[Stillwater]

Is there anyone here who has experience loading .44-40, and .38-40 for both rifle and pistol?

 

[Aslan]

I have a load for the 38-40 (38wcf) I'll have to dig for it after we move, as all my reloading stuff is packed away.

I've only loaded for the 38-40 once (I have a saddle ring carbine in 38-40, that has been in our family forever.)

If you are not in a hurry, I will dig it up sometime in the next month or so.

:devil:

 

[andy]

there's a reason why they died-off, ya know. Balloon head cases, tapered cases, weirdo bore diameters, etc. There's a reason why there's 5x as many auto's made here and imported as there are revolvers, too.

 

[Garand]

Most of the guys that I know that shoot .44-40 are Cowboy action shooters that don't shoot alot outside of matches because of the length of time it takes to reload those calibers What style of shooting have you in mind for those calibers?

 

[andy]

if it's "just for fun", might as well just use a .22, and save the time,noise,money, and hassle.If it's for blood, there's far better choices. This sort of stuff is the reason you've never posted better than a Class C score in your life. In the first place, you lack intelligence and discipline, in the second place, you scatter about your efforts too much, so you never get truly good at anything.

 

[Aslan]

if it's "just for fun", might as well just use a .22, and save the time,noise,money, and hassle.If it's for blood, there's far better choices. This sort of stuff is the reason you've never posted better than a Class C score in your life. In the first place, you lack intelligence and discipline, in the second place, you scatter about your efforts too much, so you never get truly good at anything.

The money is NOT an issue, the time is enjoyable, and a 38-40 isn't that loud to shoot.

Not everything fit's your view of life. People do many things for many reasons. FUN is one of them. Too bad you limit your thinking to the .22 for fun. Maybe larger calibers scare you or something.

Who cares how much the cost is if the person choosing to do it can afford it?

Why throw insults, other than out of jealousy? That's what it appears to be jealousy - and over what? a 44-40 or a 38-40? That's pretty silly, and petty.

But if the intent is to be a drama queen and try to make every thread about you, all you are doing is looking silly.

Why not just ignore any threads where you have no input other than to whine or try to hijack the contents?

I'm trying to be nice here. Every single time someone posts a thread, about anything, you try to make it a thread about you.

It's rather sad.

Too bad you don't understand the joy of shooting a 38-40, especially one that has been in your family for over 100 years.

:devil:

 

[.45 COLT]

I've loaded a fair amount of .44-40, used 200 grain cast bullets, 6.5 grains of Hodgdon HP-38. Real mild load, but the .44-40 isn't supposed to be anything else. Hodgdon has several loads on their website for both cartridges.

The .44-40 has real thin brass on the neck, easy to crunch. Use enough lube.

DC

 

[Stillwater]

I have a load for the 38-40 (38wcf) I'll have to dig for it after we move, as all my reloading stuff is packed away.

I've only loaded for the 38-40 once (I have a saddle ring carbine in 38-40, that has been in our family forever.)

If you are not in a hurry, I will dig it up sometime in the next month or so.

:devil:

Tim:
Anytime you can comment will be fine with me. Having your family's old .38-40 must really be a nice thing to have. I have my Grandfathers 1874 Sharps he hunted Buffalo with. I would never think about selling it, since he bought it new.

I have three 1973 Winchester firearms, one in .32-20, one in .38-40 and one in .44-40

I also have five low walls, one in .22 LR, one in .32-20, one in .38-40, one in .44-40 amd one in 45 COLT.

And I also have COLT SA pistols in .32-20, .38-40, .44-40 and in 45 COLT.

I want to hear what everybody else is using, and if they are doing anything different from loading manuals.

I used the original Lyman bullets as a guide for haveing new moulds made. I had a 0.006 - 0.008 crimping groove put at the place that that would set the OAL at the exact SAAMI length.

 

[Stillwater]

Most of the guys that I know that shoot .44-40 are Cowboy action shooters that don't shoot alot outside of matches because of the length of time it takes to reload those calibers What style of shooting have you in mind for those calibers?

I have used the .32-20, the .38-40, the .44-40 and the .45 Colt for years as primary hunting guns, primary gun guns etc. And I have competed in Cowboy Action Shooting with them.

In California, driving to the CAS meets is a major proposition, because most of them, except EOT, are sometimes over a hundred miles away from me.

I like the older calibers, because you have to be a better marksman to shoot them, than you do the new calibers, which incidentially I have planty of. I just enjoy the old guns.

 

[Stillwater]

I've loaded a fair amount of .44-40, used 200 grain cast bullets, 6.5 grains of Hodgdon HP-38. Real mild load, but the .44-40 isn't supposed to be anything else. Hodgdon has several loads on their website for both cartridges.

The .44-40 has real thin brass on the neck, easy to crunch. Use enough lube.

DC

The brass is only, on an average 0.005 at the neck, so it is easy to crunch. In an earlier post I mentioned the moulds I have made for the four primary arms that I shoot.

I had a crimp groove added to the original Lyman bullet design, when I had my moulds made. This crimp groove made the 1873 lever actions and the Marlin lever actions feed flawlessly. I think the Lyman designed, round nose Flat point, is adequate for deer sized animals out to around one hundred and fifty yards, using the .38-40 or the .44-40. I haven't yet tried shooting a deer with the .45 Colt, however using it I have shot endwise through a coyote also. If you shoot a coyote up the old poop-shoot it saves the pelt. Sooo, I pick and choose my shots.

I have installed Marbles, vernier tang sights, on all of the old calibers I shoot. The .32-20, obviously isn't a deer caliber, but I have shot through coyotes endwise with it.

The brass I use on all of my old guns is usually new, Winchester brass. I had the forsight to buy 5000 each of the .32-20, the .38-40, the .44-40 and the 45 Colt, a few years ago when Winchester started their new runs of Old Timey Brass. The cases aren't the balloon head style, but are all sold head brass in all four calibers.

I am an experienced hand loader, and I haven't lost a case yet. I haven't crunched a neck, because I had a small bullet base bevel put in the bullet mould. Even though the brass is thin at the neck, I credit the crimp groove for saving my brass. And, I use a special, from RCBS, taper crimp die on these four cartridges too.

 

[Stillwater]

there's a reason why they died-off, ya know. Balloon head cases, tapered cases, weirdo bore diameters, etc. There's a reason why there's 5x as many auto's made here and imported as there are revolvers, too.

Ok Melvin, since you asked, it's your turn in the barrel. What happened to the ignore status you put me on? Hmmm?

The four calibers, the .32-20, the .38-40, the .44-40 and the .45 Colt, never did die off. Winchester , Marlin and Colt discontinued manufacturing them for quiet a while. However the ammunition company's always made ammunition for them, MELVIN, they never stopped. Even new ammunition manufacturing
company's are manufacturing ammunitiion in these four calibers.

The ammunition company's stopped making balloon head brass, somewhere in the 1920's or there about. All loaded cartridges since then are of the solid head design.

You're not much very knowledgeable on this are you?

Who cares if there are five times as many autos made as firearms in these calibers. You simply do not know much do you.

MELVIN, you're such a one track mind, one trick pony human, that you are unable to see why other knowledgeable people think you're nutty advice is just that, NUTTY.

Copied from MELVIN'S post: there's a reason why they died-off, ya know.

It's not "ya know", MELVIN, is it you know. And as said before they didn't die off. How far did you go in school again?

Copied from MELVIN'S post: Balloon head cases, tapered cases, weirdo bore diameters, etc.

Balloon head cases are not made anymore, as "I did say before". The .32-20, the .38-40 and the .44-40 aren't tapered cases MELVIN. These cases are classified as "Bottlenecked cases". The .45 Colt case is a "straight taper case," MELVIN.

Bore diameters on the four calibers did fluctuate because of manufacturing tolerances. However, these bore diameters weren't weird at all. They were proper for their time of manufacture. Now the .44-40 barrels, forcing cones and cylinder bore diameters, have been standardized with .44 Remington Magnum on newly manufactured firearms, from all over the world.

You really need to get up to speed on firearms technology, if you are going to post on firearms websites, MELVIN.

 

[Stillwater]

if it's "just for fun", might as well just use a .22, and save the time,noise,money, and hassle.If it's for blood, there's far better choices. This sort of stuff is the reason you've never posted better than a Class C score in your life. In the first place, you lack intelligence and discipline, in the second place, you scatter about your efforts too much, so you never get truly good at anything.

MELVIN, every post does not have to be about you. Stop being such a DRAMA QUEEN.

How do you know we have never posted better than a Class C score? You were never there, you were in prison, remember?

MELVIN, you cannot compose a complete, coherent sentence, You insult and demean everybody, and you say that we don't have intelligence?

We scatter our about our efforts too much, so we never get truly good, so say you? What a moron you are to say that. Intelligent, disciplined shooters can pickup almost any firearm and shoot well with it. Another example of how prison warped your thinking, MELVIN. Instead of dropping your drawers for BUBBER, you should have dropped into the library and studied. But, you don't have the discipline, do you?

 

[Garand]

I have my doubts that he ever won 1st in "D" class. He's very jealous of others accomplishments.