Cas City Forum Hall & CAS-L
Special Interests - Groups & Societies => STORM => Topic started by: Dirty Dick on July 18, 2020, 07:21:12 AM
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My CAS guns are .44-40 (Pietta) and there is a Uberti Open Top in .44 Special for sale, can the .44 Spl cylinder be re-chambered to accept .44-40 OK?
DD
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Depends on how you define "ok". Springfield Slim is one person who has done it. He says the brass comes out with the shoulder a little off and it is worked more when reloading but it works okay for him.
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:) Dirty Dick ;)
Actually YES. The real problem is the alignment of the Chambering Reamer in relation to the center axis of the Bore/chamber. You may also encounter occasional interference of the cartridge rims. The Uberti Open Top is actually a bit larger than the Original Colt, to permit 45 Colt loading so it can be done. Before embarking however, be sure to correct the Abysmal Barrel to Arbor fit FIRST.
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The 44WCF cartridge rim is slightly larger than a 45 Colt case. Good luck !
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Hey!!! Hi there Lefty. ;D
A tiny small addendum. Originally, the cylinder and frame for the Uberti Open Top was designed around the .45 Schofield. 44-40 rim is "slightly" smaller than 45 Schofield. 6 Schofield fit just fine. Just need to pay attention to the alignment on the chambering reamer. this could be real fun
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It is tight and easily mucked up. Springfield convinced me to try it. It is not an easy project by any means. Fortunately, but expensively, I ordered new cylinders to try it on; as I wanted to be able to swap back and forth.
First, not every reamer is the same and getting a reamer with an accurate profile is, well, let's just say the spent brass definitely needs full length sizing. Getting the new bore right actually requires a slightly offset/angled ream so the rims don't interfere with the ratchet. Wound up making a jig to fit on my drill press, manually turning the reamer, so I could accurately ream it out.
In the end, I don't bother using them. Just shoot .44 Russian (in BP when possible) in the original cylinders. Oh, yes, there is enough material reamed out that I only comfortable shooting BP when using the .44-40 cylinders.
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Frisco, thanks very much for that. The question comes up fairly often, and knowing there is more to it than a quick ream is important.
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Could you share some pictures of your converted cylinder?