Winchester M1873 ammo?

[Bri-Dog]

I am looking for safe ammo to use in a M73 circa 1891. It's chambered in 44-40. Goex is the only commercial brand I can find with low power loads.

They have their Pinnacle black powder substitute loaded for Cowboy Action shooting- 200gr LFN w/39gr powder giving a muzzle velocity of 1183 fps from a 24" bbl.

Would this be a low enough power load for the old steel of a vintage Winchester? I know most would handload for this rifle, but that is not an option for me.

I would appreciate any advice as I am obviously new to the black powder/antique long gun world.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Take a look at PMC. They market cowboy loads that are advertised as moderate loads. I just got a box of "1895 .30-30" with lead RNFP bullets and rated at 1500 fps. Remember too that the ammo makers have no way of knowing if the .44-40 you are going to use is an original or a replica, so they have to load the pressures to the original specs. So as long as your gunsmith says the head spacing and the chamber/barrel are safe to fire, any good, reliable maker of .44-40 ammo should be OK. I'd look into handloading with Hogdon data if you're still worried. Some of their stuff is really low pressure.

LD

 

[Jim Watson]

A lot of people will tell you to not shoot anything but black in a real 1873. But there has been a lot of shooting done with mild smokeless loads and the factory loads do not overload the toggle-link actions; SAAMI specifications are for around 12,000 psi.

Ten-X sells both smokeless and fake powder .44-40 in light "cowboy" loadings and will reload them at considerable savings if you return the brass.
http://www.tenxammo.com/Pricing.html

 

[Dienekes]

Years ago I had an 1882 vintage '73 in .44-40. I handloaded and used FFg black and the 200 grain cast Lyman classic bullet in it. Had no pressure problems per se but did have a minor adventure with it. Brass was a little hard to come by and I picked up some mystery fired brass and reloaded it. I suspect that it may have been previously loaded with mercuric primers and weakened, or that the headspace on the rifle was excessive. At any rate the case head separated and a lot of pressure came back past the bolt and out the top of the action. Luckily I had the cover open or it probably would have bent. But I caught a lot of blast right by my right ear and it was very unpleasant. I wasn't wearing earmuffs to shoot a BP rifle because the noise level wasn't too bad--normally.

My only advice would be to run very light loads, keep that cover open when firing, and (duh) wear ear protection.

Years ago #4759 powder was developed specifically to provide a low-pressure smokeless load safe in black powder era rifles. I assume (!) that some of the powders being used for these loads today accomplish the same thing. Personally, though, I just run black powder through the old timers.

 

[Bri-Dog]

Thanks to all

I got sort of side tracked over the holidays, and I want to thank everyone for their input. I think I will be going with the TenX BPC ( BP substitute) load they put out. 44-40 165 gr HBFP. Talked to them there, very helpful, and said as long as the rifle is shootable, then these loads should be nice and light on both the gun and the shooter.

This is sort of a Make a Wish Project for my brother (if you know what that implies) and I think he will really have some fun with it.

Again, thanks for the tips