Early .44-40 H.V. factory loads ran close to 1,600 f.p.s. with a 200 gr. metal patched (jacketed) bullet. Lately, I have been working to replicate that early loading in my recently acquired '94 Marlin Cowboy rifle. With a 200 gr. Remington jacketed bullet, 22/H4227 clocked a bit faster at over 1,700 f.p.s. with good accuracy.

I then decided to try that load with a 200 gr. cast bullet from my Magma mold. Alloy was air cooled w.w.+2% tin / bullet diameter .429".

For a gas check I used PSB (poly shot buffer). Using my Lee scoops I first tried 1 cc but found that to be a bit too much. .7cc still allowed for some compression over the filler to keep the filler tight against the powder charge.

Accuracy was good with a group at 50 yards running 1.06" for 4 shots with the .7cc volume of filler. http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/Smileys/classic/grin.gif

I did not get the chance to chronograph that recipe yet but plan to within the next few weeks. Based on the velocity with the 200 gr. jacketed, I would expect the cast bullet velocity to be a little higher.

NOTE: DO NOT USE IN '73 Winchesters or their clones including '66's.

John

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/w30wcf/44-40HVcast1Apr09jpg.jpg

John

Interesting, but these are definitely high velocity/high intensity loads. When Winchester brought out similar loads they were meant for the M92. Earliest black powder loads for the M73 were closer to 1,100- 1,200fps.

Of interest to you, as a small arms ammunition collector, is the fact that smokeless powder, until about WWI, was not widely accepted by those who shot in cold weather. Early smokeless powder would often misfire or give very low pressures and sometimes leave a round in the barrel in very cold temperatures. That's one of the reasons that black powder rounds were produced commercially as long as they were.

Kanuck,
Yes, cataloged velocity of the standard b.p. .44-40 load was 1,245 f.p.s. Factory smokeless loads for the '73 and '92 were cataloged at 1,300 f.p.s.
The majority of my .44-40 shooting is done with loads that approximate those early ballistics.

I was curious about the early HV loadings meant only for the '92 W. and '94 M. which lead me down this recent path.

Interesting about the early smokeless cartridges and cold weather. I had not heard that before. If you have a reference, please let me know. I wonder if the problem was actually with the early primers (?). The mercuric primers lost their strength over time and the colder weather could also diminish their strength.

The net result would have been that while sufficient primer strength would have been retained to ignite b.p., it would not have been strong enough to ignite smokeless.

John

John

The reference is anecdotal from some of the old time hunters, now departed, that I knew growing up. There are also a couple of short stories or old magazine articles I've read that mentioned the same thing but I'll be darned if I can remember what or when they were published. I'll look around and see what I can find.