video - 44-40 @ 300 meters - steel javelina

[w30wcf]

One of my very favorite things to do is to shoot my 44-40's at extended distances. ;D

Back in 1875, Winchester claimed that their 1873 Winchester was effective and accurate out to 500-600 yards and based on what I have witnessed, they were definitely speaking from experience.

Below is a link to a video I took recently with my camera (I need to get a good movie camera....perhaps for christmas) at Ridgway Rifle club located in Ridgway, PA. My apologies for the background noise which was due to the wind.

TARGETS....
The steel javelina targets are in the second group out. They stand 300 meters (327 yards) distant from the muzzle. They are 9" high x 22" long.....a bit thin on elevation but good on windage.



close up….


AMMUNITION....
Ammunition was handloaded to replicate the early 44-40 factory black powder ammunition which developed 1,300 f.p.s. Powder used was SWISS FFG pushing a copy of the original 2 groove bullet...the Ideal / Lyman 427098.

STATS .... bullet flight time - .94 sec / impact velocity: 800 f.p.s. Rifle shot from a rest.

The 44-40 / ammo combo did a great job....especially in the conditions that day! ;D ;D

Here's the video. I was shooting at bank 7. Go to full screen to get the correct view (left click bottom right in the movie frame / ESC to return). Again, my apologies for the wind noise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbxvlQUkQfU

What fun!

w30wcf

[gamekeeper]

That's good shootin' especially with that wind..

[Washita]

That is some mighty fine shootin'! It looked like you were single loading--what kind of rifle were you using? Tang sight, I presume? Bullet weight?

I'm not a BP Silh. shooter, wouldn't have thought a .44-40 would reliably take down pigs at 300 meters. Shows how wrong I can be!

[BornNWrngCent1]

You really have that rifle dialed in.....The video I enjoyed thoroughly...Only way it could be better is a second camera at or very near the set up of steel pigs, showing them being impacted down ....Way kewl

[kimwcook]

Now that's a shooting iron. Good job. I too would like to know what rifle, Winchester, Uberti, etc... And, what type sights. I assume you have a tang rear. I saw the post front from the video. Really good shooting.

[Bill in Oregon]

That's some very fine shooting indeed. More details on your rifle please.

[Pitchy]

I love videos, great shootin thanks for sharing.

[Cimarron Red]

Great stuff, John. It's great to see the range again!

[KirkD]

Outstanding! I love stuff like this, and I especially like to see it done with an old venerable cartridge like the 44 WCF. Thanks for posting.

[Griff]

Excellent!

[Nath]

Brilliant shooting friend

What happened to trans supersonic bullet upset then!

I would be glad to shoot like that at half the distance!

Nath.

[gundownunder]

Good shootin'. The bullets must still be moving along pretty well when they hit, you can hear the clang even above the sound of the wind.

[AJMD429]

Great shooting.

What are the targets 'way out there' past the first four rows, up on another hillside...?

[1894c]

That was very coool--I thought your video was fine, noise and all--thank you for sharing.

[Cimarron Red]

AJMD429,

The large white target with a black circle is the steel buffalo. It's at 1000 yards but from a slightly different firing line than John was shooting from. At the closer firing line I believe it's 950 yards. I'm not sure what the others are as I haven't been to Ridgway for some time. There used to be a variety of other targets including bowling pins and bowling balls from about 700 yards out to the buffalo, many intended for scope shooters.

[w30wcf]

Cimmaron Red,
Thank you for answering the question. That pic was taken at the 2008 Nationals, since then they have added long range targets and are having long range benchrest silhouette matches..... 10 shots at each distance.
850 yards - crows
900 yards - woodchucks
950 yards - bobcats
1000 yards - coyotes howling

Current record is 34x40 that was just set the last match of this year.
Match results can be seen at the club website http://www.ridgwayrifleclub.com

Here's a pic I took at the jubilee a few weeks ago that shows the added long range course.


Steve was shooting at the 900 yard bobcats offhand just for the fun of it and after several shots actually knocked one down using his 30-30 and a 180 gr cast bullet!

a closeup of the 950 & 1000 yard targets


w30wcf

[w30wcf]

Fellow levergun enthusiasts,
Thank you for the kind words. The rifle I used is a Marlin Cowboy Ltd 44-40 (3rd rifle from the left).


Normally, I use the receiver sight at 300 meters, and in good lighting conditions, the javelina pretty much don't stand a chance when shot from a rest, but on this occasion, though, I had a 4X scope mounted for the purpose of testing a new black powder bullet that I had designed to run for many shots with any black powder in a repeating rifle. Accurate Molds made the 43-215C mold which is shown next to the 427098 which works great with Swiss for many shots in a repeating rifle, but not with other b.p.'s (Goex, Schuetzen, Diamondback) which will "foul out" (hard ring of fouling extending from the muzzle back into the barrel)in less than 15 rounds, with accuracy going downhill after that.



Previously, testing of the 43-215C out to 200 yards indicated that it runs well for 50+ shots with Goex with good accuracy. It did well at 300 meters on the javelina swingers and seemed to shoot almost as well as the 427098 / Swiss combination. I was out of cartrdges loaded with the 43-215C / Goex when I decided to try the javelina with the remaining 427098 / Swiss cartridges I had left.

w30wcf

[Rube Burrows]

Great shooting and super nice thread and info. Thanks for taking the time.

Also, I subscribed to your channel....you know....just in case you decide to post some more.

[Ysabel Kid]

Very cool!