need gunsmith referral

[Five Bullets]

I have recently purchased a new Colt Frontier Six Shooter and a standard Colt SAA in 44WCF.  Both of them measure .430 for the bore and .429 for the cylinder throats.  The cylinders will only accept a cartridge with up to .428 bullets.  I would appreciate some suggestions of who to send it to for proper reaming of the cylinders.

Thanks

[Abilene]

Howdy Mr. Bullets,
Are you using handloads?  If so, you might want to check out various past discussions on reloading the 44-40.  Lots of us have found that to use .429 (or even .430) bullets, you have to use Winchester brass, which is the thinnest, or else the rounds will not chamber.  Which reloading dies that are used and particularly how they are adjusted (crimp can be critical and how far down the sizing die sets the shoulder) is another issue.

On the other hand if you are using factory ammo, then maybe you do have a chamber size issue, although I have not heard of Colts having this problem.  But if it really does seem to be a cylinder problem, you might talk to Colt and consider sending the cylinders to them.

Good luck.

[Five Bullets]

Howdy pard,
Many thanks for your suggestions.  I got out my loaded 44WCF and checked to see what brand of brass I had -  Starline and Winchester.  The ones that I thought were loaded with .429 bullets were in fact loaded with .430 bullets(putting on my cheaters cleared that up). I have both brands loaded with the .430 bullet and retried them in both cylinders.  Those loaded in the Winchester almost went flush but those loaded in the Starline weren't close.  I then tried both of these loads in an older Colt Frontier Six Shooter and both fell right in.  This pistola has cylinder throats measuring .430.  I do have some .429 bullets and will load a few and see what happens.  But if they fit the cylinders they while be slightly undersized for a good fit to the bore.

I have another Colt SAA in 38-40 that has the same problem.  Back in june i contacted Colt and they instructed me to send it to them.  After about a month I got it back with a note that said it met their specifications. So I called them back and they stuck to their guns.  I explained that the basic rule-of-thumb was that the bullet needed to be larger than the bore groove diameter didn't phase them a bit.

Once again thank you for your suggestions! 

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[Five Bullets]

I loaded a few .429 bullets in Winchester brass, no powder, and they chambered just fine.  But I'm still not too keen on the combination of a .429 bullet and a .430 bore.  I do have a couple of 44 Special Colts with .432 chambers and they fit the new pistolas perfectly.   I called Colt and got their standard answer that I could send them back to them and they will check them but I have been down that road on another pistol already and their response was "the cylinder was within their specs".

Hey Fox Creek Kid, do you think that you could loan me the cylinders from your two new FSS's for a couple of decades or so?

[Coffinmaker]

Five Bullets,

I really like the "within Specs" answer.  Good cop out.
For your particular hand guns, the throat should be .431 and bullets swaged for a finished size of .431.  Should is the operative word here.  Regardless, the chambers need to be reamed to accept at least a .429 bullet.
There was once posted an outfit that did just cylinders at a reasonable price, I just don't remember off hand who they were.  To buy a reamer is a mite expensive and you would have to send one of your cartridges (dummy) to the manufacture.  I use "Manson" reamers.  Most Smiths will have a "one size fits all" reamer, that may not do the job.  Properly chambering for 44-40 and 38-40 is a pain.  Although, once done right, both rounds will shoot very well.
All that having been said, with .429 bullets in a .430 bore you may find accuracy is just fine and leading will most likely not be an issue.  The groove diameter is usually several thousands deeper than the land height and undersize by .001 doesn't have much effect unless your shooting for little itty bitty groups at 300m.
Were you my customer, with the cost of a custom reamer to consider, I'd tell ya to load .429s and Winchester brass or visit your broker before you bring in the guns.  I honestly would not recommend the expense since you have an acceptable bullet/throat/bore/brass combination.

Coffinmaker
   

[John Taylor]

The throat can be opened up to .430" with a chucking reamer and polished to get it close to .431". If the brass is to thick to allow for a .431" bullet you may need to turn the necks. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000073964992
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=161996&t=11082005
My book shows a neck diameter of .443 after the bullet is in the case. If this diameter will not fit the cylinder then you should find a smith with a standard 44-40 reamer to take the chambers out to that size. Or if you prefer to do it yourself go here, http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=852156&t=11082005
If you are planning on doing the work yourself then you will need a proper way to keep things lined up. Picture shows rough boring a new cylinder in a milling machine. same setup is used for reaming chambers. The throat is reamed in the gun frame before the chamber with a special dummy barrel to guide the reamer. This was done when I was converting Remy 58s to 44 Colt.