Blackpowder cartridges in a Rossi 92 / .44 Mag?

[mulegunner]

Has anyone fired black powder cartridges in thier Rossi 92 / .44? If so, how did it do? Im thinking of putting some BP cartridges together in a .44 special or .44 Mag case and see how it does.

[adirondakjack]

As long as you use a proper load and if using real black or Pyrodex, good, soft BP lube, they will do fine. One caveat is you will need to teardown the rifle to clean it. If yer not comfy tearing down a 92, don't do it.

[JReed]

PM OI he loads some up for his 92 in .357 that are a lot of fun to shoot. I want to say he used 4FG powder.

[AJMD429]

How much black powder residue gets in the ACTION vs. just the barrel, when you shoot black powder cartridges...? I don't mind a thorough barrel scrub, but really don't like the thought of disassembly and washing of the 92 innards...

(Of course since I shoot 5744 in my "black powder" Savage muzzleloader, I might just stick to that in my "black powder cartridge" loads... )

[perry owens]

I used a 24in barrelled stainless steel Rossi in 0.44 magnum for two CAS seasons with 3F black powder loads. Recoil was very light but accuracy headed for the hills after 10 rounds. After a years use I stripped it to fit a weaker ejector spring. There was nothing in the action that wasn't supposed to be there. One thing that can happen with thick, straight-walled cases like 0.44 magnum and 0.45 Colt is blow-by that soots up the outside of the cases. This is much less of a problem with .44-40 and .38-40.
Perry Owens

[Old Skirmisher]

Hi guys, after lurking in the shadows I finally signed up. I shoot BP in a Uberti Henry (.44/40) for competition, and in a Marlin .45/70 & .32/20 for hunting. In my experience, only the bore needs cleaning. No BP fouling gets in the 'works'.

[jlchucker]

I've never tried it with my Rossi rifle, but a number of years ago I got to wondering about how BP would work out of my Winnie trapper, so I loaded some up. I used a cast bullet (Lyman 429215), and as I remember, I used real black powder, poured from a flask that I load a revolver for--about 25 grains worth. They grouped well, but shot pretty low at 25 yd. I only tried about 20 or so of these, and never did experiment any further. The gun was not particularly difficult to clean--mostly it was just the bore. So it can safely be done, no question. Since I use WLR large pistol primers (not magnum) for all of my 44 mag loading, that was probably the primer I used. Note that the case for the old 44-40 is fatter, and holds more powder. If I were to get the urge to load a 44 with BP again, I'd get a 44-40--probably a Rossi rifle or carbine, and start from there. I'd hesitate about buying a new Uberti 73 because some posters on these websites have recently been less than happy with their 44-40's, and the Rossi 92's are stronger and much more affordable. I'm not a cowboy shooter.

[John in MS]

Howdy, I'm not sure if you have shot Black Powder through a cartridge arm
before, so thought I'd add this bit of info. The black powder residue will
quickly corrode your empty cases unless you clean them soon after shooting.
Most BPCR shooters will decap them on the range (to let water in the primer pockets)
and put them in a gallon jug of water/BP solvent mix to swish around and soak on
the way home. If you aren't set up to deprime on the range, it should be ok if you
proceed with decapping/further cleaning soon after you get home. Once the BP
residue is out of your cases (may involve scrubbing the interior lightly with a bottle
brush or similar), tumble, and you're good to go again.

Hope this helps!
John

[AJMD429]

Lots of good info for those of us who don't shoot BP cartridge loads. Thanks!

Does case life differ much (presuming you clean as noted above) vs. similar-power smokeless loadings?

[mulegunner]

Thanks for all the replies....I shoot a .50-70 Rolling Block, so I know how to load BP rounds Correct. I do have a concern of the accuracy falling off though. It might be over come by wet patching the barrel after a few rounds to solve that. I did like the observations that most of the "crud" seemed limited to the barrel. Im not sure Im up to the task of totally stripping down a 92 to get all the soot out of the action! Maybe I will just stick to .44 specials for plinking.

[perry owens]

I reduced the accuracy drop-off problem enormously by switching to Big Lube bullets. These have a huge grease groove that you can fill with black powder lubricant. If you just want a trial pack without buying the mould from http://www.biglube.com go to this guy:
http://www.whyteleatherworks.com/Accessory%20page.htm
The bullets didn't quite solve the problem with my original Winchester 1873 in 38-40 because the bore is pitted and fills with fouling. Reluctantly, I switched to 777 for this gun as it appears to burn more cleanly that the real thing.
Perry Owens

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I shoot Black Powder in my 44-40 rifles all the time in CAS. The brass is very thin at the neck with 44-40, only around .007 or so thick, and it obturates very well to seal the chamber. All the fouling stays in the bore. 45 Colt is a little bit trickier, the brass is thicker, around .012 thick, and it does not obturate as well to seal the chamber. Although I don't load 44 Mag with Black Powder, I can tell you it is going to be the same story. The brass runs around .011-.012 thick at the case mouth, and at Black Powder pressures it will not obturate and seal the chamber as well as Smokeless Magnum loads do. You are most likely to get some blowby. The answer is to maximize pressure, to get as good a seal as possible. Fill the case with enough powder so that when the bullet is seated the powder is compressed between 1/16" - 1/8". Do not leave any airspace. Use a good, heavy crimp to retard the bullet leaving the case so pressure will build up a little bit more.

If it wuz me, I would use a heavy bullet, in the vicinity of 240 grains, to maximize pressure. Unfortunately the only 44 caliber Big Lube bullet available is the 200 grain Mav-Dutchman bullet. I use this bullet in my 44-40 loads, and it is great. It will probably serve you well in 44 Mag, but you might get a bit less blowby if you used a heavier bullet. But no other bullet will carry as much bullet lube to keep your fouling soft.

As far as cleaning the cases is concerned, I bring a jug of water with a squirt of dishsoap in it to all my matches. Dumping my brass in the jug at the end of the day is plenty of time to keep the verdigris away. When I get home I rinse them out real good, then let them air dry for a couple of days before tumbling them. No, I do not clean the primer pockets, I just load them up.