Howdy
I just went to the El Paso Saddlery website and I don't see any 'jj' rig. There is, however a Jesse James rig, and perhaps that is what you meant.
http://www.epsaddlery.com/pc-210-10-jesse-james-2-holsters-and-belt.aspxAnyhoo, a few years ago when I was lucky enough to acquire a New Model #3, I decided it deserved a really nice holster. I had El Paso make up this Slim Jim for me. I had it lined and Border Stamping done to dress it up a bit. It was not cheap, with the lining and border stamping the holster came to $133.
Then a year ago I was able to acquire a 2nd Model Russian. I called up El Paso and ordered another Slim Jim just like the first. I was concerned that the long extractor housing under the barrel might be too bulky, but El Paso assured me it would fit. When it arrived it was dimensionally exactly like the first one, and the Russian does fit. In the ensuing two years the price had only gone up to by $4.
This year I was able to acquire a 1st Model Schofield. Happily, it fits just fine into the Slim Jim holsters.
Yes, the guns do sit low in these holsters. I have no problem with that. If you look, the Russian snugs down nicely so that the trigger spur snugs up against the holster. I will never win a match based on speed with these revolvers, they are antiques and I shoot them slowly and deliberately.
I have no revolvers chambered for 44-40 but I have 5 rifles chambered for the cartridge. My standard load is 2.3CC (around 35 grains) of Schuetzen FFg Black Powder under a 200 grain Big Lube Mav-Dutchman bullet lubed with SPG. This is a full house load. You will probably not have much luck shooting Black Powder out of those Ubertis. My standard Smokeless 44-40 load is 7.5 grains of Unique under a 200 grain RNFP bullet.
Yes, it is tough to find dies now. I am using set of RCBS 44-40 dies that I bought about ten years ago. You will want to use case lube with your 44-40 brass, there are no carbide dies available for the caliber. Go slowly, 44-40 brass is thinner at the mouth than 45 Colt and will deform easily if it bumps into the sizing/decap die. It will also crumple at the neck if you don't set your dies correctly. For this reason, lots of guys prefer to seat the bullet and crimp in two separate steps, but if you set your dies very carefully it can be done in one step. Been doing it for years.
Regarding shooting replica S&W Top Breaks, it is completely different from shooting a SAA or replica. The hammer spurs point up on all the #3 Smiths (check my photos). In addition, there is more of a reach to the hammer than there is with a SAA. So don't expect to be winning any matches with your Schofields. Shooting Top Breaks is all about style points.
P.S. Based on the rifling groove diameters of my 44-40 rifles, I settled on .428 as my standard bullet diameter. I cast a size them myself so I can size them to any size within reason. When slugged my rifles very from .427 to .429 in diameter. Since I cast my bullets from pure, dead soft lead, they bump up a bit in diameter to engage the rifling in my .429 rifles. You may want to slug your barrels to determine what diameter you need, or you may just want to buy a few bullets in several diameters and try them.