Please pardon the recap but the story began with my acquiring at the Denver Show a Frank Wesson Two-Trigger circa early to middle 1870s. Several opinions were given me that most of these would be happy with shooting 43 Russian and the cartridge I picked up at the show seemed to be happy in the chamber. I made a chamber cast and the case length was determined to be 1.6 inches. Being a Wesson I jumped to the conclusion that it was a 44 Wesson Extra Long, albeit with a sloppy chamber. Hey, it's old. So I picked up some 445 Super Mag brass which happens to be 1.6 inches long and of the same family as the 44 American, 44 Russian, 44 Special and 44 Mag just in different lengths, worked up a load and was enjoying it - at a 44 Russian level of course. Then recently I picked up a copy of the Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions and was just flipping through it when I landed on the 44-40 Extra Long. Wait, that's the same size as the chamber cast. No. Could it be? A 44-40 dropped right in the chamber. Son of a gun. Today I received in the mail a vintage cartridge headstamped U.M.C. .44-40 but 1.6 inches long. It dropped right in the chamber. Now some folks believe that the 44-40 Extra Long doesn't exist in a rifle but that it is just the 5-in-1 Hollywood blanks with a bullet stuck in. To be sure a 44-40 Extra Long would no longer be a 44-40 but say, a 44-50 in that nomenclature. A case headstamped U.M.C. would be later than the rifle as I don't believe they starting headstamping them until 1883 or something. However, unheadstamped cases do exist! It is just that there don't seem to be any rifles chambered in it. Well, I know of one and that one dates back to the time of the creation of the 44-40 for one of those Winchester thingies. I would like to find one of those unheadstamped rounds. Meanwhile, back at the ranch. How to you go about making them now? Simple, relatively, you take a 444 Marlin case, chop it to 1.6 inches, full length size it in a 44-40 WCF sizing die with decapper removed, trim it back to 1.6 inches, anneal the new neck, and fire form it. Here's a pic of the chamber cast, the U.M.C. round, and two cases made from 444 Marlin (one has had a light fire form and polish and the other fresh out of the annealer and ready for fire forming. That is where it stands right now. More to follow.
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