Loading and shooting the antique 44 cartridge revolvers.

jimmerp

jimmerp

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I am sure some of you wonder about getting into shooting antique revolvers. I love em! They are fun to shoot and nice to be free of some of the paperwork.
I see alot of 44 antiques and a person can enjoy them if they understand not all 44s are the same ...revolvers in .442 webley or shorter .44 bulldog, will take a 44 special case shortened. Some may need the rim thinned, many don’t.
However They are bored differently than modern 44s in that they are made for a heeled bullet .435-.437 diameter as is the .44SxW american.
Modern bullets will not catch the rifling or seal tightly in guns bored for these bullets. Molds are out there, and the performance is worth the price of getting one if you plan to shoot it.

The .44 russian is an exception. It was the first inside lubed bullet in a 44 cal revolver. It is designed for a .429-.430 bullet. They use a shortened 44 special case and modern non-heeled bullet.

Antique revolvers in .44 webley are not good candidates for rechambering to .44 Russian. It will shoot but such an undersized bullet will not perform well.
 
loaded up a couple dozen rounds of 44 Webley today and took the 44 American bulldog out, worked like a top, been some time since it was fired, good to 10 feet then its hit or miss hitting the target

be safe out there but have fun
 
I got suckered into believing that my newly purchased .44 Webley can easily shoot 44 Russian. I have not tried as all the research that I am collecting is telling me otherwise. What is the issue if I try? Looks like I bought an expensive paperweight. :(
 
I have 1.75 British Bulldogs...F & W.
44 Russian fits like a damn...but the case is the only match. A fellow had a BB with a broken hammer for sale ...200 $.
The 0.75 is my good luck.
About 3 years later one of the fellows here slipped a 44 Russian into his BB...lit it up and tweaked the frame to 'past the point of no return' with the hardcast slug.
200 $ later I had a hammer.. and lots of spare parts.
FYI...give it the 'mean stinkeye' before shooting it. My F & W's have no forcing cone in the cylinder... the bbl tapers...spooky stuff there.
Pure lead and BP...and lots of research.
I waited 2 - 3 years before I shot mine.
PM me if you need direction
 
having a issue with a recently acquired Bulldog, came with a dozen brass and lead, loaded them up with black powder 5 grains to fill and shot 5, the sixth would not light the primer, tried a couple more no success

closer inspection the hammer pin was striking off center and developed a bend at the end, my estimate seems to lead to the brass, the rim was thinned to 0.025, this is allowing the round to light and the case pushing back against the frame, the hammer pin trapped in the crater of the primer is pushed back about 0.03, likely enough to bend the pin

have to get some 44 rem mag brass and turn them to correct size, straighten pin and give it another try

anyone in Saskatoon know who carries brass, called Cabela's they say none in stock, two others special order
 
Softer federal pistol primers and mMeasuring the barrel and the cylinders is very important before loading and shooting any 44 antiques. There are about three different 44 cases I would call 44 short bulldog 44 American and 44 Russian.I would never re chamber any antique to 44 Russian that seems insanely dangerous.
 
I had a Frontier Bullbog that was de-registered from 44-40. The casings for a 44-40 were undersized enough that empties would rattle if you held the muzzle upward and shook it.
The previous owner just used 44 Rem mag cases... I had a mare's leg in 44 mag...this is a problem.
No need to explain further...if I do need to...antiques are probably not for you.
But...444 Marlin cases fit like a dream once cut to length. It's like the taper matched the cylinder perfectly.
The mouth of the cases were still too thick once the case was trimmed...never did mess with it much.
But the profile was perfect and I was no longer threading coke bottle shaped rounds 44 Rem Mag of BP into it anyhow.
Makes me shiver a touch linking about a full bore 44 Rem Mag round finding it's way in there.
If anyone has a unicorn that fits a 44-40 loosely...hit me up. I'll send a half dozen cases for you to try...additional benefit? Not sure what PSI the 444 case is made to withstand, but I bet it trump's the original case.
 
I have a 44 Rimfire Tranter really neat gun but think im gona convert to 44 CF as making 44 RF ammo is a pain
 
laurencen said:
having a issue with a recently acquired Bulldog, came with a dozen brass and lead, loaded them up with black powder 5 grains to fill and shot 5, the sixth would not light the primer, tried a couple more no success

closer inspection the hammer pin was striking off center and developed a bend at the end, my estimate seems to lead to the brass, the rim was thinned to 0.025, this is allowing the round to light and the case pushing back against the frame, the hammer pin trapped in the crater of the primer is pushed back about 0.03, likely enough to bend the pin

have to get some 44 rem mag brass and turn them to correct size, straighten pin and give it another try

anyone in Saskatoon know who carries brass, called Cabela's they say none in stock, two others special order
Click to expand...
Thebulletbarn moved to AB and have Starline. I can't see much on their new website. Rustywood will ship too.

Consider a shorter .44 to reduce the work .
 
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My .442 tapers also, needs the heeled bullet however I was toying with the idea of having the barrel bored out and sleeved so it can take the .44 Russian, the question is will my little Belgian bulldog handle that ( yes I could use low power loads) just wondering if this would be a good way to go?
 
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