Hopkins & Allen (Merwin Hulbert)

[bud560]

Calibre winchester 1873. I would think that meant 44-40 but the problem with 44-40 is that the rims are just a hair to big and block the groove at the back of the cylinder. (cowboy loads) Any ideas?

 

[Jim K]

Nope, except to try another brand of ammo (or cases if you reload). Yes, "Winchester 73" means .44-40. You can put the cases in a lathe and trim the rims from the front or chuck them in a drill and use a safeside file, but that is pretty tedious if you have a lot of cases to do.

Jim

 

[Modelof1891]

.44-40 Winchester

It sounds like you may be loading your cylinder and then putting the barrel and cylinder on the frame. This is a common mistake for the Merwin Hulbert. The shells need to be installed in the cylinder by way of the loading gate so the rims will hang on the lip made around the cylinder pin for extracting the empties when pulled open.