 5 grains Trail Boss or 6 grains Unique. Works for me.

[z1r]

I'd suggest slugging the bore then measuring the throats. My S&W 544 has .427" throats and a .426" bore. It shot the .426" Rem JSP very well and my .427 205 RFN cast from my Lyman 42798 mold. The cylinder is chambered such that cartridges loaded with .429" Jacketed projectiles chamber just fine. They also shoot well. My go to load was 12.7 gr Bluedot loaded under any of the aforementioned bullets. These loads are safe in my S&W but I'd recommend consulting a manual before using in a SAA or clone.

I just measured the throats on my Vaquero last night to find they measure .425" haven't slugged the bore yet but I know it is smaller than .429" since my .44 range rod won't fit. I'll hold off opening the throats til I determine actual bore size.

That said, the single best investment is a LEE factory crimp die. Until they came out, loading was a real chore. It was very difficult to get enough crimp to prevent bullet jump without causing a bulge in the case that would prevent chambering. Just glad I wasn't loading for a rifle because it was also all to easy to push the bullet into a case with a thumb.

With a Lee FC Die and your experience loading the .32-20, you should do just fine.

[jd]

+1 on the Lee collet crimp die. It will save you no end of frustration when it comes to crimping!!!!

[sharps4590]

Uhhhh.....measuring cylinder mouths is always a good idea but I didn't know Henry lever rifles had cylinder mouths. Learn sumpin' new every day!!!

I've gotten along just fine roll crimping cartridge cases for 60+ years and never had any bullets jump the crimp with the heaviest 44 Mag and 45 Colt loads.  I never thought of roll crimping a case a chore or was frustrated by doing so.  Evidently neither did Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jordan, ad infinitum.

[z1r]

Point well taken. One should always be awake when responding to posts. In the case of a rifle, it's still a good idea to measure. I have two .44-40 rifles. One has a .428" bore but I cannot seat bullets larger than .427" or the rounds will not chamber. So, I stick to jacketed, my supply of which is almost gone, or soft lead sized to .427". A chamber cast confirmed that the chamber neck is too small for a .428" bullet seated in Starline brass. Once I run out of those Jacketed bullets, I may need to open that neck up a wee bit.

OLD .44-40 rounds had a case cannelure at the base of the bullet that prevented the bullet from being driven back into the case when cycled. In my early days of trying to reload for the .44-40 I tried doing the same, but my C&H tool wouldn't suffice. I recently stumbled upon an article about reloading for .44-40 leverguns that suggests that modern dies do not size the case neck far enough down the case to provide proper tension. The Lee tool seems to combat this just fine but I do have another sizing die I'm going to modify to experiment with.

[sharps4590]

Feb 8, 2024 11:38:13 GMT -5 z1r said:

Point well taken. One should always be awake when responding to posts. In the case of a rifle, it's still a good idea to measure. 

OLD .44-40 rounds had a case cannelure at the base of the bullet that prevented the bullet from being driven back into the case when cycled. In my early days of trying to reload for the .44-40 I tried doing the same, but my C&H tool wouldn't suffice. I recently stumbled upon an article about reloading for .44-40 leverguns that suggests that modern dies do not size the case neck far enough down the case to provide proper tension. The Lee tool seems to combat this just fine but I do have another sizing die I'm going to modify to experiment with.

I concur about measuring rifles and indeed, so stated in my first post.

Regardless of how vigorously I've operated the action on the '73 or '92 Winchesters I've never been able to drive a bullet back into the case IF properly roll crimped.  I don't see how the bullet could jump over the brass with the case mouth properly rolled into a crimp groove.  A cast bullet would have to shave lead and a jacketed bullet would have to shave gilding material.  I've also never had any bullets pull under recoil, IF properly roll crimped.  

I don't understand all the difficulty so many have with roll crimping.  If the bullet has a good crimp groove and the cases are all the same length and case mouths square it's as simple as adjusting the bullet seating/crimping die correctly.  If none of the above are met, yes, one will have some problems but that isn't the fault of the method, that's the choices of the handloader.

[putnro01]

I've found the following site helpful in researching the 44-40—
sites.google.com/view/44winchester/chasing-the-44-40