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Any gunsmiths that will recut revolver chambers?


Shifty Jack, SASS #65353

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there is a shooter on here, Springfield Slim. He has reamed his 44sp Open Tops to shoot 44wcf and reports no problems. He has been shooting them for years. You might contact him. And I will attach a thread from 4 years ago that discussed this very subject, with varying opinions on whether it could be done or not. As always, the final decision will be yours, and I make no recommendations as to the suitability of this work.;)

 

 

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First 44 40 is a taber case 44mag is strate wall can not make it smaller. the bor 44 40 is .427, .428 or .429. 44 mag is .430 [ ruger have a .430 in there 44 40 ? ] Al Story Borchardt Rifle Corp (575) 535-2923 See if he can help He told he makes 44 40 cylinder 

 
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5 hours ago, Shifty Jack, SASS #65353 said:

Contemplating the idea of having a 44mag rechambered to 44-40, but haven't found any gunsmiths that advertise that they would do it. Any leads? Would this even be cost effective? Thanks!

 

Shifty

 

What gun are you thinking about rechambering?  

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3 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

 

What gun are you thinking about rechambering?  

Seeing if it would be a cheaper option to end up with a stainless 5.5 vaquero. From everything I've read about them, they used .429 barrels and owners were typically having the cylinders worked to match that.

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2 minutes ago, Shifty Jack, SASS #65353 said:

Seeing if it would be a cheaper option to end up with a stainless 5.5 vaquero. From everything I've read about them, they used .429 barrels and owners were typically having the cylinders worked to match that.

 

I did a little study on this a few years back and it seems possible with old model Vaqueros but not with new. The cylinders are not large enough on NMV to accommodate the larger rim diameter. 

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There is a stainless steel 5 1/2" Vaquero listed on GunBroker.com.  The auction number is 825315132, if you search the number the auction will come up.  The starting bid is $1,025 plus $45 shipping.  Seems expensive but probably still cheaper than buying a 44 and then paying a gunsmith to make the modifications and then hope it is going to work like a factory pistol.

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17 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

 

I did a little study on this a few years back and it seems possible with old model Vaqueros but not with new. The cylinders are not large enough on NMV to accommodate the larger rim diameter. 

 

I've seen people say that, but it honestly doesn't make sense to me. The rim diameter of 44-40 isn't much more than 45 Colt and the base diameter is actually smaller. How much smaller is the diameter of a new vaquero cylinder in comparison with a Colt?

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5 minutes ago, Curly Pete said:

There is a stainless steel 5 1/2" Vaquero listed on GunBroker.com.  The auction number is 825315132, if you search the number the auction will come up.  The starting bid is $1,025 plus $45 shipping.  Seems expensive but probably still cheaper than buying a 44 and then paying a gunsmith to make the modifications and then hope it is going to work like a factory pistol.

 

That's the ultimate question. If the cost to have a cylinder modified is $200-250, it would make sense. Any higher and I'm better off waiting for the right revolver to come along.

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You might want to see if Al Story or Tom Chavira have any of the 44-40 drop in cylinders that might work. I know they had them for the new vaquero and mid size flattop 44 specials and they were drop in very little or no fitting required. Think the website was rugercyl.com or something like that. They make the drop in 22 8 shot cylinder conversion for single sixes so that might be another way to find them by internet searching. Hope this helps

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I’m a little past 2 years waiting for my .44-40 Vaquero cylinders from Al Story/BRC barrels.  They sent a pair for New Vaquero’s last year and they were beautiful, but I only had one pistol they fit so had to send them back.  Based on those 2 they are worth waiting for, but they only do one batch a year...

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You'd probably do better finding a .357 cyl. and having it bored out. I couldn't find any blue OMV's in 38-40 ,,,,,,, got a pair of OMV's in .357 , had the cyls bored for 38-40 and they worked good. Still working.

YMMV,

Isom

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Ruger didn't do 44-40 New Vaqueros because they couldn't guarantee that they would work with all brands of brass. My experience with reaming my 2- 44 special Opentops shows that there is VERY little room between the rims edges, but with R-P, Winchester, and Starline brass I have been fine. I rented a reamer and did it myself, so I can't tell you who else might do it. You take a chance of ruining your first cylinder if it doesn't work, so allow for that.

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While the rim diameter is a valid concern, one I cannot verify without a revolver at hand to measure, I will say that the .44 Mag case mouth measures .456" and the chamber is spec'd at .458" while the .44-40 case mount is a mere .443". So, even if you cut the chamber for .430" bullets, you still have a pretty loose chamber at the neck area.

 

I too would recommend starting with a .357" cylinder.

 

Now that I just ordered an 1873 in .44-40 I may have to pick up a story cylinder for one of my blackhawks.

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William: That is true, but with thinner 44-40 brass it seems to expand just fine, and my guns stay pretty clean. And I still get at least 6 reloads from the brass. And I didn't have to buy 2 new cylinders and pay a gunsmith to ream them. KISS is my motto. It does make my fired 44-40 look more like 45 Colt though, but I switched my wife to 45CS so it didn't matter.

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On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 7:09 PM, Springfield Slim SASS #24733 said:

William: That is true, but with thinner 44-40 brass it seems to expand just fine, and my guns stay pretty clean. And I still get at least 6 reloads from the brass. And I didn't have to buy 2 new cylinders and pay a gunsmith to ream them. KISS is my motto. It does make my fired 44-40 look more like 45 Colt though, but I switched my wife to 45CS so it didn't matter.

 

Yes, but you reamed 44 special cylinders.  Remember that the .44 special is .125" shorter than the .44 Mag. So, your new chamber would still have a tighter case mouth than if you'd have reamed a .44 mag cylinder.  So, in your case, you have a cylinder that is to spec for at least that .125" while the remaining original case neck behind that is over sized.  While it works for you, I'd not recommend it on a .44 Mag cylinder.

 

 

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I don't think that 1/8" will make the much difference in a SASS gun.

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