Miroku/Winchester 66

[Hawg]

Looks like y'all are right. Apparently the carrier in a 66 is too short for a 44-40. There have been some for sale listed as 44-40 but the sellers were apparently confused.

[ShotgunDave]

Thanks Dave. Yep, so far, the only reference I have ever seen of one factory chambered for 44-40 has been on Wikipedia.

I'm trying to teach myself, not to use Wikipedia as a reference. A lot of the information there is added by supposedly informed readers, that are just parroting things they've heard. It's not fact checked.

[Captainkirk]

Thanks Dave. Yep, so far, the only reference I have ever seen of one factory chambered for 44-40 has been on Wikipedia.

I'm trying to teach myself, not to use Wikipedia as a reference. A lot of the information there is added by supposedly informed readers, that are just parroting things they've heard. It's not fact checked.

Agreed. Although, thinking logically, if the original chambering for the Winchester '73 was .44-40 WCF, and the '66 was produced through '92, that's nearly two decades of building rifles chambered for a cartridge that was clearly obsolete by 1873. It would only make sense to chamber this rifle for the latest and greatest centerfire cartridge. I will have to do some more digging on this.

[ShotgunDave]

Thanks Dave. Yep, so far, the only reference I have ever seen of one factory chambered for 44-40 has been on Wikipedia.

I'm trying to teach myself, not to use Wikipedia as a reference. A lot of the information there is added by supposedly informed readers, that are just parroting things they've heard. It's not fact checked.

Agreed. Although, thinking logically, if the original chambering for the Winchester '73 was .44-40 WCF, and the '66 was produced through '92, that's nearly two decades of building rifles chambered for a cartridge that was clearly obsolete by 1873. It would only make sense to chamber this rifle for the latest and greatest centerfire cartridge. I will have to do some more digging on this.

I agree with you Capt. because I thought the same thing. I just assumed that since the rifles were being made side by side for almost 20 years, that they'd share the 44 WCF chambering.

[Hawg]

I originally thought it was chambered in 44-40 towards the end of production but I found the same info Scoob did, that the carrier was too short for the 44-40. Maybe the original design wouldn't allow the carrier to be lengthened or maybe if it was lengthened it wouldn't work with the .44 Henry.The .44-40 case length is 1.310 and the Henry was .903, a little over half a case length shorter than the 44-40. My guess is the cartridge wouldn't feed with a longer carrier. It would be interesting to see the internal difference between an original 66 and a new one chambered in 44-40.

[Captainkirk]

It would be interesting to see the internal difference between an original 66 and a new one chambered in 44-40.

That, it would!
It obviously was not an issue for Uberti to alter the carrier to chamber .44-40. I can't imagine it would have been much trouble for Winchester back in the day...they had nearly 20 years to accomplish it in.
It's hard for me to grasp why the '66 would have remained in production until 1899, when the '73 and '76 were clearly a better, more durable design than either the '66 or the Henry, and the '86 eclipsed them both.
The Wiki references cost, but I find it hard to believe the difference was significant.

[ShotgunDave]

Maybe Ian can help shed some light on the subject.

[Captainkirk]

Thanks, Dave!
One other thing...there is sort of an argument thread going on over on Cast Boolits regarding the .44-40 and primers. A few fellers are recommending using large rifle primers on Starline brass as "they will fit".
Mebbe so...but every book load I've ever seen recommends Large Pistol primers, and given the fact we are loading for brass/bronze receiver rifles, I concur.
Here's a link to the argument, err...discussion.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?254408-Large-pistol-primers-or-large-rifle-primers-for-a-44-40

[Hawg]

I only use large pistol primers.

[Captainkirk]

I only use large pistol primers.

...as you should. Methinks those LR guys are playing with fire.

[ShotgunDave]

Well, I loaded 50 rounds of 44-40 ammo today, and I used large pistol primers. They can do whatever they want. I'll stick with the right way.

By the way, I'm going to start a new thread showing how I loaded mine today. I'm sure there's many ways to do it, I just wanted to show mine. So be on the lookout tomorrow for that post.

[Captainkirk]

Looking forward to it! I was going to load up a few rounds but found, ironically, I had used up the last of my LP primers...

[Hawg]

Looking forward to it! I was going to load up a few rounds but found, ironically, I had used up the last of my LP primers...

If you have large rifle primers I hear they work just fine.

[Captainkirk]

Dave, do you happen to know either the projected PSI or CUP readings of your BP loads?

[ShotgunDave]

Dave, do you happen to know either the projected PSI or CUP readings of your BP loads?

I sure don't Capt. I've actually looked around for a way to figure out the approximate pressure but couldn't find anything.