I love the .44-40 WCF. I have been shooting it thru my Uberti lever guns for decades. I have reloaded it many times with BP and smokeless. The slight neck expands in the chamber to seal the gases in the barrel, and stops the blowback of gases into the action, making it much easier to clean. unlike str8 walled cases. With a Lee mould and dies you can reload forever, as long as you have lead, powder, and primers.

@tomcurran8470

9 ай бұрын

In CAS loads that's the problem with 45 Colt, it does not seal and you get blowback in rifles especially. That's why the 45 Colt Cowboy Special was invented...a cut-off 45 Colt for Cowboy Action Shooting. This could be avoided by using the 44 WCF. Additionally, 45 Colt was never originally chambered in the cowboy era rifles (see Mike's vid on that).

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

YAHOO!

@ScubaOz

3 ай бұрын

Ummm... No. The 45 Colt special was invented for volume reasons in cases when using light loads in SASS, Its still a straight walled brass just shorter and can be used in all 45 Colt guns. A 44-40 brass has a slight taper to it and some claim this is what seals the gases from blowback in the action. So using 45 Colt Special is no different than using 45 Colt regular brass in terms of sealing, just a gimmick to get people to spend money on crap they dont need, use a filler wad or filler and your case will be full, as for the blowback people should quit resizing the hell out of the case if they are using it in the same gun all the time.@@tomcurran8470

44-40 sounds like it was the 9mm of it's day, although much more capable. Def a worthy cartridge. Great video, thanks for sharing it.

@duelist1954

9 ай бұрын

My pleasure!

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

I have read several times, in old journals abd news paper articles where grizzly brears have been killed with the 44WCF. (44-40) the old loads were much stronger than the puny crap thats made in factorys today. They even made a commercial 44WCF high velocity load. The only way to get the most out of the 44WCF is to hand load.

@craigfinley2507

8 ай бұрын

​@@duelist1954what size bullet did the calvery use to fight the indians with in their winchesters

@craigfinley2507

8 ай бұрын

​@@blueduck9409was it stronger than the 44 that Clint Eastwood used

@davisrs1

8 ай бұрын

​@@craigfinley2507 The Cavalry had 45-55 Springfield carbines and the trapdoor rifles were the standard 45-70 Springfields .

I'm starting to get into muzzle loaders but that 1873 Winchester sure is nice!

@invisibletosociety8338

9 ай бұрын

Yes it is, would love to own one.

One of the greatest parts of life is learning. As usual, I was entertained and informed. Thank you sir for being one of those rare individuals who can make learning fun.

When I was a kid an older man in the neighborhood befriended us and took us hunting in his Scout. He had a 92 Winchester in .44-40 and let us shoot it. It was a really sweet combination. I bought his Scout, but it never occurred to me to try and buy his 92 or his .250-300 Savage 99.

The 44-40 is more powerful than I thought, good video!

@duelist1954

9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@rockwellrhodes7703

2 ай бұрын

Just try and get ammo for it in Canada!

A story about a 45-70 would be interesting.

@waynehendrix4806

9 ай бұрын

I once shot a 45-70. End of story.

@danielcurtis1434

9 ай бұрын

The thing is he’d have to start with the 1865 Springfield in .58 rimfire then the .50-70 a d only then the .45-70. So he’s got ground to cover first…

I got my 44/40 around 5 years ago in a Miroku Winchester Model 92. It is a great shooter with both black and smokeless. Reloading the thin brass takes a little TLC but other than that is easy to load and shoot. Great round that modern shooters should appreciate more.

Well you talked me into buying a revolver chambered in 44-40. Thank you for the helpful info.

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

Get the most out of it. Buy reloading dies and make your own. Theres a world of difference between factory 44 -40 ammo and hand loads. Check out Lymans cast bullet hand book for great load data.

So glad you did not talk about difficulties reloading 44-40's. Every article I've read (just about) does. They talk about the thin necks getting messed up. My favorite old cartrifge is the 38-40. I've loaded thousands. Rarely do I get a wrinkled neck, and if I do, it's my fault, not the cartridge. Thanks for a great video, Mike. Tom Ireland

@mkshffr4936

9 ай бұрын

Besides the biggest problem is guns with mismatched throats.

@TUCOtheratt

9 ай бұрын

I've reloaded tons of 44-40 with very few mishaps on the Dillon.

@kennethhamby9811

9 ай бұрын

Had an original Bisley in 38-40, great shooter.

@brianalbee4153

8 ай бұрын

Heck, I can even wrinkle a 38 special

@davidgardner863

3 ай бұрын

I don’t understand why people have trouble reloading the 44-40. I’ve been doing it for years and never had a problem.

Always a joy to watch Mike. Love the old cowboy guns.

I just had my .44-40 out two days ago! Thanks for doing what you do.

Good work, Mike! I have a repro 1860 Henry and a repro Remington 1875, both in 44-40. Few months ago, was able to acquire an original Ideal loading tool in 44-40, as well.

Thank you Mike. Few years back the 45 Colt and 44.40 were called obsolete. But now still running and well alive.

@Full_Otto_Bismarck

9 ай бұрын

People keep trying to say the same thing about the 1911 and yet it's outlived many pistols younger than itself, and has been in continuous manufacture at Colt since it was adopted.

@marktwain2053

9 ай бұрын

You will still find a lot more .45 Colt than 44/40 WCF though.

@davidgardner863

3 ай бұрын

@@marktwain2053, That’s because cowboy action shooters don’t care much for authenticity.

The .44-40 was a pretty potent cartridge impressed with the test

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

It still is when hand loaded. Lymans cast bullet handbook list some really stout loads for it.

great fun we do miss pistol shooting here in england. keep the vids comming

I have always loved the 44 40 round.

Morning coffee with Mike and another great vid niching better 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Loved it, Ia really quality vid as usual. have 44-40 1992 Winny by Chiappa. Greetings from London ✌🏻

Good video, and yes my subscription is in tact with notifications. Also I was under the impression that the 45 Colt was the more powerful cartridge over the 44-40, thanks for correcting my error that many people still believe to be true.

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

Apples and oranges. The 44WCF has much higher velocity, and i feel much greater distance (range) than the 45 colt. The bullet weight / velocity is what to look at in comparison.

As a gun starved Brit I really enjoyed this video, I love American history especially if it's firearm related I once had a Uberti 73 SRC but alas it was in .22 lr.

Great video Mike. Thanks for showing the old 44WCF weren’t no slouch.

Love the 44-40 I got both 45 colt and the 44-40 in 1866,it would be fun to shoot both with 200 grain just to make it even.

Fascinating stuff, Mike, thank you. I can recall watching Westerns as a child and wondering if the loops on their belts held rifle or pistol cartridges, not understanding that the lever actions fired the same cartridge as the revolvers. You can really see the advantage of using the same cartridge for both! I am slightly surprised by the comparison with the .45 Colt; I saw another channel do a similar comparison and the two cartridges were close to comparable--perhaps he didn't load as consistently, or his weapons had differences that accounted for that. As for KZread, it's not paranoia when it's fact, and the Bud Lite drinkers at You Tube hate firearms channels. Keep fighting the good fight.

You are a great inspiration for me. I'm a gun guy from Sweden and I'm just about to buy a Uberti Colt Bisley in just 44-40. (Yes we can own guns in Sweden)😊 I follow your videos with grat interest. Good job. //Eric Wallberg

I have long speculated that the popularity of the .44 WCF was not “because you could use the same cartridge in your pistol and your rifle”, but because it was commonly available anywhere that sold metallic cartridges. That little crossroads general store was more likely to have .44 WCF, than .44 American, .44 Russian, .45 schofield, or even .45 Colt. Even today a lot of people choose 9x19mm over .40 Smith and Wesson, .357 Sig, .38 Super, etc…, for the same reason.

@davidgardner863

3 ай бұрын

The original 45 Colt had a very small rim and did not eject reliably. The modern cartridges have a notch cut under the rim to give the extractor more purchase.

Whenever you release a firearm video, it feels like Christmas morning to me.

FYI- Your videos show up on my watch list every day all the time! 😊

I enjoy your knowledge in areas of the firearms world that are of the most interest to me. I'm currently restoring a family heirloom Winchester 1873 and also have recently scored a great deal on a couple Uberti revolvers chambered in 44-40, a cartridge new to me. So this video is another great educational tool with perspective on 44-40 when comparing it to the more familiar 45 Colt cartridge. Thank you.

I have the sane 1873 Uberti and a matcing Colt SAA as well as allot of other cowboy action guns, and have shot black powder rifles for 40 yrs. So I have really enjoyed your different content on all of those and particularly enjoy all the history background information you present. Sure hope you get your range and land back, and I hope the court awards you dameges and makes them pay for all the costs that you have incurred. Thank you sir

As always...a well made and entertaining learning experience. Thanks once again Mike. I hope the fight is moving forward and you still hold the high ground.

Greetings from Ireland. Great video as always.

Winchester sure had a winner with the 73, and 44-40 . But for my use I like the 38-40 seems a little faster and flatter shooting, great video and shooting

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

You should read what all Elmer Keith had to say about the 38-40. He stopped packing it because it almost got him killed on a hunt. He also talks about why the 38-40 tends to be more accurate. Keith wrote several books and they are all worth a read.

@davidgardner863

3 ай бұрын

The original 38-40 was really a 40-38 and the 44-40 was really a 43-40. Why did they even bother?

Loved the 44 40 yrs back I had a pietra and 45 Colt I enjoyed the 44 best thanks mike

Well done! I knew this cartridge was versatile, but I didn't realize it had that much punch. 👍👍

@blueduck9409

9 ай бұрын

Out of a 24 inch barrel on a 73 Winchester a 200 grain bullet loaded with a case full of pyrodex P gets over 1,400 feet per second. Thats magnum territory.

That .44-40 is a lot more powerfull than I thought .I figured that black powder would produce significantly slower velocities compared with modern day smokeless powders , but those .44-40 loads from the rifle are pretty close to comparable with that of modern day .44mag ammunition . I can see now why it (.44-40)was so popular back in the day especially in a (2) gun same cartridge configuration . Your expertise in firearms along with your vast historical knowledge makes your videos extremely enjoyable & entertaining . Thank you so much !

@samuelprice2461

9 ай бұрын

The only real difference is that BP loads require longer barrels to produce velocities similar to smokeless. BP is “just as powerful” as smokeless powder. It just burns more slowly.

@alexandermfernandez9283

9 ай бұрын

I appreciate the explanation , I didn't know that . I've never really done anything with black powder but I'm finding it more interesting with every reply . Thanks !@@samuelprice2461

@66smithra

7 ай бұрын

@@samuelprice2461black powder is about 1/3rd as powerful as smokeless. A 44 mag or 45 Colt (or 44-40) in a rifle with proper magnum loads with smokeless will be much more powerful than a full case of black powder. And black powder actually burns much faster than most smokeless powder.

Loved the video Mike! And I always like your neat shirts. May God bless you.

Love my 44-40s, family has used for over 130 uears

In this time of long range magnums and ultra mags it is a real pleasure to listen to someone who shoots and loves these old calibers.

You're my favorite BP channel. Thumbs up and a comment to mess with the algorithm

Right on target about Y treats evil gun channels! Keep Up the Great Work!

@duelist1954

9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Once again, another great video, Mike ! Thanks for what you do for the firearms industry, and get better soon !!!

I've watched this video about three times now and if I watch it again I am going to end up with a rifle in 44-40. Mike Venturino always wrote that the 44-40 was his favorite 19th century round. Thanks for the video and no I have not gotten a notice of a new video in a while. And I subscribed several months ago. No matter. I check your channel at least once a week to see if you have anything new posted.

Great job with it and comparing it to the 45 Colt. Thanks.

Seems like I haven't seen many of your videos lately, but I am happy to see this one!

thank you

The 1873 Winchester, with the 44-40, was absolutley a game changer in firepower! The AR of its day and still one of my favorites! Great video!! Bravo

Great video Mike. I too am a fan of the 44-40, and those Uberti firearms. I believe Uberti makes some of the finest production guns in the world, they're beautiful, accurate, & a joy too shoot & own. See you next time

Although I don't have the 44-40 pair, I do have the 1873 Uberti Winchester in 45 lc. 100 yards no problem. Last Thanksgiving Day, everyone was at the PA State Range. Took some time to dial in the sights at 100 yards in a precise manor. But once I did, I loaded my last 4 rounds, stood up from the bench and levered them off. All hit within 2-4 inches of center @ 100 yards. It did as good as the benched scoped rifles. (Tips hat brim)

😅Thanks Mike, always a pleasure watching your videos!

Thankyou Mike for doing a video on the great 44-40. When I was about 12 Dad took me to deer camp for the first time it was in the Ozarks back then you were lucky to find any deer tracks, any way he needed a rifle for me to cary so he borrowed my Uncles old 1873 in 44-40 he picked up a box of shells somewhere, being a little kid it whore me out carrying it up and down the hills. We didn’t see any deer so Dad wanted to shoot it so he shot the heads off to squirrels two shots and we had them for dinner that was a great memory for me that was so long ago. Love your channel Mike keep the videos coming.

Loved this video! Got to shoot a friend's 44-40 Remington rolling block years ago as a kid. Fun cartridge, but I was particularly impressed by the ballistics you obtained with it using black powder. Very cool!

The 44WCF is a great old cartridge. NONE of the factory ammo is worth a damn, but hand loads make it very potent, very capable. Hope your legal battles are going well Mike.

I never had problems with videos not showing up, I daily go to the button of the channels I have subscribed to on youtube, no notifications, and see whats new, they always show up that way.

Loved learning about this cartridge. Great video.

Another great video. Keep up the good work. About once a week I go down MY list of subscribers and look for any thing I was not notified about by "the algorithm"

When I was a kid, back in the '70s, I remember my grandfather going on and on about how great the .44-40 cartridge was. And the only thing he did with a gun (after WW2) was shoot a deer every year. And that has stayed with me.

I have never signed up for "notifications". I scan through my subscriptions daily (almost), and I believe I have never missed one of your videos (or any other gun channel I'm subscribed to). I've never been unsubscribed from anything, including channels that haven't posted content in years (I've checked, just to make sure they're not being "ghosted"). I am in NO way defending KZread, but, other than the Almighty Algorithm on suggested viewing, I've never had any of these problems. I don't doubt that the problems are real, I've just never seen them.

Fascinating video, Mike. Great cartridge history. I have a 38-40 model 1892 Winchester made in 1914. Great pieces of history!

I never miss a video, thank you for the effort in these videos, it really shows! I have you to thank for me getting into black powder revolvers : ) Have a good day sir.

My notification preference was changed from "ALL" to something else. Your channel always gets a thumbs up from me. Your content is always good. Thank you for always helping me to know what my next rifle or pistol is going to be, lol.

45 GAP enters the chat... what is old is new again.

@UlookinMe

9 ай бұрын

No… that thing is never coming back, I don’t think it’s quite the same.

@ttoth7130

9 ай бұрын

Huh?

@kevinmarrett9532

9 ай бұрын

@@ttoth7130I’ve thought about it for a minute and I think he’s trying to imply that 45 GAP is a return to the old way of building a cartridge proprietary to the gun that shoots it. Which is not necessarily true but I guess I can see where he got to that conclusion.

When I started shooting 44-40 I found the factory bullets are sized to .425 to make them safe in early guns. Shoot terrible in my Henry replica soon found I had to reload my own ammo with .427-.428 sized bullet to get it to shoot straight!

Those black powder loads sound amazing from that colt on your mic Mike lol. Cool cartridge... I love it fir BPCR and some 240 grain powder coated projectile ive found loading info for... Great power with it. Funny to me i had to find a loading pamphlet from the 1930s to get it.

im still getting em Mike over here in Uk,i agree i got a 44.40 henry rifle and its great

A great cartridge. I've taken a few deer with it. I'm pretty sure it was not originally a black powder cartridge but it is fun to use bp in it.

I don't have any of my too many subscriptions set to notify me of a new vid. For years your latest release has always popped up on my recommended.

Thanks for another great video, Mike.

Great video on a great cartridge!👍

I have been a shooting my Colt frontier six shooters this summer I casted some ribs 200 grain round nose flat point for them and they are a blast to shoot

"Here lies Les Moore. Four shots from a 44. No Les no more." Boot Hill grave stone. Tombstone, Arizona.

yet again a great presentation , cheers big ears from down under

Your timing is almost scary. Just last night I kind of went down a rabbit hole. On my acquisition list are several lever and wheel guns in 44-40. However, yesterday, I was looking at some original 1873s at Rock Island Auctions. The 73's in 44-40 are noticeably more expensive than the ones in 38-40. I was trying to figure out if that would work for me. One benefit is in 38-40, I can get a Ruger Vaquero with swappable cylinders for 38-40 and 40S&W. A long time ago, my plan was to keep some level and single action revolvers in blackpowder/cowboy loads, and have others that were higher power. Then, I reasoned I'd get a wheel and lever gun in 44-40 for BP/ cowboy, and use 45 colt (or maybe 44 or 357 Mag) for high power smokeless. Your video reminded me of why I decided on this plan: 44-40 is a better BP round. So now the question is do I want an original 1873 or a modern Mirouku 1873...hmmm

@duelist1954

9 ай бұрын

Decisions...decisions...good luck!

The other great thing about the 44-40 is it seals well in the chamber during ignition. It’s ideal for BP.

@66smithra

9 ай бұрын

Yes. It's a great black powder round. I like it a lot better than the 45 Colt for that.

You always do stellar work!!! Love you're videos!!! Thank you!!!😂

I'm not up to 4 44wcf firearms. A late 1940's Marlin 94, 2 73 Castlemans and a pistol grip 73 uberti 20". All super fun to shoot.

And today we have the Pistol Caliber Carbine. What is old, is new!

I was surprised to see that the .44-40 generates what looks like pretty good recoil out of the Colt clone. Not surprised to find out that it's more powerful than the .45 Colt. Love it!!

@marktwain2053

9 ай бұрын

The .45 Colt would have been more powerful. The original loading for the 44/40 of 40gr of 3f black powder, and a 200gr lead bullet at 1100 to 1200 fps from a 24 inch barrel, would have been easily eclipsed by the .45 with similar velocities, using the original load of 40gr of 3f black powder and a 255 gr lead bullet, had there been a loading for it in a Winchester rifle. The .45 Colt was a Martial (military) cartridge, and since there was never any intention of using it in a rifle (they had the 45/70 for that), specifications called for a cartridge rim that would be sufficient for a revolver cylinder, but was too small to reliably work with any type of extraction system. Modern Winchester clones are most commonly produced in .357 magnum, and .45 Colt for good reason.

@craigfinley2507

8 ай бұрын

​@bryanaustin3476how do they no how much powder to add in a bullet so it won't blow the gun up

@davidspangler7379

8 ай бұрын

You cant really add too much black powder in these cases, black powder needs to be compressed in a case. More than 40 grains you'll hardly have any space to seat your bullet. Smokeless powder you can add too much! Use a reliable reloading manual or manufactures suggested loads when using modern smokless

@66smithra

7 ай бұрын

The 45 Colt is a bigger pipe. It will always have more power potential than a 44-40 or 44 Magnum. In this particular case Mike was using lighter bullets in the 44-40 so it produced more velocity. Energy foot lbs favors velocity. At equal bullet weights and chamber pressures, the bigger cartridge will always be more powerful.

@helifanodobezanozi7689

3 ай бұрын

After a certain period, the Army stopped using 255 grain 45 Colt in their Peacemakers. They used 200 grain 45 S&W so that they had common ammo for both the Colts and the Smith and Wesson Schofield they issued. So the 44-40 WAS MORE POWERFUL than what the US Army issued.

You’re the man, Mike. Slow or not I’d not like to be down range of you in a gunfight. Keep it up.

Thanks well done

Great Video! I really liked the sequence of you shooting with the western music playing!😃

Excellent. For a topic so common and historical, it takes a genuine expert to bring forth fresh logic and facts. Thanks Mike

Hey Mike. Thanks for the Presentation. I'm always Curious about these old Rounds. I hope that You're doing Well.

Probably my favorite cartridge the 44-40, I’ve got 2 rifles and 2 revolvers. Great video, making Thursday my favorite day of the week.

Adding in my "sacrifice to the algorithm gods" as another gun youtuber likes to put it ;) I am subscribed and have notifications on, I don't remember seeing any notification, but this video did show up on my feed thankfully, at the top. When I check the "bell" icon it does show this video there. Because of this wonkiness I just don't really pay attention to the bell notifications. Thanks for the history of the .44-40, good to see the old cowboy guns in action. I don't have a matched set myself, though it is on my list. I do have a Winchester '94 in .30-30, and an 1851 Navy in .44 (yeah not historical, but its still fun so its fine by me).

Great analysis, as usual. Thanks for the great video.

You deserve the views.

@duelist1954

9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Great video Mike. Good to see all that blue smoke.

Looked like some fun shooting.

love that 73

Another great video. I don't need You Tube to notify me. I look for your videos anyway.

Great comparison. Always wanted to see this comparison.

I’m glad to see that someone finally saying that the Union Metallic Cartridge Co. came up with the label of “44-40”. Everyone is always saying that Colt or Marlin did because they didn’t want to put Winchester on their firearms. If you examine old Colts, Marlins and Smith & Wessons, that just not true. That was the whole idea. I really like your channel. Good work. Hang in there, and best of luck.

Man, I wish I could find those two pieces for my collection.

It's hard to believe 44-40 didn't stay around as a popular round based on the Ballistics. I saw some old 44-40 at a gun show recently, but good luck in finding it at your local gun store.

Beautiful color case hardening

Thankfully, I'm still getting notifications, Mike! Stay well!!

Perfect timing for this video. I just purchased an Uberti 1866 in .44-40. Thanks for sharing

VERY interesting comparison. .44-40 was indeed a true game changer for those moving out west. Just subscribed to your channel. Very enjoyable

I really enjoyed it, good to see some fun stuff happening these days instead of the old crap we see in the news. And yes you do get downgraded on recommendations. I have to go look to see when you send out stuff. thanks and keep up the good work.