Anyone know where I might find 44-40 rimfire Cartridges
I have looked the web over and come up empty..

Thanks Smoke

that's because the 44-40 was never a rimfire. There are a couple old rimfire 44's, like the .44 Henry but these are "obsolete" as-it-were. I think there might be a company or 2 that has loaded some factory 44 rimfire for these in limited runs, but it is very limited in quantity.

Thanks
I have a customer who said he had a 44-40 so I took his word for it.. could you point me to the companys you think might have 44 rimfire cartridges??

Thanks
smoke

Pardon but I must agree that the 44-40 is NOT a rimfire cartridge.

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/cfrdetail.aspx?symbol=X4440&cart=NDQtNDAgV2luY2hlc3Rlcg==

It is also know as the 44WCF. What type of fun does your customer have? This may help us help you. Any guns chambered in a 44 rimfire are very old and should not be fired without careful inspection by a good gunsmith.

Bill

Pardon but I must agree that the 44-40 is NOT a rimfire cartridge.

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/cfrdetail.aspx?symbol=X4440&cart=NDQtNDAgV2luY2hlc3Rlcg==

It is also know as the 44WCF. What type of fun does your customer have? This may help us help you. Any guns chambered in a 44 rimfire are very old and should not be fired without careful inspection by a good gunsmith.

Bill

IF he does have somne type of .44 Rimfire (and there were several), he's out of luck...no reporduction ammo made and the collectors grade antiques are 99.9% dead priming.

Can wrok backwrads to the real caliber by knowing what gun your fiend has and figure out the actual chambering from that.

But if it's a 44-40 (also stamped as .44WCF, .44CLMR amount others), it's not a rim fire.

I have heard of very small runs of 44 Henry rimfires made a few years ago by someone(don't know what company)-low amounts and very expensive. Alternately some folks make a centre-fire breech block for some of these oldies and then load for them. Insert the original block for collectors purposes and the new block for shooting. Depends on the rifle how hard this could be to do.

I have heard of very small runs of 44 Henry rimfires made a few years ago by someone(don't know what company)-low amounts and very expensive. Alternately some folks make a centre-fire breech block for some of these oldies and then load for them. Insert the original block for collectors purposes and the new block for shooting. Depends on the rifle how hard this could be to do.

Know some of the early reproduction Henrys were made in .44RF (indluding the dual firimg pins of the original)...not as shooters ad that ammo is pretty much long gone, but for the collectors/decorators who don't intend to ever shoot them.

Some of the early 44-40 cartridges may have been inside primed. If so, they will appear to be rimfire, but they are not- the firing pin hits the center of the cartridge rear, like any other centerfire rifle.
Might be the source of the confusion. Even as common a cartridge as the 45-70 was once inside primed.

I've done enough cartridge collecting to never say never, so I won't say there's no such thing as a rimfire .44-40. I'd say it's more likely another .44 rimfire, inside primed, or the owner is mistaken. Cartridges of the World lists a .44 Short, .44 Long, .44 Extra Long and .44 Henry Flat. There are undoubtedly more. All of these are straight cases, unlike the slightly bottle-necked .44-40. Inside primed cases often (usually, sometimes?) have a crimp groove just above the rim to hold the primer in place. A .45 Smith & Wesson I have has the crimp groove about 3/16" above the rim.

Bye
Jack

it is an original 1860 Henry 44 rimfire.. sorry the man is in his 70's and I should not have taken his word (slip of judgement on my part) called him back to bring me a cartridge and the rifle again.
the fired cartridge he has shows 2 hammer hits... one on either side of the rim ie: -0-
I am not an antique firearms expert (as you have seen) my area is 50 cal, 1919's and 1000 yd comp rifles.. so I came here for advice...
any help in this area would be greatly appreciated
thanks
smoke

WOW!

To find original 1860 Henry 44 rimfire ammo will be quite a feat! Hey I'll keep my eyes open. I love a challenge. I bet they'll cost a lot. I imagine that they are just for display?

Bill

The "Grand-Daddy" of metallic cartriges back in the Days of the Old West was not the "Colt 45" but rather the little known "44 Henry Flat".

The 44 Henry flat was developed back in 1860, together with the 1860 Henry rifle. And so through the Days of the Federal Conquest of the States, and then throughout the Early Days of the Old West, if you were gonna be shootn' ctgs. it was most likely the 44Henry that you'd been using.

The stubbly little rimfire cartrige was normally loaded with 28 grs of black powder and a 200 grs lead bullet. It was a true .44 with a bullet diameter of 446-inch and a case length of .875-inch. The magazine tube of the Henry rifle held 15 rounds. Later, the Winchester '66 rifles and carbines were also made to use the same 44 Henry ammo.

Later, Colt made the 1872 Open Top and about 1,800 Peacemakers in the 44 Henry, and S&W produced a special rimfire version of their big No. 3 breaktop for the Turks. The same ammo was used in both rifle and revolver,- the first use of the same ammo for both rifle and for pistol.

While the 44 Henry was not a potent cartridge, it was, nonetheless a good compromise between size and power. Thousands of guns were made for this cartridge and the ammunition companies loaded ammo for it as late as 1929.
(http://my.net-link.net/~napfn/44histy.htm)

The Henry a rimfire 44 caliber round that gave from a 20 inch rifle barrel, about what today's standard 158 grain lead 38 Special gives in power out of a six inch handgun. The Henry 44 'Flat' as it is know looks like a goiterized 22 RF short.


This guy had a few
http://members.aol.com/mg64guy/

Other interesting links
http://www.rarewinchesters.com/articles/art_yellowboy.htm
http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/
http://www.shooting-hunting.com/big_bore_hunting_rifles.html

Here are some..

http://www.shooting-hunting.com/big_bore_hunting_rifles.html

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=6104887

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=6163032

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=6078278

Have a couple of rounds, both WW (they used an "H" as a headstamp, for Henry, but it's WW ammo none the less)...but on a bet they would both be duds. There is no real substitute, your friend will just have do do without ammo unless he is willing to take a very expensive chance on some late made (as in the 1920's) ammo....but suspect all of them would be dud rounds as well if an attempt was made to fire them.

Besidess...any Henry in good enough condition to even think about firing is worth too much to shoot.