The rifle is a brand new uberti sporting in 44-40 with 24 inch barrel.
I assume a Winchester 73", if so it would be best to stay with loading manual max loads of 13,000cup
Everything I have found indicates the new ubertis are a .429 bore.
That is certainly typical. As long as you stick with .428" or less until you check, you should be fine. I can explain later if need be.
I have seen references to using a 200gn JSP bullet.
It is best to stay with 200gr JSP Winchester .4255"bullets until you check the bore dimension.
Seems RL-7 is the go to but I have zero on hand.
I can touch on this later...use what you have on hand to get you started, keep loads low until you get the hang of loading them first.
Of the powders I have on hand that might be suitable are a good supply of W231, Unique, Blue Dot, H110, H322?
Unique is what I would suggest but it may not be as clean as W231, never used W231. Do not use anything slower than Reloder 7...refer to above answer about Reloder 7
So any particular flavor of 200gn JSP?
Winchester .4255" or Remington .426" JSP. Once you get the hang of loading, and figure the bore diameter, you can look at Lyman's book at 44 special JSP bullets at .429" or 44 Mag bullets at .430"
Of these powders best bet for getting close to original velocities which I believe were around 1250fps?
Original BP velocities were 1,325fps while the smokeless loads were 1,300 then back to 1,325 then back down to 1,310 by the 1960's. The catch here is that these velocities were achieved with rifle powders we no longer have today. These powders were basically replaced with faster burning pistol powders. Because of this, the pressures forced slower velocities to keep from going over 13,000cup. Another long story we can work out later.
Unique is best choice.
I have seen references from I believe 44wcf using TP as a filler?
John used fillers for certain powders that are position sensitive like 4227. Stay away from this for right now, fillers cause higher pressures and are a pain to use.
Dies are lee with lee factory crimp die.
Not my choice but is probably what you need to learn with.
Brass is starline.
The best, this brass is thicker than Winchester and thinner than Remington (chambering issues, more on this later)
Press is Dillon RL550.
Doesn't really what you use, I suggest a single stage until you get the hang of it. Trying to do much too soon will get discouraging.
Of the powders listed best bet and charge for my goal of 200gn JSP at 1250fps or close as is realistic. Thanks for any and all help.
Again, Unique
Also not set on bullet weight or type. Was leaning towards jacketed as it seems would be "cleaner" in a rifle? Not adverse to lead or jacketed and certainly not stuck on 200gn but that seems to be the go to weight?
Clean would be the powder used, Unique and Reloder 7 are the dirtiest. If you want clean, better go get a 357 magnum or suffer velocity with the 44-40. I can better explain if needed.
I do have on hand a god supply of 240gn SWC lead hard cast bullets (for my Smith 29) would these be suitable or too heavy?
Yes, they are too heavy unless you use Reloder 7. No longer listed but there was a published 23.5gr for a 240 lead bullet. HOWEVER, these should be lead round nose flat point basic design. I have tested several 240gr options and pressures varied greatly!!