It's of course not a single shot, being lever action.

I'm going to shoot it.
Being built way before smokeless I'll shoot a BPC.
It's a 44-40..
So My book calls for a .429 lead, 200 gr
I have on hand .428 200 gr.
Would you think this will work safely. I think it will but what I think and what works is two different matters.
Dies, easy to get
Primers, have
BP, lbs and lbs of 2f
Brass on hand
Wads, they were out, not going to pay $120 for my own 44 punch, so will have to work on that one a little until I can find some proper wads.

So I guess the only real question is do any that will answer think the difference in size of the lead will be OK.
Modern 44-40 WCF seems to come in .430 size.

Gordon,

If your alloy is soft enough, the bullet should "bump up" enough to fill the grooves and be accurate.

As to the wad cutter, take a look online at gasket hole punches. That's where I found mine for my .45-70 and, IIRC, it cost less than $15.

Ed

John Walters, 1000 wads for around $20.00, your diameter of choice. .030/.060"

405-799-0376

Fine fellow to do business with.

Load a dummy round and see if it will chamber.
Then slow pour 35 gr. of 2f into the primed case, seat the bullet and have fun.
Watch the cheap tool bins at the various stores, you can often find hole punches for 5 $ a set, not the best punches in the world, but work good to knockout some over powder wads.

Depending on how wear, the barrel may have a .427 to .428 groove dia, and shoot fine with .428's. One thing we found on an old 92 my Dad was gifted was the muzzle was very worn, from cleaning rods. You might check that before you go to a lot of trouble as they shoot patterns with worn muzzles.

And note to self, load jacketed bullets for the Hog Hunt so they don't look like BP loads, and wind up in Gordon's original 1873

Thanks all for the help and location of items.

Christian Sharps made the West safe for Winchester...............
Just ask Quanna Parker or some of those others at say the Buffalo Wallow Fight and the ones that accidentally got in front of Sergeant Ryans Heavy Sharps at the Little Big Horn..........

Long live the 44-77.:)

I'll second that!

Dixon made THE shot with a Big Fifty.

So Gordon, while I was napping, did you shoot the 1873?

I have been shooting my '73 with black powder and cast bullets of my own -
220 grain pure lead with 2% tin (from solder) is soft and will bump up. I have shot two critters with it, and the 1:50 soft lead performed well.
I use 36 grains of 3F and get 1200 fps on the nose with a 20 inch barrel. Compress it up to .2 of an inch to chamber.

I am not sure why you want to use a wad?

Lube I use is 1:2 beeswax/tallow (beeswax and Crisco will do)

Why not use a card wad? Have you ever tried it? Or have the xspurts on the GA forum like the Edwards boy convinced you it's not necessary.

Ranch not sure if that question is for me or not.
When I do reload for the 44-40, will more than likely load just as I do for my Sharps.

No the question wasn't for you.

Who?

I have used a card wad just as an experiment because I read that people did this, but I could see no difference in results. That is the only wad I have tried so far. But why do you use one? What is it intended to do?

So Gordon, if you make it to Quemado this year, bring the 1873, and the lovely Swedish roller, too.