Uberti 1873 carbine .44-40 factory anmo

[Coffinmaker]

I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I resemble THAT 

Coffinmaker

[Cliff Fendley]

Bore size doesn't make the big difference.  The big difference is the size of the neck area of the chamber.  Some are tighter or looser than others.  If you shoot enough .44-40s, especially if they are NOT Italian, you will find variations.  I have Merwin Hulberts, Colts, Original Winchesters, repro Winchesters from Uberti and the new "Winchester" 73, and several Lightning rifles both original and reproduction.  After years of piddle fooling around with different loads for different guns and getting the ammo mixed up on occassion I have standardized my own .44-40 loads.  (I.e., bullet size, brand of brass and dies used.)  I found that even rounds that fit into a commercial case gauge would not fit into all my guns.  I finally acquired a beat up old Colt cylinder and use that for a case gauge.  I have found that if rounds drop into the cylinder with zero interference they will fit in all my guns.  The added bonus is I can gauge six at a time with the cylinder as opposed to one at a time with a case gauge.  When shooting my Lightnings I gauge every round as Lightnings have no camming action like a lever rifle so the rounds have to drop into the chamber.

I realize it's the chamber but since original bullet size specs for the 44-40 were .427 I suppose that is why some have too tight of chamber for larger bullets. I don't know if Uberti has opened the chamber dimensions or not after going with the large bore. All I know is I have never experienced the problem others claim to have chambering .429 bullets. Only on some old original guns.