38-40 ¿

[bigted]

So thinkin on tryin to come up with a SAA in 38-40 ... but never had any experience with this chamber.

Anybody played with this critter in a revolving hand canon?

[Hawg]

Think of it as a .45 Colt necked down to .40 caliber.

[Hawg]

The parent case used to develop the 38 WCF was the 44 WCF. Exact same dimensions between the two other than a more pronounced shoulder and necked down mouth to accommodate the smaller diameter bullet.

True and I didn't mean to imply it wasn't but if he's unfamiliar with 38-40 he's probably unfamiliar with 44-40 as well. While the 38-40 and 44-40 cases aren't the same as .45 Colt the loads for 38-40, 44-40 and .45 Colt are identical with a smaller and lighter bullet. .45 Colt bullets run in the 250 grain range, 44-40 in the 200 grain range and 38-40 in the 180 grain range.

[bigted]

Guess I was not too clear in my post. Not had any experience in a revolver chambered in 38-40. I do have an old Winchester (1880's model) that I load for chambered in 38 WCF.

Just never had nor fired the old 38 WCF or Colts 38-40 in a revolver. So my curiosity is in a SAA ... not necessarily in the cartridge ... altho I am up for any info I can reap concerning the 38 WCF.

In my old Winchester, it is like shooting a 22 mag rifle. Not too much recoil at all. Wonder what the recoil and accuracy potential is in a short barreled revolver?

Didn't mean to miss lead fellers.  I would think that the 180 grain 38 over 35 or 40 grains would be like greezed litnin in comparison to the old 45 Colts chamber.

[bigted]

I'll take all the info I can glean! Never hurts to even revisit what I think I know either. Thanks for the attention and reply's. I always glean stuff from here and you fellers. Thanks for takin me along.

[Hawg]

I don't have a 38-40 but I have a 44-40. Accuracy is good with a 5 1/2 inch barrel. I doubt you'll notice much difference in velocity between 38-40 and .45 Colt.

[Navy Six]

I am a big fan of the 38-40. I have a couple of newer Colts and Ubertis. One issue you may encounter is when the round is fired the shoulder is pushed forward and some brands of resizing dies don't reset it back far enough to chamber in some guns. I learned this the hard way at a Cowboy match. My reloads fit the Colts perfectly and when I obtained the Ubertis I took them to a match without checking to see if those same rounds would chamber. They did not! This was utterly stupid on my part. After sorting things out I have had no issues. The cases are thin and require a little care to not bump the case mouth against the resizing die.
 I enjoy shooting this round in the pistols. With black powder loads, the 45 Colt and 44-40 feel similar to me but the 38-40 is a bit different. It recoils less and I think the muzzle report is a little sharper. This is all subjective of course but I shoot those three rounds a lot and can feel the difference.

[Gray Fox]

I have Redding die sets in .44-40 and.38-40 and they bring the brass back to spec easily, even in a Dillon 650.  I used to load the .38-40 a lot for a cowboy shooting friend who had a pair of original Colt SAAs in 5.5" and an original '92 carbine.  Unfortunately he passed on to greener pastures several years back and his family auctioned off all his original guns which yielded a good bit for his widow.  GF

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Ted,

If you shoot 44-40, be careful to keep your brass separated.
I remember reading somewhere, a guy sized all his 38-40's to 44-40.
He was not a happy camper, I suppose he could have sized them back.

AntiqueSledMan.

[Navy Six]

Gray Fox, I understand the Redding dies do a good job on setting the shoulder back and would be my choice if buying new again. I have also heard the RCBS Cowboy dies work as well. I started out--25 years ago--using standard RCBS dies and they did not work with the Uberti chamber dimensions. Not just Uberti either, as I heard of people having the same problem with various generation Colts. Funny enough those initial rounds would chamber in all three of my Uberti 38-40 lever actions but not their pistols. At that time gun writer Dave Scovill wrote an article about this issue and had RCBS custom make a sizing die which they added to their special order selection as "38-40 Scovill" resizing die. I placed an order(expensive) and this die solved the issue. Some have mentioned shortening their sizing die by machining material from the bottom--I forget how much exactly. This has the same effect as the custom die--pushing the shoulder back a bit more on the fired case.
Big Ted, I hope the mention of these issues don't dissuade you from acquiring a 38-40 pistol. It really isn't a big deal once the problem was understood. Just a little extra finesse during the reloading process and you have a wonderful shooting gun. The latest batch that came from Colt had very good matching chamber mouth/barrel groove dimensions and are accurate.

[Captainkirk]

I use the RCBS "Cowboy dies" on my .44-40 rounds with very good results feeding and functioning in my Navy Arms '66 Winchester. I would assume RCBS would also make these dies in .38-40?

Yep. They do.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1011629373?pid=407200

[bigted]

Cool fella's. Thanks for the great posts and answers to my questions. I like my old winny 73 so chambered and am enamored with it.

Naw not put off by a rather small thing such as making sure to get the correct dies.

Also good news for me is the chambers on the new 3rd gen Colts SAA. This is what I am hoping to land one day.

[Keith H.]

First pistol I probably ever saw with my eyes was an original .38-40 SAA with 7 1/2" barrel. When I was probably 3 years old. Dad would carry it when feeding the cows, because of the panthers.

[ShotgunDave]

First pistol I probably ever saw with my eyes was an original .38-40 SAA with 7 1/2" barrel. When I was probably 3 years old. Dad would carry it when feeding the cows, because of the panthers.

Many a deer and men for that matter, have fallen to the 44-40. My Winchester 66 is in 44-40. It has plenty of power and is a hoot to shoot.

[Hawg]

I don't know if I ever shot a 38-40 but I probably have. Up until I was 11 or 12 dad always had a couple of original Colts he took in for payment and I shot a lot of them. Most of them were .45 Colt but I know I shot at least a couple of 44-40's.