What powder charge should I use?

[73_winchester]

I need some help~~I am trying to get the correct grains of 3F black powder needed for a 255 gr. round nosed bullet loaded in a .44 Henry CF cartridge~~I am loading for an original 73 Winchester in this caliber with a manufacture date of 1881(according to serial #)~~Can I safely fire a low pressure smokeless powder like Trail boss or a low pressure shotgun powder like green dot etc... without doing damage to the gun???~~ ~~Would appreciate any info or help you could offer~~thanks

[Fox Creek Kid]

I need some help~~I am trying to get the correct grains of 3F black powder needed for a 255 gr. round nosed bullet loaded in a .44 Henry CF cartridge~~I am loading for an original 73 Winchester in this caliber with a manufacture date of 1881(according to serial #)~~Can I safely fire a low pressure smokeless powder like Trail boss or a low pressure shotgun powder like green dot etc... without doing damage to the gun???~~ ~~Would appreciate any info or help you could offer~~thanks

#1 The Win. '73 was never offered in .44 Henry CF. The only .44 it was chambered for was the 44-40 which was an approx. 200 gr. bullet over 40 gr. BP. The most you can get in a modern case is approx. 37 gr. BP and still seat a 200 gr. bullet w/o crushing the powder and bulging the neck. Forget these "255 gr. bullets" (I'll assume they're Keith style SWC's at that weight).

#2  I would NEVER shoot smokeless in a gun made during the BP era. That's a quick way to have the gun blow up and hurt or even kill someone.

[Mako]

'73
Listen to FCK, he's absolutely right.  I have one made in '88 and I just shoot standard 200 grain bullets with BP lube and 2F in it.  My grandfather used factory smokeless loads, both Winchester and Remington, but I wouldn't do that anymore it's worth too much.  To him it was one of the family rifles, to me it's an heirloom.

37 grains sounds about right, I couldn't tell you exactly what it is because I fill the case up to allow about 1/16" compression.  I would use a 200 grain Mav Dutchman Big Lube Bullet, you can get them from Springfield Slim.  He's on this forum his site is here:

http://www.whyteleatherworks.com/Accessory%20page.htm

The bullet you want is the 44 Mav 200 grain sized .427  $26.00/250; You need the one sized .427", the old  original Winchester .44-40 (.44WCF) had a .427 bore,  modern .44s are .429.

I think you got mixed up on your names when you saw the CF designation.  Winchester called the cartridge the .44 WCF (Winchester Center Fire).  They called the rifle the " Winchester Model 1873" Caliber 44-100.  There was a Henry Center Fire but it is totally different and was only found on a relatively small number of model 1866s, most if not all were factory conversions from the original rim fire.

Regards,
Mako

[Noz]

'73

37 grains sounds about right, I couldn't tell you exactly what it is because I fill the case up to allow about 1/16" compression.  I would use a 200 grain Mav Dutchman Big Lube Bullet
Mako

My load exactly.