Finicky 44-40 chamber solution

[Tuolumne Lawman]

One of my .44-40 pistols is an Thunderer from Cimarron.  While Black Hills factory ammo is perfect, I noticed that several of the chambers seem a little snug with my reloads, even with .428 bullets.  After MUCH experimentation with my loads, I found that prior to this, I have been using the LEE seat/crimp die to seat only, and the LEE factory crimp to finish with a crimp.  I finally fixed the issue by using the seat/crimp die to also give a slight taper crimp and finishing with the factory crimp die.  Apparently, the factory crimp die was leaving a slight swelling in the case from belling it with the powder through die, even though it was doing the crimp in the crimp groove. The slight taper crimp overcame this.

It is funny how the small details can give you grief!

I remembered that I had a tight chambered (re-lined) original 1873 carbine that I could only taper crimp.  It would not tolerate the small bulge made by the factory crimp.

[Pettifogger]

Ain't .44-40 fun!  Sometimes I can run thousands of rounds without a glitch and then all of a sudden things start going wrong and you have to reinvent the wheel all over again.

[Abilene]

Yep.  Interesting solution.

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[Tuolumne Lawman]

Hahaha!  I better get it dialed in, since .44-40 is now my main caliber, with two of my four pistols, and both of my main match rifles being that caliber.  It did not make a difference in the Rossi, as the rifle has leverage in chambering.  The nickel Uberti 44-40 SAA, has slightly more generous chambers.  The Thunderer, though, if I didn't force it the last 1/64" or so, would drag on the recoil shield.  With the addition of the taper crimp prior to the factory crimp, it is a non-issue.  Food for thought for fellow WCF loaders.

[Trader Dan]

I run my loaded 44-40 cartridges back through the sizing die. I remove the primer punch stem of course. I am using RCBS Cowboy dies. I finally messed with the dies so they are sort of duplicating my pistol's chambers. I also ue a Lee factory crimp die and that helped also. I do not have to do the re-re-sizing very often now. I use the cylinders of my pistol like case gauges. I check each and every round to make sure it will fit in the chamber with no problems.
 

[Isom]

+1 on what Trader Dan said about running them back through the resizing die without the depriming pin. Had the same problem with my 38-40's. It took about 7-8 mos. of trial and tribulations to find out what the problem was. Mine was when I would compress the powder, (B/P), I would blow the necks out just enough so that some wouldn't go in. But in the end, running them through that die solved my problems.
Good shootin'
Isom Dart

[Trader Dan]

I think what is happening happens during crimping. I have not confirmed this but it could be that due to the thin brass the case mouth "flares" just enough to cause it will not chamber.