Author Topic: Say hello to a new family member! (Read 429 times)

Holiday · « **on:** June 07, 2004, 11:24:31 AM »

That's right, my "new baby" is a Marlin Cowboy in .44WCF. Bet y'all thought I was a referin' to a new curtain climber. Well, my wife says I treat my guns better than my kids. Thats not true, of course. I don't lock my kids up in a steel box, although, now that I think on it a bit, that MAY be a good idea. My little girl is about 12 and startin' to git that teenager attitude. But, I digress. This Marlin might replace my .45 Colt Cowboy as my main match gun. I like how the bottleneck case stops the blowback when I use the holy black. Shot a few rounds today and had ZERO fouling in the reciever. A little harder to reload, but a LOT easier in the cleanup department!

On a differant subject, though, how does this caliber stand up to smokeless loads for hunting? I know the brass is thinner at the mouth, but can I get a good stout deer load with 2400? My Lyman manual only lists moderate loads for older rifles.

ButlerFord45 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2004, 01:34:16 AM »

Well, congratulations Poppa. I have an old Lyman manual that lists loads for the 44-40 that are "Rifle Only". To the best of my recollection, they're 200 gr bullets loaded to 16-1700 fps. If this is what you have in mind, I'll try and get them to you tonight.

williamlayton · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2004, 02:10:24 AM »

May I refer you to Mr Mark Twain.
He said, when children are born they should be put in a pickle barrel with the top secured and fed thru a knot hole until they are twelve--then the knot hole should be plugged.
Blessings

Holiday · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2004, 11:15:45 AM »

Butler, that ought ta work! Thanks! And William, I don';t think a barrel would be strong enogh!

ButlerFord45 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 11, 2004, 02:32:23 PM »

Holiday, pould you PM me your email address, I'll send you a scaned copy of the page.

Capt Hamp Cox · « **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2004, 05:28:33 PM »

You didn't say wheteher you planned to use jacketed or cast bullets, so this may not be helpful if you intend to ues the latter. Using an original 24" Win '92 rifle in .38-40 (that's just a teen age .44-40), using 180 grain jacketed HP (at the time there were no jacketed bullets for reloading .38-40, so I used bullets intended for the .40 S&W) and upper end loads of 2400, I took several of our relatively small (field dressed 80-90 lb) Texas Hill Country whitetails, and performance was pretty spectacular. Surprised you don't want to work up a good BP deer load.

Holiday · « **Reply #6 on:** June 14, 2004, 09:26:59 AM »

Thanks, Hamp. As a matter of fact, I already have a few black powder loads loaded up. In fact, that is my main reason for getting the .44WCF. This cartridge really does well with BP and as little blowback into the reciever. But I was just curious how well this cartridge performed with that new-fangled stuff! :-D