Reply With QuoteThe 44 40 was originally a black powder round. The 40 indicates 40gns of bp. Go for it, great fun. The only issue is that the brass goes black very quickly.
Registered User
Hello all,
I shoot BP muzzle and Breachloading shotguns and have been offered a .44-40 Henry rifle by Uberti.
I’d love to shoot it with black powder, does anyone have experience of reloading BP in brass? Any advice (including steer clear) would be gratefully received
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The 44 40 was originally a black powder round. The 40 indicates 40gns of bp. Go for it, great fun. The only issue is that the brass goes black very quickly.
[I]DesG
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Registered User
Yup, think I’m going to have to jump in! I have an ultrasonic cleaner at work I can use to lean the brass
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Chuck them in soapy water as you fire them, that helps.Originally Posted by Dalekeeton
[I]DesG
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Elvis Floppyfeet
as above....take a sealed container with you . windscreen washer fluid is good too
email...... stephenbarrow@ntlworld.com
Registered User
I knew someone who played with black powder in .44-40. The problem he had was that modern cases have considerably less capacity than the originals so couldn't get anyway near 40 grains in. Just load enough so it is compressed by the bullet and use a heavy crimp.
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He’s right you know. I’ve just filled a 44-40 case to the brim with Kranks fine and got exactly 40gn in there. The bullet would have to balance on the top. A mate of mine has a 45-70 so I’ll get him to do the same just out of curiosity.
Last edited by DesG; 25-04-2020 at 09:06 AM.
[I]DesG
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Elvis Floppyfeet
as above.
not sure if original U.M.C cases were balloon head type or not but modern cases are not and may also have thicker side walls than the originals.
personally i would use swiss bp as its around 15% more powerful than any other bp.
you could drop tube the powder but i would just experiment with volume and fire away
email...... stephenbarrow@ntlworld.com
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Scientific experiment completed. The 45-70 holds 82gn brim full, or 70gn + bullet.
[I]DesG
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Registered User
Fouling build up in the barrel is an issue with black powder. If you load a disc of beeswax between the bullet and the powder, it does an amazing job of keeping the bore free of fouling build-up.
Disc wants to be about 1/8 of an inch thick. Ideally you would have a thin card wad between the wax and the powder.
If you line a tray with some grease proof paper you can pour in melted beeswax until it reaches the right depth to get the thickness of disc you want. Allow it to cool and harden before cutting. Ideally a little cutter is used to cut out each wax disc - i.e. like the sort of thing used to cut peppermint or scones - just on a smaller scale - you can easily make one out of an old cartridge case.
Shotgun cartridge boxes are made of card about the right thickness for the over-powder wad.
Fouling build up will adversely impact accuracy. As you want to load for a magazine fed rifle, the techniques used by single shot black powder cartridge rifle shooters won't help you, but the wax discs work.
As has been said you will struggle to achieve the original powder load, because modern cartridge cases will be solid head cases and not balloon head cases. This doesn't matter, you should still get good accuracy with a lightly compressed load of back powder. Depending on how much work you want, you could experiment with reduced loads, making up the space in the case with an inert filler such as semolina.
Tumbling the bullets in melted beeswax is also worthwhile. Simply melt some beeswax and put a couple of teaspoons in an empty coffee jar with some bullets and tumble by hand. Lay them out on grease proof paper for the wax to set.
Banned
^^^^^
THIS.
You'll need to load with 3Fg/FFFg grade BP. It being a lever action, it will get absolutely filthy inside of ten shots. And NO jacketed bullets, either, just flat-nosed, prolly 240gr. It feels totally wondrous to shoot, BTW, and the smell of cow-fart soon drifts away.
...but not from your clothes.
Registered User
and so easy to share with all your family when you clean your musket in the kitchen!
[I]DesG
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Elvis Floppyfeet
takes me less than 5 mins to do a martini henry.
i have a portable steam unit which as a trigger / gun set up at the hose end.
i turn it on then point the rifle into a bucket then blast with steam......then i use a boresnake on the barrel then repeat again with the steam.
clean cloth pull throught then oil the barrel
email...... stephenbarrow@ntlworld.com
Registered User
Case cleaning. As others have said it helps to dump fired cased into a container filled with water and detergent (I use empty plastic milk bottles, washing up liquid and about 10 to 20% isopropyl alcohol).
To clean, stainless steel tumbling media is amazing. You can get cases fired with black powder to look like new brass.
You do need a rotary water tight tumbler, so there are set up costs. If interested lots of info out there on the iterweb.
Banned
I, too, have a number of 'portable steam units'. Problem is, they are mixed up with little cabs, sundry controls like blowers and steam oil lubricators, numerous wheels and so on, and can often be found trundling around the little railway in my backyard.
I would never have imagined using one, even the smallest, to clean a gun, but it's a thought, for sure..
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