test results 44-40 Cowboy & Sporting Ammunition

[w44wcf]

Since some 44-40 enthusiasts don't reload, I became interested in the performance and accuracy of the current 44-40 factory offerings. There are 2 different types, "Cowboy" and "Sporting".

Hopefully, the below information may be of some benefit to those of you that have a 44-40 but don't reload.

Even though I could have included "Ten X", I decided not to since it is notably more expensive than the other brands.

I dissected an average of 5 rounds of each type to determine the average powder charge weight used. I did not recognize any of the powders so they are likely not available to handloaders.

Upon competion of the tests, I ranked Magtech 1st. Accuracy was very good and it performed flawlessly.
Winchester was a close 2nd.

Black Hills produced  the second highest velocity so I included it in both sections.

Ultramax Cowboy Ammo was interesting. It contained  the highest charge weight of smokeless powder but the lowest catalog velocity in a revolver. Interestingly, it produced the highest velocity of all the ammunition tested, so much so, that I wondered if someone may have placed reloads in an Ultramax box. An email to Ultramax confirmed that the powder charge weight was loaded by them.

I tested the velocity when the cartridges were chambered from the magazine and if the powder was positioned to the rear to see what the difference might be. In positioning the powder to the rear, I partially chambered a cartridge, then pointed the muzzle up to at least 60 degrees for 1 second, then when the muzzle was pointing towards the target, I completed closing the action.  

44-40 SPORTING Ammunition
The "Sporting"44-40 ammunition consisted of one (Magtech - Blue Header on box) with a lead alloy bullet and the other (Remington) with a jacketed bullet.  

Ultramax "Cowboy" ammunition could be reclassified as "Sporting" since it actually produced the highest velocity so I did show it in both sections.  The same for Black Hills which had the second highest velocity.

44-40 Black Powder ammunition offered by Buffalo Arms appears to offer the equivalent ballistics of the original 44-40 cartridge (1,300 f.p.s.) and thus would be the most powerful factory 44-40 cartridge currently available.





Note: Remington has discontinued their .44-40 ammunition.  Now the only jacketed ammunition is produced by Winchester.


w44wcf
 

[w44wcf]

Chart updated to add Black Hills & Winchester jacketed.

w44wcf

[fortyshooter]

Great test you did!   I may try that in .45 Colt!

[Grizzly Adams]

Very informative!  Thanks for sharing this data.  Did you experience any leading or heavy fouling with the Buffalo Arms BB ammo?

[KirkD]

Fantastic post! Thank you!

[w44wcf]

Guys,
Thank you for the kind words.

fortyshooter,
I recently tested 5 different brands of .45 Colt ammo. I will be posting the results soon.  
If you do any testing, please post your results.  

Grizzly Adams,
I did not have any Buffalo Arms BP ammo to test. I estimated the velocity at 1,300 f.p.s. based on the fact that they indicate that the powder used is Swiss.  A fellow enthusiast has purchased that ammo and a dissected round indicates that 34 grs of 3F powder was used. That recipe has generated 1300+ f.p.s. in my handloads.

KirkD,
Thank you.

w44wcf

[Mike]

Did you test the hardness of any of the lead??

Interested to know.

We cant get most of the brands here but will try to get what we can and give them a go.

Thanks for this post great stuff.

[w44wcf]

Mike,
Yes I did. It is shown in the chart under BHN.

Here's a lineup of the cartridges tested.



w44wcf

[Mike]

I printed it last night and saw that.
Sorry,must be my age.

[Roland]

Mike,
Yes I did. It is shown in the chart under BHN.

Here's a lineup of the cartridges tested.



w44wcf

It's really strange how much the cases seem to vary in shape to me. I can't say I've seen this with other rounds than the .44-40, I wonder why there is so much variation?

[w44wcf]

Roland,
There are two types of cases..... one with a cannelure and one without.  The differences in the depths and placement of the cannelures can vary.

No cannelure - Original case - black powder / semi-smokeless / bulk smokeless and recently smokeless with cast bullets having a
good crimp groove.
Cannelure - added late 1800's when dense smokeless powders were introduced to support the base of the bullet from telescoping into the case.

w44wcf   

[w44wcf]

Chart updated.  A 2nd test of the Hornady ammuniiton produced better results moving it to the number 3 spot.

w44wcf

[M113A3]

Great post for me since I do not currently reload and I hope to buy my first 44WCF (44-40) and needed this info. 

Thanks for the effort.