Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

44 Special and 44-40

Coyote Pete
Is 44 Special the same as 44-40 when it comes to chamberings?

Thanks,
Pete
0

Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • Hawk Carse
    No, they are not at all related.

    The .44 Special is a straight walled revolver cartridge brought out by Smith & Wesson as an upgrade of the .44 Russian.

    The .44-40 started out as the .44 WCF (Winchester Center Fire) in the 1873 lever action rifle. It was later picked up by Colt for revolvers. It is a longer cartridge than the Special and has a slight but measureable bottleneck.

    Even barrel specifications differ but there is a lot of overlap there and you might see about anything.
    0
  • v35
    I don't understand what you're getting at.
    Both cartridges can fire the same bullet but their cartridge cases are shaped differently. The 44 Special case is straight and the 44-40 is bottle necked, so chamber dimensions are different.
    In a single action revolver, you can have a cylinder fitted for each cartridge and be able to shoot both. Otherwise you'll need a gun for each cartridge.
    0
  • RCrosby
    44=40 brass also much more fragile, i.e. thin in the neck area, and one of the rounds that really benefits from use of the Lee Factory Crimp die.
    p.s. And my memory serves me well, Ruger made 2 runs of convertible single actions for the .44 Mag/44-40.
    0
  • footlong
    44-40 bore is .427 44spcl is .429
    0
  • Hawk Carse
    Except when it is different.

    Colt made some number of .44 Specials with .4265" barrels same as .44-40. They also made some around .430", the fine old guns marked .44 S&W Russian and Special.

    Lever actions are all over the place on barrels.

    The few Remington pump .44-40s were way down around .425".
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity