I know y'all are going to hate me for this...

[Little Dalton]

...but what's to prevent me from buying a new cylinder and barrel -for my Uberti Richards-Mason 1860 conversion .45 colt- in a .44 cal, and rechambering the cylinder in .44 WCF? I've been doing some measuring, and here's what I've found: the two rounds share a similar oal, and the base diameter on the .44WCF is actually about .009 smaller. The rim on the .44WCF is about .013 larger, but near as I can tell, there's plenty of room in the oversized Uberti cylinder.  The only thing would be the ratchet... would it be too thin?. YES, I KNOW IT'S OVERPOWERED. What else?

[Coffinmaker]

Well,
What you proposing is very do-able.  I doubt you would run into any problem at the star.  Recutting the chamber should also be academic so long as a fitted pilot is used.
You've already mentioned the droid being g overpowered.  Sorta.  I'm not a fan of the .45 Colt cartridge in the Uberti open top guns.  I worked on too many that spit the little piece of metal out of the bottom of the bolt notches.  Having expressed my PERSONAL opinion, the guns have passed proof for SAMMI ammunition in .45 Colt.  .44 WCF should pose no pressure problem.  The breach ring should also be the same for both 44 and 45 cylinders (different for 38). 
With the availability of .44 Special, I don't really see a reason to re chamber to .44 WCF unless your matching clambering to a rifle you already have.  But ......
Your gun ...... Have at it.  Should be fun 

Coffinm

[Blair]

Capnball,

Not a thing!
Except perhaps the cylinder length and perhaps the bore diameter?
Lets not forget the interchangeability of the parts you are looking at.
But, it is your gun...have fun.
My best,
Blair

[FriscoCounty]

Both Springfield Slim and I have bored out .44 Open Tops to .44 WCF.  We have had mixed results.  It works, but it is very much dependent on the reamer.  The reamer Slim used didn't have a proper shoulder on it, so the rounds smooth out just a little at the neck.  The reamer I used was supposedly a finish reamer, but I have a hard time chambering cartridges - it is just too tight.

[Little Dalton]

Thanks! Yeah, I don't have a rifle yet, but when I get one, it WILL be in .44WCF. As guessed, that is one of the main reasons I have for chambering my pistol in that calibre. I also want to standardize and keep my reloading down to one calibre for now. I second the opinion on the ratchet. I looked at my ratchet, and I think Uberti's generous relief for the .45 colt case heads would be plenty for the .44WCF, so at least the ratchet web wouldn't be any thinner than on the factory .45. As for power, I wouldn't be shooting full warthog loads- most of the time.  
Bore diameter. Aren't pretty much all Italian .44 cal barrels a standardized size, even tho the original .44WCF bore size was slightly smaller?

[Blair]

Capnball,

Have you ever check out the interchangeability of the parts you may need? To make such a change?
Just a thought on my part.
But, how much can a new barrel and cylinder cost to go from 45 to 44?
Be good to yourself.
My best,
Blair

[Little Dalton]

As to parts interchanging, as far as I know, barrels and cylinders for the Uberti richards-mason army are interchangeable between all offered calibers, or at least between .44 and .45 calibers. Anyone know anything contrary to that?

[Little Dalton]

Cost...
Taylor's has the cheapest cylinders and barrels,  but a set would still run $250+. Thought about proposing a trade, or selling my .45 set.. A note: looks like I can rent a reamer for $26-$50 or so, IF I can get a reamer that will give a decent chamber. Need some input on that.

[Abilene]

FriscoCounty,
What size bullets and what brand brass are you using?  In many Uberti 44-40 chambers, the use of .429 bullets requires Winchester or Starline brass with their thin necks.  Remington and some other brands of brass have thicker brass at the neck and will not chamber unless smaller diameter bullets are used.  If the reamer you used sizes the chambers to the size used by Uberti then I wonder if that is what you are running into?

This subject came up at the SASS convention last week and one pard (sorry, can't recall name) told me he reamed his (Opentop I think, but possibly an 1860 conversion) to 44-40 and has no problems.

Capnball,
You need to see if Cimarron has the parts.  (edit: I checked.  They do).  They are considerably less expensive than you mentioned.  They usually keep pace on price with VTI but apparently are behind on raising prices.

[Hoof Hearted]

Both Springfield Slim and I have bored out .44 Open Tops to .44 WCF.  We have had mixed results.  It works, but it is very much dependent on the reamer.  The reamer Slim used didn't have a proper shoulder on it, so the rounds smooth out just a little at the neck.  The reamer I used was supposedly a finish reamer, but I have a hard time chambering cartridges - it is just too tight.

It's really not much of a problem to correct the latter of the two chambers. Just grind a chucking reamer, of the appropriate neck size, down to accept a pilot that will fit in the throat and ream the neck portion of your chamber. This will alllow the case to fit (no matter which brand) with a .429 bullet. As a matter of fact, I think I already have built a reamer for this!

HH

[Graveyard Jack]

I can see a few potential problems. First, a .44-40 reamer may not clean up a .44Colt or Special chamber. Both these cartridges use slightly larger bullets and thus have slightly larger chambers. You will have to handload with modern ~.430" cast bullets, rather than the original .427's which 'may' cause an issue with dies. Factory loads will probably cause leading and accuracy issues. If you proceed with this project, you might be money ahead to just sell yours and buy a .44 to have rechambered.

I personally prefer them in the more period correct .44Colt.

[Blair]

CraigC,

I think you probably cut-to-the-chase, in a manner of speaking, much better than I did in my replies.
I think the point is that research into your firearm, and caution are needed before such modification is attempted.
Today, we have many more variables available to use than were available within the time period.
Getting some folks to slow down and think before they act can be difficult.
My best,
Blair

[Hoof Hearted]

While the cartridge and chamber drawings for SAAMI spec show a .432 bullet for the 44 "family" of cartridges (44 Special, and Magnum) and the 44 WCF (or 44-40) a .427. The savvy factories are not using that dimension since they are all using a barrel with a groove diameter which is .429 (+). Reaming the neck of a 44-40 chamber to .456 (-) is probably why Springfield Slim's fired cases lose their "waist". But if you have ever run a 44-40 case into a 38-40 die you will know that that is not an issue.

A better way to approach this conversion would be to start with a new cylinder in 38 Colt/Special..........

I can see a few potential problems. First, a .44-40 reamer may not clean up a .44Colt or Special chamber. Both these cartridges use slightly larger bullets and thus have slightly larger chambers. You will have to handload with modern ~.430" cast bullets, rather than the original .427's which 'may' cause an issue with dies. Factory loads will probably cause leading and accuracy issues. If you proceed with this project, you might be money ahead to just sell yours and buy a .44 to have rechambered.

I personally prefer them in the more period correct .44Colt.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Hoof, would a 44-40 cylinder opened up in the neck & throat with a finishing reamer technically need to be re-heat treated? Some say yes and some say no.       

[Hoof Hearted]

Hoof, would a 44-40 cylinder opened up in the neck & throat with a finishing reamer technically need to be re-heat treated? Some say yes and some say no.       

I use 4140 prehard for the Thuer cylinders and it is hard all the way through but cylinders are not surface hardened (which would be the only way that hardness would be affected by reaming). Heat treating, done correctly, would affect the whole cylinder.