Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283

Grounding your press does accomplish anything. I used to work in the electronics industry and we were very aware of static electricity because small, undetectable sparks could destroy delicate circuits. Every time you move through the air, you build a static charge on your body. You cannot feel it, but it is there. So every time you touch your press, the static charge drains off of you, goes through the press, and then to ground through your ground wire. The only way to prevent this is in addition to grounding the press, you have to ground yourself. Grounding yourself consists of wearing a grounded wrist strap which will drain the charge off you as soon as it builds. That way, there is no charge going through you to the machine, you are all at the same potential. Also, in order to eliminate static charges, you have to remove all static generating things from your bench, such as wood, paper, and most plastics. Without taking these extras steps, grounding your press does not accomplish anything.

First off, 44-40 brass is very thin at the case mouth. Only about .007 thick, vs about .012 for cartridges like 45 Colt. So no matter what you do, that thin .007 of brass is not going to make a super strong crimp. It just does not bite the bullet with as much force. On the other hand, my 45 Colt brass has a very strong crimp because the thicker brass bites right into the bullet. I have a bunch of 44-40 rifles. Some are antiques, some are modern. I have slugged them all. Working from memory, my Uberti 1873, which I bought used many years ago has a .427 groove diameter. A couple of antique rifles have the old .427 groove diameter. My Uberti Henry, which I have been shooting for about 20 years now, has a .429 groove diameter. Anyway, a long time ago, not wanting to stock two different bullet diameters, I compromised on .428 diameter bullets for all my 44-40 loads. I do all my reloading on my Hornady Lock and Load AP progressive press. I use a standard RCBS 44-40 die set, have been using it for many years. Because the crimp the dies make is so weak, I use a Lee Factory Crimp die for the crimp. Anyway, even with my .428 bullets the crimp is not very robust. I just grabbed a few rounds and tried to twist the bullets, but they did not move. However, I know for a fact that if I run dummies (without powder) through the action of my rifles, the follower slamming into the column of cartridges in the magazine will tend to telescope the bullets into the cases. Fortunately, with my Black Powder loads, the powder in the case forms a 'plug' if you will and prevents the bullets from telescoping into the cases. Anyway, here is a photo of a couple of my 44-40 rounds. You can see how the Lee Factory Crimp die only 'smooshes' the brass into the crimp groove, the brass does not bite into the bullet.

My go to powder for Smokeless loads for 45 Colt and 44-40 has always been Unique. I have always stayed away from BullsEye because the charges are so small. Too easy to accidentally double charge a load. With Unique, which is much bulkier, an accidental double charge should be readily noticeable because it would come close to overflowing the case. For what it's worth, my Smokeless loads for 45 Colt were 7.5 grains of Unique under a 250 grain bullet. 44-40 was also 7.5 grains of Unique under a 200 grain bullet. These are not mouse fart loads, but they are not Max loads either. My reloading notebook says my 45 Colt loads were running around 800 fps out of a 7 1/2" 'original model' Vaquero. I have no 44-40 pistol velocity measurements because all my 44-40s are rifles.

It was a long time ago that I ran my loads past a chronograph, but my loading notebook says my 45 Colt loads, with 2.2CC (about 35 grains) of Schuetzen FFg and a 250 grain bullet were doing between 700 fps and 712 fps out of the 7 1/2" barrel of one of my Colts. My 44-40 BP loads with 2.2CC (about 31.3 grains) of Goex FFg and a 200 grain bullet, were averaging around 1015 FPS out of the 24" barrel of my Uberti 1873. No where near the SASS max velocity of 1000 fps for revolvers and 1400 fps for rifles. The Goex loads were shot a long, long time ago, as I do not buy Goex anymore. But those are the velocities my reloading notebook says. Regarding damaging targets, my soft lead bullets do not damage targets. I have been doing this a long time, and I would know if my loads were damaging targets.

I lube my 44-40 and 38-40 cases with Hornady One Shot spray lube. I usually load up 200 rounds at a time. I place all my cases in 50 round wooden loading blocks . Then I give them a quick spray of Hornady One Shot. Notice the cases are mouth up in this photo. A quick spray of a One Shot along one side of the loading block, then another quick spray along the other side. You want the spray onto the case mouth, where it is going to meet the most resistance feeding into the sizing die. You don't want a whole lot, too much lube leaves droplets on the cases, which can then dent the brass as it is fed into the sizing die. Just a quick spray along one side of the loading block, followed by another quick spray along the other side. YES, a little bit of One Shot probably gets into the cases. With my Black Powder loads, IT DOES NOT MATTER! I have never noticed any ill affects from a tiny bit of One Shot Spray lube getting into the cases. I dunno about Smokeless, but with Black Powder, a tiny bit of spray getting into the case does not matter. I do this before setting up my dies. After a few minutes of setting up my dies, the lube is dry to the touch and ready to run through the press. Here is a photo of loading 44-40 with my Hornady Lock and Load AP progressive press. These happen to be shiny, brand-spanky new cases. I am about halfway through loading 200 rounds, there are 200 finished rounds in the red plastic hopper, and 200 more cases in 50 round loading blocks ready to be loaded.

OK, call me sanctimonious. As I said earlier, I am not trying to shoot fast, I am just trying to hit all the targets. My goal at every SASS match is a clean match. I seldom finish a stage in less than a minute. I march to a different drummer. I do not care how slow I shoot, I just want to shoot full Black Powder loads and have a clean match.

Howdy Again 44-40 is the only cartridge I load that I do not crimp and seat the bullet at the same time. I use the Lee Factory Crimp Die for the final crimp with 44-40. Here is a photo of a piece of brass with the 'bell' before seating the bullet, and on the right a completed round with the bullet seated and crimped with the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Because of the thin brass at the neck, it is easy to crumple a case when seating the bullet. The round in this photo is an exaggeration of a round with a bad crumple. One trick I learned a long time ago with 44-40 is to seat the bullet just a tad high so the crimp leaves a hair of space between the top of the brass, and the underside of the crimp groove. This prevents crumpled brass. Garrison Joe is correct, as usual. The thin brass at the top of the 44-40 case (38-40 too) means the crimp is never very strong. You can see in the photo above how the LFC die sort of smooshes the brass into the crimp groove. In point of fact, I never run 44-40 dummies through my rifle. The magazine follower slamming into a column of 44-40 rounds in a rifle magazine causes the bullets to telescope into the brass. Fortunately, with Black Powder loads this does not happen because the powder is slightly compressed by the bullet, preventing the bullet from telescoping into the case in the magazine.

Recoil is supposed to be stout with 45 Colt loaded with Black Powder. My loads are about 35 grains of Schuetzen FFg (2.2CC) under a 250 grain Big Lube bullet. I am not trying to shoot fast, just trying to hit all the targets. Many years ago I tried putting some corn meal on top of the powder in my BP45 Colt loads, not worth the trouble. Here is my standard 45 Colt Black Powder load. Yes, it is a thumper, it is supposed to be. You could try loading 45 Schofield with Black Powder. About 27 grains of Schuetzen FFg (1.9CC) under a 200 grain J/P 200 Big Lube bullet. I like this load in my cartridge conversion 1858 Remingtons because the trigger guard tends to womp my index finger when they are fired with my full house 45 Colt BP loads.

Howdy These days I only load 44-40 with Black Powder. But in my Smokeless days I always loaded it with Unique. 7.5 grains under a 200 grain bullet. Not a barn burner, but not a mouse fart either. A double charge with 7.5 grains of Unique should be easy to spot, as it is a fairly bulky powder. Is it a little sooty? Yes, but who cares? We are not shooting fussy semi-automatics here, we are shooting single action revolvers and lever rifles. They should not be affected by a little bit of soot. At least mine never were. 44-40 has very thin brass at the case mouth, around .007 thick, vs about .012 thick for 45 Colt. It does not take as much pressure to expand a 44-40 case in a chamber as it does with 45 Colt. That is why 44-40 is so great with Black Powder, the pressure always expands the case and there is no blow by. My two cents.

So sorry to hear this. Mike was my Black Powder mentor. I have at least four of his books and they are well thumbed through. I never met him, but I did correspond with him once or twice on the net. Vaya con Dios Mike

Nope. I'm not gonna dissect one of those rounds to find out.

PREVIEW? Howdy. As a confirmed Luddite I am having a few growing pains with the new software. I don't seem to be able to find the ability to preview a post before I send it. There is a Preview icon, page with a magnifying glass, to the far right of the text box tool bar. I think Preview is its intent. I have always found this a very useful feature, because I like to edit my post before I send it. I too liked the old way. You all know I tend to get blabby at times and I need to make sure my spelling is correct and see that I am saying what I need to say. I always see my mistakes after the Reply has posted, why should you be different. That was a joke. The Preview was a great feature that allowed me to do that. Am I just not finding it, or is Preview gone? If it is gone, I would really like to see it back. Tried to preview this post too, could not do it before sending. Let us know if the Preview icon meets your needs. However, it seems to be part of the new version of the Software, which can't be easily changed like User Preferences and Settings. Thanks WAIT! STOP THE PRESSES.I should have read your entire message before trying to reply. Lesson learned. Thank you! I just found the teeny tiny preview button at the upper right of the tool bar. You hit the teeny, tiny, microscopic preview button that looks like a teeny, tiny magnifying glass over a teeny, tiny sheet of paper. Then you hit the X that shows up on the far right to return to editing mode. Maybe the preview button could be made a little bit bigger or more descriptive so those of us who are half blind will see it better?.It is basically the same size as the other buttons/icons/tools. Now that you know where it is, I doubt it will be a problem for you. BTW, thank you for bringing this up so everyone can learn from it. Gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe.........I have them too. However, the Administrator "Control Panel" is much more user friendly than it was in the past. I feel like I am up-to-speed, or nearly so, now. I'm sure y'all will be soon.

As you all know by now I seriously dislike the term Period Correct. However the guy all the way on the right in that photo is Geronimo, and you can bet what he is wearing is historically accurate.

Well Griff, as I've said many times, it is the cylinder that contains the pressure of the cartridge firing. The frame, which includes the top strap, does not see the pressure of the cartridge firing. However the frame does see the pounding of recoil, and a thicker top strap will be important in keeping the frame from stretching or otherwise failing from the heavier recoil of the 44 Mag cartridge.

H.K. The most useful photo is #7, comparing two cylinders together.since both cylinders are 44 caliber, that is an apples to apples comparison. Talking about thicker top straps and stuff is all well and good, but the pedal hits the metal, so to speak, in the cylinders, which must contain the pressure of the cartridges firing. It appears to me that the web between chambers is slightly thicker on the Uberti 44 Magnum cylinder than the Colt 44 Special cylinder. A simple measurement with a caliper could confirm this. An even better photo would be a side by side comparison of both cylinders from the rear. Well lit of course, so it can be seen if either cylinder has more metal between the cylinders. A simple measurement would suffice too. I am talking about a photo like this, which clearly shows how much bigger and stronger the 'old model' Vaquero cylinder is tjam tje Iberto Cattleman on the left and the 2nd Gen Colt on the right. All three cylinders are chambered for 45 Colt. I suspect the difference between you Colt 44 Special cylinder and the new Uberti 44 Mag cylinder may not be quite so obvious, but this is the type of photo I am talking about. There are other considerations, such as how deep the bolt cuts are, but a measurement of the metal between chambers would go a long way towards confirming if the Uberti 44 Mag is indeed beefier than a standard Colt or Uberti in 44 Special. There are other things too, the diameter of the Mag cylinder could be larger, allowing the chambers to be set further out, which would increase the distance between them, but getting an accurate measurement on that might take some fancy measuring techniques. But a simple measurement of the diameters of the two cylinders could also be useful. Just some thoughts. The Uberti 44 Mag would have been proofed in Italy with proof loads for 44 Mag, and European proofing standards are actually a little bit higher than American standards. So that 44 Mag should be safe to shoot with standard 44 Magnum ammunition, I suspect it would not be limited to 'cowboy loads' unless that was clearly stated somewhere in the owner's manual.

Well, it's just as well that I am too busy this weekend to go to the show in Marlboro. I have been spending too much money on guns lately. Looking at the Uberti web page they do list 44 Mag as one of the calibers for the Cattleman. But looking at the specs it appears that the only one chambered for 44 Mag is the Callahan model, which comes with either 4 3/4" or 6 1/2" barrel. There is also the 'target' model with 6 1/2" barrel only. So that model probably is heftier to take the 44 Mag cartridge. What say you H.K? I know you have a few Colts. Is your 44 Mag heftier than a standard SAA?

Howdy HK Just curious, where did you find it? I was not aware that Uberti was chambering the Cattleman for 44 Mag, but I just checked their webpage and 44 Mag is one of the listed calibers. Did you find it new or used?

Yup, put a cookie sheet under the MEC. You'll be glad you did first time you dump shot all over the place so you don't have to vacuum it out of that nice new carpet.

Howdy Again While I'm still on the subject, if I recall the dates correctly, back in the 1920s and 1930s Smith and Wesson obtained a trademark for the way they color case hardened the hammers and triggers on their revolvers. This was an attempt to keep cheap imitations from being imported from Europe. They stamped REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. on the hammers and backsides of the triggers. This was a trademark, not a patent. Eventually the courts ruled against them and they stopped marking their hammers and triggers that way. Back on Topic If they play their cards right, I suspect Standard Manufacturing will be able to sell all the single action revolvers they can make at that price. Colt has a very limited capacity to make the SAA, there are only a couple of employees assembling them, yet they sell every one that they make. I'll bet the owner of Standard Manufacturing did a good job studying the market before he decided to make these revolvers, and if the quality is there I suspect he will sell all he can make.

Howdy The name '1911' is just a model designation given to a particular firearm by the US Army. Other than that it means nothing. The name '1911' is not trademarked. The patents for the 1911 expired long ago, so anybody can make one without infringing on anybody's intellectual property. Trademarks are different. The letter R inside a circle is the symbol for a registered trademark. A trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Many things can be trademarked. Symbols or names associated with a particular brand can be trademarked. Trademarks can be renewed indefinitely, so practically speaking they can last forever as long as the company that owns them holds up its end of the bargain. Probably the most recognizable trademark in the world is the flowing Coca Cola script that is written on every bottle and can of Coca Cola. The Coca Cola company is well known as being vigilant about protecting its trademarks. That is because if a company does not actively defend its trademark, the trademark can be rescinded. If a trademark starts out as the intellectual property of a company, but lapses into common usage, the trademark can lapse and the company can loose its ownership of the trademark. Which translates into loosing money. The name Kleenex is a registered trademark of the Kimberley-Clark company. When is the last time you asked for a Kleenex instead of a tissue? That is the sort of thing that drives companies mad, the public generalizing a trademarked name so it eventually looses its status as a trademark. If you go to the Colt web page you will see the Registered Trademark symbol next to the stylized script of the Colt name. If you go to Single Action Army page, you will see the registered trademark symbol next to the names Single Action Army as well as Peacemaker. That means that those names are registered trademarks of the Colt company, and Colt will sue the pants off of anybody who has the gall to stamp the name Single Action Army on their products. They are protecting their trademarks from becoming generalized. American Western Arms made the mistake of stamping Single Action Army on some or their revolvers and Colt took them to the cleaners. If Standard Manufacturing stamps the name Single Action Army on their revolvers, or prints it in any of their literature, Colt will jump on them like a ton of bricks.

Hang my gunbelts? I don't. I have a small duffle bag that my leather stays in between matches. I just roll up the belt and stuff it into the bag. Nobody is going to come and admire my gunbelts.

Howdy I had to listen to the video a bunch of times to hear where he said they were located. Finally I got it, New Britain, which isn't far from Hartford where the Colt factory is. A couple of things. He keeps repeating it is a Single Action Army. If he insists on calling it that, Colt will sue him because that is a registered trademark of the Colt company. He said the gun he was holding had a 4 3/4" barrel, but it sure looked like a 5 1/2" barrel to me. Making the gun in the USA I'm not surprised at the price, you can't build something of equal quality in the USA with Italian labor rates. And yes Chuck, I doubt it will be available here in MASS. You and me will have to keep haunting the back alleys for Colts.

Howdy I shoot Trap just about every Sunday, all year long. During the season I shoot once a week in Trap League too. Other than that I try to get down to the range as often as possible to shoot all those S&W revolvers I have.

Yup, it was probably me. Here are four books no self respecting Smith and Wesson aficionado should be without. There's a newer addition of this one out now, but I like this one better. The 4th edition of this one is out now, but I haven't gotten it yet. An oldie but a goodie.