40-110

[Colt Fanning]

Hi,
I have recently read in a fascinating book "Black Range Tales" by James McKenna that He shot a standing Bear with a
good shot to the right chest. The bear came after him and he shot it 5 more times to no avail when his partner brought
it down with a shot that broke its back.  He stated that his rifle was a 40 Cal. with 110 grains of Black powder.  I thought
He must have meant a 45-110 but I looked in COTW and Winchester introduced a 40-110 cartridge in 1886.  My question
is, was the 1876 rifle offered in this cartridge or would this have been an Model 1886.
Regards
Colt

[Dirty Brass]

I'm pretty sure the 1876 was not offered in anything that held 110 gr. of BP. IIRC the only four calibers were 40/60, 45/60, 45/75, and 50/95. Action was too short for anything longer. Just my guess. The '86 I know was available in 45/70 and 45/90, but a 40/110 even seems a bit long for the '86. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will answer this for us....

[French Jack]

The 40-110 WCF, aka the 40-110 Winchester Express was brought out in 1886.  Bullet diameter .403, loaded length, 3.63".  Can be made from 450 Nitro Express case, but was very likely developed from the 50-110 case, as the 40-110 is a bottleneck case.  Bullet weights would have been correspondingly light, likely in the 300 - 330 gr. range.  It was made for speed, not slugging power.

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[Delmonico]

I don't have my COTW handy right now, but it sticks in my head the bullet weight was 265 gr, if it used a heavier weight bullet they would have called it 40-100 or 40-95 or something similar.  Winchester made several rounds that they called by different names and they did not really consider them the same rounds because they used a faster twist for the heavier bullet weights and stamped the rifles different.  Not sure if this round was one of them.

[Tascosa Joe]

COTW says the 40-110 Winchester Express aka (40 Express) was introduced in 1886 for the Winchester Single Shot Rifle.  Eigth Addition Page 123

[Delmonico]

COTW says the 40-110 Winchester Express aka (40 Express) was introduced in 1886 for the Winchester Single Shot Rifle.  Eigth Addition Page 123

What was the bullet weight?  I can't find mine right no, just curious if my memory still works.