.44/40 blanks

[Chance]

Not sure if this is the right place for this one but I know it will be moved if it ain't!

Here in the UK we do not have your 5-in-1 blanks and there is a need from re-enactors for reloadable .44/40 blanks that will feed through a lever action rifle. Does anyone have a recipe for such an item?

[Griff]

I don't know why you couldn't use my recipe for my .45 Colt practice blanks for mounted shooting, the procedure is simple and I suspect translates to a 44WCF.
I clean and size the brass.  Then drill out the flash hole to an 1/8"  and prime with LP primer.  Scoop the case through a pan of 2F black powder.  Tap the case to settle the powder a little, then take a dowel and tamp down the powder to lightly compress.  Generally leaves 1/4" of free case.
I have prepared some .45 card wads that I punch out from milk cartons (I make the lady of the house only buy milk in the waxed paper cartons ).  Take the same dowel press the card wad into the case, firmly against the powder.  Then a drop or two of Elmer's white glue onto the card, stick my little finger in the case mouth to push the glue out to the edges of the card and against the sides of the case!  That's it, one blank cartridge!  Takes twice as long to write/tell about than to do;  maybe four times as long.
Good luck.
Oh yea, you can be scientific about it and use a Lee dipper to make sure all yer cases end up with a better approximation of the same amount of powder.  But, since there ain't any recoil, nothing out the barrel but a little card wad, why?
One safety tip;  always point the bbl up to the sky or down to the ground.  Even the little card would be unwanted in someone's eye, or...

[Chance]

I here what you are saying but that is for pistols. I need to know how to make a blank that will cycle in a lever action. The blank needs to be the same length as a .44/40 round otherwise they jam in the elevator.

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[Griff]

Ah, maybe I wasn't clear.  Shoulda started out by saying if you can; order the 5-n-1 blank unprimed shells from Starline http://www.starlinebrass.com/ and load 'em up as per the following:
(see my above post).