The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Need a little more advice on cartridge reloading

Hawg · September 6, 2012, 06:37 PM

If you're going to shoot bp a 44-40 or 38-40 makes more sense than a .45 Colt. The cartridges are bottle necked and the case necks are thin. This thinness lets the case neck expand to seal off the blowby into the action. Leave a fired case in the chamber while cleaning and there will be no need to tear the action down. However the thin case necks means there is a learning curve on reloading them. Also you need to get cowboy dies for the 44-40 as standard dies still size to .427 and modern 44-40's are .429. I'm not sure about dies for the 38-40. Also the 44-40 and 38-40 are period correct rifle calibers and the .45 Colt isn't.

September 6, 2012, 06:37 PM	#2
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,189	If you're going to shoot bp a 44-40 or 38-40 makes more sense than a .45 Colt. The cartridges are bottle necked and the case necks are thin. This thinness lets the case neck expand to seal off the blowby into the action. Leave a fired case in the chamber while cleaning and there will be no need to tear the action down. However the thin case necks means there is a learning curve on reloading them. Also you need to get cowboy dies for the 44-40 as standard dies still size to .427 and modern 44-40's are .429. I'm not sure about dies for the 38-40. Also the 44-40 and 38-40 are period correct rifle calibers and the .45 Colt isn't.