Finally got around to doing some casting and loading for my recently acquired .44-40 Colt “Frontier Six Shooter” SA. (Colt letter states made in 1886) I have a 3 die set (7/8"x14) for .44-40, but no M die and my smallest boolit sizer was .430”.
Remembered I had a Ideal 310 tool in .44-40 (tools were caliber specific back then) with 6 die set. It had the M-die and lo and behold, a 427 sizing chamber which is what the .426" bore .44-40 calls for. So loaded up 100 rounds with the 310. Slow, but enjoyed using the old reloading tool. It produced good looking and performing ammo loaded with a 200 grain boolit pushed by 33 grains FFg BP.
The shooting of the 126 year old 7 1/2” barrel revolver was a blast, (pun intended) she bellered forth loudly, spitting flame and smoke. Was a little concerned about the 0.012” barrel/cylinder face gap, but didn’t get spit on and velocity did not appear to be lagging.
No targets for test run, was just busting cans and rocks. The thin front sight and fine vee in the rear trough allowed for accuracy test shooting from rest. (offhand for me, forgedabodit) Sitting and from across the knees, was able to consistently center shoot a man size rock at 75 yards.
But it was point and shoot where the naturally pointing Colt came into it’s own for me. With a few practice shots and ignoring the sights, got where I could I dust dance a pop can four out of five quick shots at around 15-20 feet. Maybe not great for the real pistoleros, but good enough for this child.
My boolit lube, consisting of one cup each of melted beeswax and coconut butter with a tablespoon of Mobil 1 oil performed great. BP fouling crud remained soft and damp for 50 rounds with no binding up of the works. I use this same lube for BP and smokeless alike with good results, even at higher rifle velocities. It remains softly firm without breaking down in this AZ heat. That hydrogenated coconut butter is something else, it sits and laughs at 125 degrees without melting.
I won’t be shooting the old girl much, but was tons of fun with it today.
The little Ideal tong tool did a good job of reloading.
Sure can’t complain about timing of the Colt.
Remembered I had a Ideal 310 tool in .44-40 (tools were caliber specific back then) with 6 die set. It had the M-die and lo and behold, a 427 sizing chamber which is what the .426" bore .44-40 calls for. So loaded up 100 rounds with the 310. Slow, but enjoyed using the old reloading tool. It produced good looking and performing ammo loaded with a 200 grain boolit pushed by 33 grains FFg BP.
The shooting of the 126 year old 7 1/2” barrel revolver was a blast, (pun intended) she bellered forth loudly, spitting flame and smoke. Was a little concerned about the 0.012” barrel/cylinder face gap, but didn’t get spit on and velocity did not appear to be lagging.
No targets for test run, was just busting cans and rocks. The thin front sight and fine vee in the rear trough allowed for accuracy test shooting from rest. (offhand for me, forgedabodit) Sitting and from across the knees, was able to consistently center shoot a man size rock at 75 yards.
But it was point and shoot where the naturally pointing Colt came into it’s own for me. With a few practice shots and ignoring the sights, got where I could I dust dance a pop can four out of five quick shots at around 15-20 feet. Maybe not great for the real pistoleros, but good enough for this child.
My boolit lube, consisting of one cup each of melted beeswax and coconut butter with a tablespoon of Mobil 1 oil performed great. BP fouling crud remained soft and damp for 50 rounds with no binding up of the works. I use this same lube for BP and smokeless alike with good results, even at higher rifle velocities. It remains softly firm without breaking down in this AZ heat. That hydrogenated coconut butter is something else, it sits and laughs at 125 degrees without melting.
I won’t be shooting the old girl much, but was tons of fun with it today.
The little Ideal tong tool did a good job of reloading.
Sure can’t complain about timing of the Colt.
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