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Accidentally loading 44 WCF


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Please only answer if ya know don't speculate.

 

I am thinking of abandoning my 44/40 weapons and putting them up for sale.

 

Shameless

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Hey Shameless:

I've done that in a revolver.

I was shooting 44-40 rifle & 45 Colt revolver.

44-40 in a .45 pistol shot fine.

I even hit the target.

Case was blown out to straight-walled case.

no noticable effects while shooting.

 

Of course, a 45 Colt won't chamber in a 44-40 rifle, so I had to eat some misses.

Had to take the magazine plug out to empty the gun.

 

44/40s have a black stripe on the case head & 45 Colts don't.

I double-check now to avoid mishaps in the future.

--Dawg

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Yep, done that with BP loaded .44-40 ammo in a .45 Colt '73 rifle, full magazine. Cases came out blown out to reverse bottleneck shape. Hit the targets. Sounded pretty normal.

 

But, I really don't know what you think we are speculating about. There is no way that I know of that the combination of .44-40 in a .45 Colt pistol or rifle is going to be dangerous, other than some pretty extensive gas blowback. With the smaller caliber .44 bullet, pressure can't build in the .45 colt gun. With smokeless, you probably get less pressure, maybe even squib level.

But, since the bullets can't lodge in the barrel, there's nothing to cause a high pressure event.

 

I wouldn't let that cause me to quit shooting .44-40. It's too fine a cartridge. I'd just be more careful. As PD said, the cases can easily be marked.

 

 

Good luck, GJ

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Howdy

 

I guess I don't understand what the question is.

 

I have always shot 44-40 in my rifles in CAS and 45 Colt in my pistols. Always. About ten years now. I ain't loaded the wrong cartridge in the wrong gun yet. Knock wood. This loading block should be self explanatory.

 

Loading Block

 

I did fire a few 44-40 rounds out of one of my 45 Colt pistols one day, just to see. Of course all my rounds are loaded with Black Powder, but that should not make any difference. Forget what you heard about a 44 bullet 'rattling down the bore' of a 45 Colt pistol. A rumor started by guys who have never tried it. I hit the target every time.

 

I mentioned this on the Ruger Forum one day, when the same question was asked. I got accused of being careless and almost bringing the world to an end. I was told I was lucky the gun did not blow up. By a bunch of guys who had no experience what so ever with 44-40, 45 Colt or Black Powder.

 

Don't worry about it. If you accidentally stuff a 44-40 into a 45 Colt gun, nothing happens except you ruin the brass.

 

As a matter of fact, here is what a 44-40 looks like that has been fired in a 45 Colt chamber. The one in the middle. Regular 45 Colt on the left and 44-40 on the right.

 

cartridges

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Howdy, Pard,

If it weren't for the fact that I have as many .44-40's as I can afford, I'd say send them all to me! As has been posted, a .44-40 in a .45 LC gun won't bother anything much. OTOH, a .45 LC round in a toggle-link rifle will tie things up pretty well. It isn't so bad in a '73 Winchester, as "all" you have to do is remove one screw, take the side plates off and remove the offending round. In a Henry or '66, you have to remove the lever screw, tap the side plates out of the dovetails, and remove the round, then reassemble. In the first instance, Texas Ranger George Lloyd had it happen in a firefight with some Indians. Fortunately, he had a '73, and was able to clear the jam and lived to tell the tale. In the case of Ol' Trailrider, it happened with my Navy Arms Henry, and took about 15 minutes to clear! :blush: At least I wasn't in the middle of a firefight. I then switched to .44-40 pistols.

 

Ride easy, but stay alert! Godspeed to those still in harm's way in the defense of Freedom everywhere! God Bless America! :FlagAm:

 

Your Pard,

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Well, right after moving to Mineola I didn't reload then and went to Greenville to shoot. Had gone to Gun Show in Tyler and bought 200 rounds of reloads from a guy there that were marked 45LC. Had 20 something misses!!! :unsure: Thought I had forgotten how to shoot :wacko:

Was going through the brass bag next day and found out he had sold me 44-40's!!! Took them back to him at next Gun Show and he swore he Never loaded any 44-40's! Sold the brass to Goody!

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In a Henry or '66, you have to remove the lever screw, tap the side plates out of the dovetails, and remove the round, then reassemble.

 

Actually Trailrider, with a Henry all you have to do is slide the follower all the way forward and open the magazine. Let all the rounds fall out of the magazine. If a round is already on the carrier, just shove the carrier down with your thumb, then let it slide forward out of the magazine.

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Actually Trailrider, with a Henry all you have to do is slide the follower all the way forward and open the magazine. Let all the rounds fall out of the magazine. If a round is already on the carrier, just shove the carrier down with your thumb, then let it slide forward out of the magazine.

 

 

yep, that was what I did when I somehow got a 45 lc in my 44-40 66. I did also mess up and get a 44 special in my 44-40 handgun. Shot ok, but I ruined the case and had to knock it out with a cleaning rod.

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Howdy:

 

Haven't mixed up 44/40 with 45 Colt; yet; However, I did load 44 Mag (Cowboy loads) into my Large Frame Ruger 45 Colt. Notice, I refrained from using OMV - HA! In that case, the sound was funny when I fired - two of them. Checked it out - found the error, and unloaded - no damage to the firearms, damaged the cases (split up the side), and damaged my ego for being so careless - All shells now have unique marking on the case head so I can tell immediately if I have what I need. Also, I put in Large Notes on the ammo boxes to identify the rounds.

 

STL Suomi

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Yeah! I was worried. I will color code and use easily Identified lead projectiles each caliber.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Shameless

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:FlagAm::FlagAm::FlagAm::FlagAm::FlagAm:

 

I was shooting with another Pard back when we were new to SASS and sharing a gun cart.

He grabbed a box of my .44 S&W's and loaded them into his M-92 .45 Colt rifle.

Heck, they fed and fired fine, but he had a few misses on the stage.

No one ever noticed it until they picked up my split .44 brass.

 

He was pretty pissed off. I should've been pissed since I lost a handful of good .44 cases.

But I was too busy laughing at his screw-up.

 

MG

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Shameless dont worry about it. The first time I heard about this was a pard in Maine a number of years ago but, and this is stretching my memory, they were 38WCF not 44WCF. He had a couple of misses but that was all that happened.

 

 

PS - Johnson has been known to carry a sharpie somewhere on his person at matches so he can brand MY 44WCF brass and add it to his herd. You have to watch him he's a notorious brass rustler :lol::lol::lol:

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Dunit both ways - Harder'n he** ta close the lever on a 44WCF with a tube full of .45 Colt ammo. Really poor accuracy in a .45 using 44-40 rounds. Also get blown out cases that can be salvaged with careful sizing, but it has got to shorten case life.

 

CR

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Howdy,

Very early in my involvement with sass shootin, I tried shootin with various calibers.

It was a mess. I sold off a couple guns and standardized on one caliber, it happened to

be 38 special. A 44 and a 45 were pretty easy to sell and it just gave me so much

less to worry about.

If I ever mix calibers again it would be 38s and 44s as one will NOT fit the other at all.

Enjoy your day of shootin, even if it has some difficulty.

Best

CR

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Howdy:

 

Haven't mixed up 44/40 with 45 Colt; yet; However, I did load 44 Mag (Cowboy loads) into my Large Frame Ruger 45 Colt. Notice, I refrained from using OMV - HA! In that case, the sound was funny when I fired - two of them. Checked it out - found the error, and unloaded - no damage to the firearms, damaged the cases (split up the side), and damaged my ego for being so careless - All shells now have unique marking on the case head so I can tell immediately if I have what I need. Also, I put in Large Notes on the ammo boxes to identify the rounds.

 

STL Suomi

Not being quite so PC, my original Vaquero, now older model 44 mag, made its first trip to the range, shot a cylinder full, guess because it was a 44 mag the most powerful handgun in San Francisco in all the excitement did not notice sloppy chambers of a 45 Colt Cylinder in the gun. Cases ejected a little hard, were pretty swelled up. Sent gun back to ruger came home with the proper 44 mag cylinder. Trashed the cases all 6 of them.

 

Thinking the extra stretch would make the already thin 44-40 brass super thin. Bet if ya resized the brass ya might have to trim to lenth.

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One of our shooters uses 44-40 brass but loaded with 45 Colt loads and bullets in his 45 Colt Henry. Says the thinner brass makes the blowback less.

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Please only answer if ya know don't speculate.

 

I am thinking of abandoning my 44/40 weapons and putting them up for sale.

 

Shameless

 

 

When I switched to black powder I went 100% to .44-40. Much easier that way, no mess ups, easy reloading and it's a doggone cool round! Rye ;)

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A pard friend Dale in Ephrata WA was shooting his 45 colt one day about 25 years ago and not doing well with it, shot about 1/2 box of reloads when he found he was shooting 44 wCF ammo. Was not good for the brass probably been reloaded many times. GR

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I have always loved the 45 Colt round and at a young age I was able to purchase a real genuine Colt. It was in the 70's and I was able to buy it for dealer cost.

I was young and stupid and let that colt get away after only having it about two years. I needed car parts for my GTO.

When I first started in SASS I went straight to USFA and purchased two of the Premium's 45 Colt of course. After about 18 months I decided to quit shooting my 92 and purchased a Uberti 73 in the original 44-40 caliber.

It did not take long for me to take in enough history to fall in love with the 44-40 and to have a ammunition mix up with my 45 Colt revolvers. I purchased a set of USFA's in 44-40 and I have been a happy camper since making that wise move.

I will never shoot another cartridge as I shoot 100% BP all the time and the 44-40 makes it so easy. Never thought one could come to such a feeling for one cartridge but it can happen!!

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This is a true story of two pards, it made for one of the most funny memories at a match. Names abbreviated.

 

PD has a Uberti `66 carbine in 44-40 shooting BP

 

MD has a Uberti `66 carbine in 45colt shootind smokeless

 

PD & MD are at the unloading table at the same time and

PD comes back to the unloading table to get his `66 and inadvertantly picks up MD's 45colt `66.

Needless to say now MD has pd's 44-40 `66.

 

Next stage PD shoots 44-40 BP out of the 45colt `66 for a clean stage.

MD gets out there shoots pistols and grabbes his `66 .... levers it and lockes it up! What Tha!

Now at the unloading table he spots the 44-40 on the barrel and yells hey PD ya have my rifle pard!

MD told me the worst part was then he had to go home and clean all that BP $#!@ out of his rifle!

Ya gotta watch your good buddies.lol

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On a somewhat related side note, it's also possible to stuff a .45 Colt bullet in a .44 mag case. Shoots okay in a .45 colt rifle or pistol, but the case usually doesn't survive...

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Guest Winchester Jack, SASS #70195

I recently saw a shooter try to stuff a 44.40 into a rifle chambered for .38...it didnt fit :o

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A knucklehead I know personnally; managed to get a .41 Mag round in the mix. Fired from a .45 cartidge converted Rem. clone. Spotters and T.O. agreed: That sounded strange! :ph34r: It was a hit. Brass a bit split; ;) most of the length of the case. Unnamed person shows up in my mirror, sometimes. What a Knucklehead! :lol:

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