44-40 shooters, lend me your ears.

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trekker73

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Fellas, out of a lever action how would you rate the noise and blast of this calibre running original( smokeless) type power levels? Have heard its not overpowering. Would you say its more or less than a 357 carbine? Closest calibre I have tried would be 410 shotgun, does that sound about right?
 
My 1873 Winchester in 45 Colt is actually very quiet. I was surprised when I first shot it. Not sure how the 45 Colt compares to the 44-40 though
 
My .38-40, which is pretty close to a .44-40, is darned quiet from a 24" 1873. From the heavy Winchester recoil is almost non existent.

Much quieter than my 20" Rossi .357.
 
My .38-40, which is pretty close to a .44-40, is darned quiet from a 24" 1873. From the heavy Winchester recoil is almost non existent.

Much quieter than my 20" Rossi .357.

38-40 isnt even very loud out of a New Service revolver. It is a fun round to shoot. Big bang but its a dull thunk rather than a sharp crack like the magnums.
 
my load for my 1892,s in good condition is a 200 jacketed flat nose loaded with 21.5 grs of 2400 powder and cronys at 1600 fps.
 
I can’t speak to the safety of firing any gun without ear protection (ie don’t do what I did because it’s probably stupid) but I have tested, at different times, two separate Uberti 24” 1873 rifles, one in .45 Colt and one in .44-40, firing one round without ear protection to simulate a hunting scenario.

The .45 (smokeless full power factory load) was surprisingly quiet. The .44-40 (black powder full power handload duplicating original ballistics) was probably about the same level of loudness (no pain, no ringing) but sounded a lot more exciting due to the “boom” of black vs the crack (in this case a very subdued crack) of the smokeless.
 
First we must understand the 44-40 cartridge history.

First, original black powder loads were loud and created 1,325fps.
When smokeless powders came out in the 44-40 by 1894, they too were loud and also produced 1,325fps

When Winchester started using pistol ball powder, velocity was reduced to 1,310fps...still not bad and fairly loud as well.
By 1979 Winchester switched to a flake powder and had to reduce the load in order to keep pressures below the SAAMI max. This quietened that noise a bit.
By 1996 Winchester manufacture reduced recoil loads for cowboy action shooting. There are considered "mouse farts" and should be self explanatory.

Replicating original 1,325fts velocities using Reloder 7, the noise is fairly loud.
Replicating original Winchester "High Velocity" rounds are loud and powerful.
Pushing the 44-40 to the max for use in the Winchester 92/Marlin 94 only, Hurts at nearly 1,650fps and is pretty loud!!!

 
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