Thread: Load data for .44-40 WCF using AR2207?

Hi all,

Found myself a cool wee Winchester model 1892, which I'm wanting to eventually cast bullets for, as I have a steady (and free) supply of lead from my mate's auto shop.

In the intermin I have some black widow 200gr hard cast coming and cheap enough (32c ea).

I have some once fired brass cases and lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of AR2207.

Anybody have any experience loading the 44-40, if you could please share I'd be very thankful. The ADI manual does not list AR2207.

Thanks

Date of manufacture for m1892 is 1908

Hi have a lot of experience with the .44-40.

The main smokeless load for the .44-40 is using 2207 (H4198 in American) and 26 grains. This will get you around 1300 fps which is what a .44-40 should be doing. This is perfectly safe in any .44-40 rifle, even old '73's.

If you have an actual Winchester model 92, the bore sizes varied so you might want to slug the bore, if you cant do that then assume its .427. For hard cast bullets you would want them sized .428 and a soft lube.

Wheelweights from the autoshop are not pure lead, they are hard and have anitmony in them, don't use them with black powder, just smokeless and make them a thou oversized. They will act like FMJ's and are often brittle.

When you cast your own if you can find some actual lead, go soft - pure lead with 1 or 2 % tin.

Thank you John, that's priceless info.

I'll give the AR2207 a try (managed to get ahold of some).
The hard cast coming is .427", I should be ok to load and shoot that right? It is powder coated so I wonder if when it arrives and I measure it in fact measures closer to 428" accounting for the powder coat.
What do you typically (or what would you use) to slug the barrel in my rifle - it's not something I've done before.

Cheers

https://sites.google.com/view/44winc...-40?authuser=0

Originally Posted by Jhon

https://sites.google.com/view/44winc...-40?authuser=0

Thanks.....I added a domain a few days ago.

44-40.org

I tested 26gr of H4198 and it produced (for me) 11,641 psi with a 200gr Hornady XTP hollow point in a .429" custom barrel. Max SAAMI psi is 11,000psi. Soft lead should be fine in any bore, large diameter hard lead may produce higher psi in smaller bores.

Wish I could help with the AR2207 powder.

As John D mentioned, Hodgdon H4198 is the same powder as ADI AR2207 - check out the product info for the Hodgdon powder - made in Australia... https://shop.hodgdon.com/hodgdon-h4198/

So you can use load data for H4198 when using AR2207. I use 2207 in my 222, the reloading data is the same on the Hodgdon website for H4198 and ADI website for AR2207