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More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 3:50 pm
by fortyshooter
Last couple days have been the 44-40 Cimarron revolver project. I wanted more old and used look and the neck part of each chamber in cylinder needed to reamed a couple thousandths more so the ammo would seat all the way. Even factory ammo had a tough time so I measured the case neck area and ordered a .447 reamer,,,,Amazon is great!
While waiting for the reamer I started trying different methods of adding rust to the revolver as it was still to clean looking to be 100+ years of use. I took the grips and tosed them in my tumbler loaded with gravel and then cleaned them off for a light coat of tung oil.
Then back to a little dabbing with a special mix adding rust turned out very well and dang is that old dried blood on the back strap???
And now my 1892 Winchester and the old "Colt" 44-40 six shooter are ready for some action!
Re: More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 3:58 pm
by Sir Henry
It looks like blood to me. Yours or the bad guys?
Re: More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2023 9:29 am
by fortyshooter
Sir Henry wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2023 3:58 pm
It looks like blood to me. Yours or the bad guys?
Yeah the bad guy I took it from...
That area of rust just turned out that way but a dark color on the barrel which is fine.
Will see how well it shoots this afternoon.
Re: More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:19 am
by daytime dave
Congratulations on a beautiful companion piece for the real deal Winchester you have.
Too bad about needing to ream out the chambers, it's a good thing you know what to do.
Is some dated looking leather coming soon?
Re: More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:40 am
by fortyshooter
daytime dave wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:19 am
Congratulations on a beautiful companion piece for the real deal Winchester you have.
Too bad about needing to ream out the chambers, it's a good thing you know what to do.
Is some dated looking leather coming soon?
With 44-40 revolvers old or new this is a known problem. Starline brass does not size the brass with the same look of the original design and chamber size can vary among gun makers. With new revolvers in 44-40 the bore and cylinder throats are size for a .429 or .430 diameter bullet where the original WCF 44 could be .425-428. sized bullet. Now when you load a .430 bullet in the case the neck can expand just that much more to be tight in the neck area of the chamber where the case is tapered down. Also the crimp you use along with the 44-40 thin wall brass can cause a bump just below the crimp. You have to watch for all this and I opened up the neck area of the cylinder about .0025 larger which seems to work unless there is a bad crimp on my end. Even so some of the factory HSM ammo which is Starline brass will not seat easily all the way if it has not been resized which it is when I reload it. Guess you need to test fit the ammo you will use in the revolver as the Winchester will eat them all up. Very lucky to have found that odd size reamer on Amazon and it was made in the USA.
Re: More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:57 am
by Ozarkwoodswalker
Looks cool
Re: More patina and bullets have to fit!
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2023 11:06 am
by daytime dave
fortyshooter wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:40 am
daytime dave wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:19 am
Congratulations on a beautiful companion piece for the real deal Winchester you have.
Too bad about needing to ream out the chambers, it's a good thing you know what to do.
Is some dated looking leather coming soon?
With 44-40 revolvers old or new this is a known problem. Starline brass does not size the brass with the same look of the original design and chamber size can vary among gun makers. With new revolvers in 44-40 the bore and cylinder throats are size for a .429 or .430 diameter bullet where the original WCF 44 could be .425-428. sized bullet. Now when you load a .430 bullet in the case the neck can expand just that much more to be tight in the neck area of the chamber where the case is tapered down. Also the crimp you use along with the 44-40 thin wall brass can cause a bump just below the crimp. You have to watch for all this and I opened up the neck area of the cylinder about .0025 larger which seems to work unless there is a bad crimp on my end. Even so some of the factory HSM ammo which is Starline brass will not seat easily all the way if it has not been resized which it is when I reload it. Guess you need to test fit the ammo you will use in the revolver as the Winchester will eat them all up. Very lucky to have found that odd size reamer on Amazon and it was made in the USA.
That is valuable information about the 44-40 I did not know. Thank you. As I said, it's a good thing you know what to do!