44-40 In 66

[Capt. Montgomery Little]

Has anyone here ever loaded 14.5 gr. of 2400 in their Henry, 66 or 73 rifles? If so, how did they shoot? Are they too stout for use in these toggle-link guns?  Inquiring oldsters want to know.

[SGT John Chapman]

I tried loadin' it in 45 Colts for my Ol' Man long ago,....he had been shooting a lot of 410 SG so he had bought 8lbs of the stuff.
I can't remember the load we used, but we were having trouble getting it to ignite.......I'm to this day not sure why,....
all we could figure is it's hard to light off and was laying at the bottom of the case. 

The powder was for sure good and so were the primers we used,....

Some would go some wouldn't and others were almost hang fires,.....

The load did not call for Mag primers,.....

The charge was middle of the road according to standard ammunition not CAS stuff....

That's all I can tell you from my experience..



..

[Grizzly Adams]

I tried it in a model 1873 in 44-40, and it left lots of unburned powder in the chamber and barrel.  Lots of better powders - like titegroup and 231. IMHO 

[SGT John Chapman]

Isn't 231 the powder that will create pressure overages with reduced charges?.....

[Grizzly Adams]

Isn't 231 the powder that will create pressure overages with reduced charges?.....

No.  You may be thinking of WW296.

[w44wcf]

Has anyone here ever loaded 14.5 gr. of 2400 in their Henry, 66 or 73 rifles? If so, how did they shoot? Are they too stout for use in these toggle-link guns?  Inquiring oldsters want to know.

Capt'n,
That is a good load for the 44-40 in toggle link actions. Personally, I have used 15.0 /2400 in my original '73 Winchester made in 1882 with a 200 gr cast bullet. It shoots very well with groups running in the 1" - 1 1/2" range @ 50 yards.

A 1990's Hercules powder pamphlet and early 2000 Alliant powder data shows 14.5 / 2400 / 1,230 fps / 12,500 CUP
Early data for the 44-40 black powder round indicated that it developed 15,000 psi.  Normally there is a difference between CUP and PSI values but a ballastician told me that for the 44-40 the data is interchangeable. So, the  14.5/2400 recipe generates almost   20% less pressure than the '66 and '73 toggle link actions were designed for.


w44wcf

[Capt. Montgomery Little]

44,  Thanks for the info. I did find that my 3F BP loads shoot faster with a 1/16" compressed load than the smokeless that I have tried so far. Also have used 9 gr. of Trail Boss and it shoots VERY well out to 6oo yds. Of course most people don't believe me when I say this so it is a moot point but was told by one of the folks who worked on the project that  optimum loads (velocity and accuracy)come when you load it just like BP.  Don't know if this holds true to all cartridges it can be loaded in, however.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Captain
8.0 grains of Unique is a good load for your toggle link rifle .