Somehow I got a beautiful new Uberti replica of an 1885 Winchester hi wall a dozen years ago.  Probably should have bought a 45-70 Uberti from the Montana dealer instead, but got the 40-65 because that caliber seemed to be the rage at the time.  I have never had the ammo to fire this rifle, and frankly don't know where to get it.  Does this shoot BP or smokeless ammo (or either)?  I have seen 40-65 Winchester ammo at Cabellas, but I seem to recall that the 40-65 Winchester bullet diameter is only about .406 diameter, whereas the Uberti 1885 replica has a larger bore configured for a Shiloh sharps bullet (approx .408).  Does anyone on this forum shoot an Uberti 1885 single shot in 40-65?  I would welcome suggestions, including where to obtain correct ammo for this 1885 Hi wall replica.

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I have two 40/65 rifles... one a Stevens 44-1/2 built for competition, and the other a Uberti 1885 HighWall, which I use for hunting. I handload for both: only black powder in the competition rifle; duplex loads in the high wall. Smokeless loads can be developed, but I've never used straight smokeless in either rifle.

You can buy 40/65 brass, only brand available I know of is Starline. Believe it can be found at Buffalo Arms (unsure about availability with the brass shortage). However, I prefer Winchester brass and reform 45/70 brass to suit.

You might slug your barrel regarding the bullet diameter you've mentioned... both of my 40/65's shoot .411 lead bullets, and both are very accurate (but will take a bit of load developing to get the accuracy). I'm shooting a Paul Jones 420 grain postel in the competition rifle, and a Lyman RNFP 420 grain bullet in the hunting rifle.

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Southfork,

Your Uberti rifle is of modern manufacture and should carry Italian  Proof House markings. Check the Internet and look up modern Italian Proof Marks, then compare them to those on your rifle. Remember a 40-65 was originally a Black Powder round, you shouldn't attempt to make a Magnum round out of it. I'm not saying use Black Powder, just don't get OTT and go to far in the other direction.   

Harry

I load 18 grains of 4759 in my 40-65. It more than duplicates what you would get from black powder and it has mild recoil. I recently bought Starline brass from Midway. The bullet I shoot is the RCBS 300 grain base. I size them .410 for a 408 bore.I have several 40 caliber molds but I see no point in using a heavier bullet if I am just punching holes in paper. I never have a leading problem with this combination.

Thanks for the input guys.

The receiver (rather than the barrel) has a couple of stamped symbols by the serial number, but they didn't correlate to Italian proof marks that I found on the Internet, so I'm not sure what they mean.

The 5744 powder being by others in their Uberti High Walls is good to know.   

I