Reloading 44/40

[BruMatt]

I just found a Model 544 so I ordered a set of Lee dies. I have used Lee dies for straight walled pistol cases (38, 357, 44 spl) and had no problems. I use a single stage press.

I have read several articles about difficulties reloading 44/40 due to cases collapsing and crimping problems. If anyone has some practical advice before I get started, I sure would appreciate it.

[mkk41]

Lube those case necks inside and outs! The 44-40 is actually a semi-bottleneck so there's no carbide sizing dies. A very slight flare and carefully start the bullet before seating. IIRC , it was Winchester brass that was thin. Starline brass is very good. What kind of bullets are you using? The 44/40 was originally meant for .425-.427 bullets so measure the expander plug and go up if you are gonna use .429-.430 bullets or you'll crush cases seating the bullets. Check chamber neck area and throat. A .429-.430 bullet and thick brass MIGHT give chambering problems. A properly loaded round should drop right in. Not sure what barrel S&W used , but I would assUme it was the same as the .44 mag.

[growr]

I shoot 44-40 in SASS and have reloaded thousands of casings....biggest advice I could offer is to invest in quality dies, I use Reddings, lube them well..I use Hornaday One Shot,

Slow down and make sure that each and every casing is going straight into the die body, do not put a large flare on the case mouth....use only enough to seat your bullet and nothing more.

Yes, these casings are quit thin and will easily crumple if you don't pay attention....

I don't use full throttle ammo in any of my guns....I cast my own 200 grn RNFP bullets and size them at .428...I use either blackpowder or if smokeless, I use Unique or whatever I can get my hands on at the time...last batch was with 700x as that was all that was available locally.

mkk41's advice is spot on in all elements as well...

The 44-40 is actually a very easy cartridge to load and a hoot to
shoot!! I envy your finding a 544.......would love to own one....

Randy

[jag312]

Here is a problem I had with reloading .44-40 cartridges for an Uberti revolver. I bought a box of cast bullets, 200 grain,.427, flat nose, and when I first loaded the bullets into the cases, the cartridges wouldn't fit all the way into the revolver's chambers. They fit into my Winchester 1892, but the Uberti chambers were just too tight. I miked the bullets, and they miked at .429. The box was mislabeled. My son and I spent some time together running 500 bullets through a Lee .427 sizer. After that, no problems. Just that little bit was enough to cause problems with the loaded cartridges fitting into the Uberti.

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have 2 Vaquero revolvers and .429 just won't fit so check your diameter. also if your cases very much in length, crimping the case mouth into the crimp grove can be problematic. My final solution was a Lee factory crimp die (use standard crimp die for seating to length only) By the way my Marlin lever rifle will handle .429 bullets just fine, but I only load .427 bullets that I cast on the soft side and they obturate to fill the groves fine. Ivan

[fredj338]

When I loaded for the 44/40, die setup was critical. I turned the expander down to 0.426" for better neck tension w/ 0.428 lad bullets. Case length is also important for crimping so you do not bulge the case neck w/ a case too long. Of course a full length sized case is iomortant as well.

[BruMatt]

I measured the chamber throats at .427. The barrel slugs at .429. Should I ream the throats to .429? Will that cause any complications with reloading? If I don't ream the throats, do I need to resize bullets from.430 to .428?

[TSQUARED]

Originally Posted by BruMatt

I just found a Model 544 so I ordered a set of Lee dies. I have used Lee dies for straight walled pistol cases (38, 357, 44 spl) and had no problems. I use a single stage press.

I have read several articles about difficulties reloading 44/40 due to cases collapsing and crimping problems. If anyone has some practical advice before I get started, I sure would appreciate it.

To prevent crumpling the cases seat and crimp the bullets in separate operations.

[2152hq]

"...If I don't ream the throats, do I need to resize bullets from.430 to .428? ..."

Bullets of .430 dia are most likely just too large anyway for loading in the 44-40 and will bulge the cases when seated. The loaded rounds probably won't chamber at that point or will only with some hefty thumb pressure on them.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the .429 groove dia,,that's just the factory using a readily available bbl.

Start off with .427 bullets and you should be fine with your reloads.
I've loaded it for years for a Colt Bisley SAA, Winchester 92 SRC and a Winchester 1873. I use .427d 205gr lead flat nose.
I can't recall loosing a case to crumpling it. Just don't try and break speed (re)loading records and things go fine.
I don't over use the case lube,,just a very minimum on the case. They are so thin they size very easily.

Some brands are thinner/thicker in the neck than others. That'll effect bullet seating tension. Check then expander plug diameter and thin it some if it's too big in dia.

I expanded a handfull of 38-40 cases to 44-40 when I didn't have a great number of the 44's. I found out the necks in those 38-40's were much thicker and when the bullets were seated in them reformed to 44-40, they would not chamber in either gun.

Starline brass works nice, I have a some of that. Mostly odd bunches of Rem and older Western brand 44-40.
It's been loaded to death but with light loads of RedDot in respect to the '73. It lasts a long time. I anneal the necks every 4 or five loadings.

I use a Lee set of dies on an old CH 'H' press.
Crimp just enough to turn the case edge over. The brass mouth is so thin that anything more just damages the brass w/o much more holding power.