??? I have a 24" Uberti 1873. I have not slugged the barrel but was told they are .429. I want to shoot deer off my river property with this rifle. I am wondering if using a 225gr Hornady FTX(leverevolution bullet) and 8.0grs of Unique would be safe/adequate for this rifle. Another question is the Hornady bullet is .430 jacketed. Will this still be safe and perform well with the .429 bore? Hope I was clear. Thanks for any help or tips.. *I do not want to use hard cast lead for this hunting load
Lyman 51 lists 73 winchesters as a group 1 Rifle (weak action reduced pressure loads)
200 grain JHP start load zUniqur 7.6 gr 865 fps max load 8.5 grains 981 FPS.
I would not shoot 8 grains of unique and a 225 grain bullet out of my Miroku 73.
Do not believe a deer will know the difference between a 200 JHP and a 225 grain flextip but the rifle may well find the 225 grainer a bridge too far.
:) Ah, Not Quite ;)
Lyman 51 is making their proclamation pertaining to "Winchester" based on real, original "Winchester." That being said, that proclamation is just fine for 125 year old "original" sample examples of questionable metallurgy. However:
The Uberti 1873 replica is proofed for .44 Magnum. Your cited and proposed load would not cause any concern in a Uberti or Miroku modern reproduction in good condition with properly aligned links.
Ok thanks
Coffinmaker. Will the .430 jacketed bullet do well in the .429 bore?
:) Medic44 ;)
I would personally think a .430 Jacketed bullet would be abusive to a 429 bore. The general rule of thumb is LEAD bullets of .4295 or .430 to stabilize in the bore grooves. Most commercial loadings/bullets I am aware of utilize .429 Jacketed bullets to match the industry standard .429 bore.
Quote from: medic44 on April 02, 2025, 01:05:33 PMOk thanks
Coffinmaker. Will the .430 jacketed bullet do well in the .429 bore?
A 44 magnum bore is .429 and the bullet used in the 44 magnum is .430 diameter. The bullet you chose will be just fine.
I'd use a 200 grain XTP with the load information listed below.
https://reloadammo.com/reloading-the-44-40-winchester/
Quote from: Ya Big Tree on Yesterday at 12:40:49 PMA 44 magnum bore is .429 and the bullet used in the 44 magnum is .430 diameter. The bullet you chose will be just fine.
I'd use a 200 grain XTP with the load information listed below.
https://reloadammo.com/reloading-the-44-40-winchester/
I saw the xtp bullet, If was to use the FTX hornady flext tip 225 grn... would i reduce the load if using unique? or keep at 8.0 gr? I dont have to use the flex tip bullet, but I have downed plenty animals to feel comfortable about using it, as I feel its proven itself to me. Thank you
Quote from: medic44 on Yesterday at 12:58:54 PMI saw the xtp bullet, If was to use the FTX hornady flext tip 225 grn... would i reduce the load if using unique? or keep at 8.0 gr? I dont have to use the flex tip bullet, but I have downed plenty animals to feel comfortable about using it, as I feel its proven itself to me. Thank you
I looked in a bunch of manuals for a 44-40 225 gr. FTX and couldn't find anything. You could call Hornady and see if they have any information for you.
I would definitely reduce the load if working up a load for the 225gr FTX. You could always increase it while watching for pressure signs. With that said I'd still use a 200 grain HP pistol bullet with published load data.
I really like the Nosler 240 gr. JHP and my brother in law uses the Hornady 240 gr JHP in 44 Mag rifles and pistols for deer.
Uberti-produced firearms chambered in .44 caliber cartridges have a groove diameter of .429". (https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/bore-groove-twist) A .430" diameter bullet will work fine in such a barrel.
With the toggle link actions one has to be careful with their overall cartridge lengths. You can usually get by with o.a.l.'s that are a little on the short side, but if the o.a.l. is too long the cartridge won't feed. If I remember correctly 1.6" is the absolute maximum o.a.l. for the '66's and '73's.
You could probably work up a load for the 225 gr. FTX, but the simplest thing to do if you must use a jacketed bullet is use a 200 gr. Hornady. My Hornady manual doesn't have a jacketed data for the 44-40 in a rifle, but in a revolver their maximum load with Unique is 9.8 gr.
If you want to keep things really simple just order something like MBC's 200 gr. RNFP lead bullet. (https://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=388&category=5&secondary=40&keywords=) I've loaded a similar bullet (220 gr.) in my 1866 Uberti 44-40 Sporting Rifle with 9.5 gr. of Unique. MV was well north of 1300 fps and the load was quite accurate even at 200 and 300 yds.
(https://i.imgur.com/wTZ97p3l.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/u9SHrLil.jpg)
The same bullet only with black powder works perfectly for me on whitetail-
(https://i.imgur.com/b0swHYPl.jpg)