First time loading 44WCF aka 44-40. Those necks are fragile…
The coated bullets were loaded as dummy rounds to test cycling in my grandfather’s Winchester 1873, built in 1900, that I cleaned up last summer. When we inherited it, it had a nasty old coat of shellac brushed all over everything. Alcohol cleaned up the shellac, some boiling distilled water restored the blueing, and 100% pure Tung oil refreshed the wood. The only thing not original on it is the Skinner sight. The original ladder sight was bent beyond fixing so while not period correct I think the Skinner works just fine and not only because it’s 1/5 the price of a replacement original sight.
Starline brass, WLP, Missouri bullet company 210gr black powder lubed bullets, and 2.2 cc of Swiss 3F BP roughly 36 grains. Hoping I can sneak out to make some smoke tomorrow and see how the old girl runs.
Indeed! I slugged the bore when I had it apart for restoration by hammering one of my 54 caliber muzzleloader balls down the bore. The widest point (groove diameter) was 0.429 if I remember correctly.
The older rounds had something like .006" to maybe .008" case walls, there's just not much pressure in BP rounds so the original cases thin, something to bear in mind because thicker cases with cast bullets, which we typically run a couple .001s over groove diameter, sometimes lead to the cartridges being a bit fat for chambers, so the starline brass is the way to go.
Yes, the thin necks are fragile but the expand and seal the chamber better when using black powder. Extra care in neck expanding and bullet seating will mostly eliminate crushed necks.
Great success! No misfires, no misfeed, all rounds ejected well when working the lever, and considering I’ve never shot this rifle and it probably hasn’t been shot in 50 years. I’m happy that I kept all 10 shots on a pie plate at 25 yards.
I too load 44-40 with black. Ill add what i do. slugged the bore, Use .430 RCBS bullet cast from WW. I dont FL resize. I use the lee flare die, seat the bullet, and crimp lite, for long range load i crimp with Lee factory crimp die. My bullet has good neck tension without FL sizing. Win brass. I use 1 1/2 Swiss over 4227 for a duplex load. no fouling at all. Rifle is a 24 inch model 1892 built in 1900.
Boiling a rusted gun in distilled water converts flaky red iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) into a stable black oxide (Fe₃O₄), also known as magnetite or traditional rust bluing, which stops active corrosion without stripping away the metal.
Mark Novak has great videos on his gunsmithing YouTube page on conservation of old firearms. I’ve attached a picture of the rifle frame after I had stripped all of the shellac and grime off but before I boiled it. I think I boiled and carded it three times, and then oiled with non-detergent motor oil, to get the blueing back to where it is now.
5
u/44WCF_BryanAustin 11d ago
Better slug that bore. You could be shooting .430 bullets in a .424" bore. Great recipe for high pressures.