Who's shooting 44wcf ???

[Grapeshot]

I shoot the .44 WCF with BP Subs out of my Uberti 1866 Carbine and my 1873 Short Rifle.  I used to shoot the .44 WCF in my former 1860 Steel Framed Henry.

[Slamfire]

Man,,,read'n this post made my eyes sweat( cowboy talk for tears) a little i was feel'n kind'a lonly & special but with all you 44ers, i  think i'm riddin w/ good company.








     hootnix

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
The 44wcf is an amazing caliber . It will shoot smokeless , or black powder with equal enthusiasm . It is a great plunkin round , a Hunting round and even a great Cowboy round .

[Blackpowder Burn]

I shoot the 44 WCF almost exclusively for CAS and Wild Bunch.  I have an original Winchester '92 carbine, a Uberti '73 Deluxe with 24" barrel, a USFA Lightning carbine and a Pedersoli 24" Lightning.  I have 2 USFA Model P's.  My standard load for all of these is 33 grains by weight of Goex FFg with a Mav Dutchman lubed with SPG and a Winchester Large Pistol Primer.  When I decide to shoot smokeless for Wild Bunch I substitute 7 grains of Unique for the Goex.

I average about 350 rounds per month.

My Pedersoli will print 5 shots into 3/8" with the BP load at 25 yards. 

[PJ Hardtack]

I just shot a 5 stage match with my Taylor's Remington 44-40 conversions and a borrowed original '73 carbine. Forgot my Uberti '66 at home ..... :>(  Loved that '73!  The guns that gibbled up were all repros.

Load was 35 grs FFg/20 RNFP lubed with SPG for both. No binding or problems shooting 'Frontier Cartridge Double Duellist'. All of the top shooters were in this class, the majority shooting 44-40s.

[lethal larry]

I shoot that round with both BP and smokeless. I shoot it in CAS (both NCOWS and SASS). I have a '66 in that caliber and a couple of revolvers that I bought from my buddy Oklahoma Tom that I really like. I do not hunt. I shoot about 4 or 5 matches each month on average.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy Lethal
You just can't beat a 44wcf . I am waiting on a 44wcf revolver from Okla Tom , but it will be worth the wait .

[KirkD]

I shoot several ancient cartridges and the 44 WCF is one of them. In the past, I had an original Winchester Model 53 chambered in 44 WCF, an 'extra lightweight' version of the Model 1892. For that rifle, I used a load that approached the original 'High Velocity' load that Winchester put out years ago. I took one nice Whitetail doe with that rifle and load. I can't recall the exact penetration, but it was somewhere around 22" or maybe a little more. Bullet when in between the eyes, hit the spine, travelled down the bottom of the spine, went through the vitals and diaphram and into the food basket. I did not search around to find it. The doe weighed around 150 pounds after field dressing. Here is a photo .....



Currently, I use smokeless (5744) and load to 1,300 fps with cotton filler. That gives me a velocity that is the same or close to the original black powder load. I do plan to hunt with that this fall.

You've seen a photo of my current Winchester Model 1873 44 WCF in anothe post, so here's a photo of the very first original '73 44 WCF I ever owned. It has a bore that looked like a sewer pipe but with toilet paper filler, I could still get five-shot 4" groups at 100 yards with plain base cast bullets.

[Gripmaker]

Count me in with the greatest bunch of shooters ever. I shoot  and reload for all my guns to include an Uberti 66, 1873 Model P and a Pietta Great Western II. Use BP, Unique, 2400, HS6/W540, HP38/W231 and after reading another post by W44wcf, I am going to get some RL-7 to check it out for hunting and longrange.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Grip Maker
Good luck on the  RL 7 . Have you tried the Swiss BP ?   if you have any luck hunting save us a couple pictures .

[King Medallion]

I shoot 44-40 in my colt and uberti saa and uberti 66 rifle and rossi 92 carbine. If I could I woiuld hunt with them but here in Illinois its shotgun only. I shoot SASS and my best loads for all 4 guns is 4.5gr. of Trailboss.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy Wildman 1
Hows the 1873 doing ? Are you shooting smokeless or BP ?  there are lots of good loads  for either powder choice . Better shoot all you can now . Winter will be here before you know it .

[Slowhand Bob]

Just the basics son, just the basics.  I sold my standard length version and gots a twenty inch one with a full Jimmy Spurs do over.  It has never had anything but APP shot in it.  Looks almost pristine as it has not been used much in recent years BUT truth is, of my '73s, it would be the last to go.  I am even thinking about loading  enough smokeless rounds to shoot an upcoming Wild Bunch match with it.   

[ryder west]

First, new to site and loving all of the information.

Just started loading 44wcf black powder for my Smoke Wagons and 66 carbine. First batch great in pistols but fouling after + or - 20 rounds in rifle. Those were loaded with 34g (by weight) of FFg Graff under 200g Big Lube from Whyte with CCI magnum primer.

Working on a less fouling load for rifle.

Now loading with 32.5g under same bullet and standard large pistol primer.

Will see how that works.

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Ryder
Try the standard primer and see if that helps ? our if you can come up with Swiss that will make a big difference . Good luck .

[ryder west]

Going to try both options, (Swiss and stans=dard primers) will update with results as time allows.