Question on .44Colt in a .44Spl '66

[John William McCandles]

I've been having trouble with the extractor grabbing the rim on .44 Colts. I took the extractor out of the bolt and slightly bent it in along with replacing the pin holding it in the bolt.
It still will not grab a .44 Colt unless I push down on the extractor with the bolt closed on a round, then it will snap down and eject the cartridge. There are no problems with .44Spl rounds.
Do I need to take a little material out of the notch of the extractor? The bolt seems to ride up when closing it on a round, could the small protrusion on the bottom of the bolt be worn and cause this?
I have a new .44 extractor and a .38 extractor ordered, should I wait and try the .38 extractor?
Any help would be appreciated.

Regards
JW

[Shotgun Franklin]

The rim diameters don't match. The .44 Colt is .483 and the .44, American, Spl and Mag, are .517. My best guess is that you could remove enough material from a .38 extractor but not having one to look at it's only my guess.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

How about .44 Russian?  If they work in your revolvers, they would likely work in the '66 with an adapted carrier for the short round.

[Dr. Bob]

Sir Charles is correct!  The 44 Russian will work in the 1860 & 1866 rifles with a modified carrier.  My 1860 is now a 44 Russian rifle and holds 16 ctgs.!!            Just ask Books!  His 66 does! 

[John William McCandles]

It's hit or miss on the .44Colt extraction.
The .44 Russian conversion does sound interesting. Do they have the replacement carriers in any finish besides aluminum? Or does it matter for NCOWS?
If I go to .44 Russian I would have a bunch of .44 Colt brass to sell or trade.
Or I could just shoot .44Spl as my R&M's a reamed to handle .44Spl length cartridges.


Regards
JW

[Dusty Morningwood]

I put one of Adirondack Jack's modified carriers in my 66 to shoot .44 Russian.  Works well as long as carrier and mortice are kept clean and lubed.  Did same to my Henry.  Here is a link to video of me shooting 16 Russians through it.

[Shotgun Franklin]

You'd likely be better off with one of the S&W rounds. You shouldn't have trouble turning those Colt rounds either. If you have a case trimmer you can get, last I knew, .44 Mags pretty cheap and cut to .44 Spl.

[John William McCandles]

You'd likely be better off with one of the S&W rounds. You shouldn't have trouble turning those Colt rounds either. If you have a case trimmer you can get, last I knew, .44 Mags pretty cheap and cut to .44 Spl.

That would be the simpilist and most likely cheapist solution since I already reamed my R&M's to .44Spl and can do the same to the wife's 5 1/2" R&M also, then find her a .44Spl '66 carbine or short rifle.
I belieive Star Line sells .44Spl brass and have a shooting buddy who shoots .44 Colt in his open top so I may have a way to trun my .44 Colt brass right there.


Regards
JW

[Abilene]

Since you already have the .38 extractor on the way, that might solve your problem.  Or doing some fitting with the shape of the existing extractor hook.  Because trimming a bunch of cases is a pain unless you have a powered tool for it.  Of course if you were going to trim cases and you prefer to stick with the .44 Colt, you could also trim .44 Spcl (or mag) down to .44 Colt and that would solve your rim issue.  The first cases Starline used as samples when they were about to start making .44 Colt were cut down .44 Spcl.

But since your guns all chamber .44 Spcl ain't nothin' wrong with shootin' that in all of them.  That's what I do.  Hodgdon's minimum loading with Clays powder and 200 grain bullet is a pretty mild shooter.

[John William McCandles]

Since you already have the .38 extractor on the way, that might solve your problem.  Or doing some fitting with the shape of the existing extractor hook.  Because trimming a bunch of cases is a pain unless you have a powered tool for it.  Of course if you were going to trim cases and you prefer to stick with the .44 Colt, you could also trim .44 Spcl (or mag) down to .44 Colt and that would solve your rim issue.  The first cases Starline used as samples when they were about to start making .44 Colt were cut down .44 Spcl.

But since your guns all chamber .44 Spcl ain't nothin' wrong with shootin' that in all of them.  That's what I do.  Hodgdon's minimum loading with Clays powder and 200 grain bullet is a pretty mild shooter.

Thanks, I've seen where a 38spl extractor would do with a little fitting or the .44spl for that matter. I've bent the current extractor slighlitly but maybe not enough. Would  a person take some material off the inside of the hook? Since I can push the extractor down onto the case head and the it will extract the .44 Colt case?
Also what would a good CAS black powder load be for .44Spl?
I would like to stay with the .44 Colt or atleast the Spl since I shoot 5 in 1 blanks for reenacting with this rifle also.

JW

[Montana Slim]

Something along the lines of a 200 gr big-lube bullet, backed by 25 grains of 2F should do the trick for .44 special.

Regards,
Slim

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Yeppir!  As usual, Slim hits the mark.   If you want more ooompfh, add and compress more powder and use 3f ... but if you chronograph it, you'll not notice much difference in performance.

[John William McCandles]

Thanks for all the replies and the load suggestions.
I installed the .38 spl extractor with no luck, looks like I would need to open up the notch in the barrel end.
So I'm going with .44 spl and will ream Sierra Sue's R&M to .44 Spl and looking for her a '66 carbine or short rifle in .44 Spl.
So day we may convert to .44 Russian but for now .44 Spl is the easiest wat to go.
I put all my .44 Colt smokeless loads up for sale on the classifieds. My empties are going to a local NCOWS pard.
Anyone have a source for .$$ Spl brass? Starline is sold out until late August.

Regards
JW

[Sam Perfye]

JW, I've got about 150 44Spl. once fireds. There yours for the cost of shipping. I'm going to the GAF muster next week but can have them shipped the first part of Aug. Let me know. Al,

[John William McCandles]

JW, I've got about 150 44Spl. once fireds. There yours for the cost of shipping. I'm going to the GAF muster next week but can have them shipped the first part of Aug. Let me know. Al,

I'll take them let me know what shipping would be to 47123. I will PM my address tonight.

JW

[John William McCandles]

Besides changing the carrier and fileing the relief in the bolt are there any other modifications need to run .44 Russian through my '66?
Also I made an other post in the ginsmithing section on running .44 Russian through a 1894 Marlin, any in sight into that?

Thanks
JW