38-40 Help Needed ?????

[rbertalotto]

Today I picked up an original 1873 Winchester in 38-40. I know zero about this cartridge so I'll ask a few questions and hopefully the folks here will have a few answers.

#1) Black Powder only?
#2) If folks are shooting smokeless, what powders?
#3) 41 cal, correct. What is a reasonable Lee mold?
#4) Where can I get brass?
#5) Who makes dies for this cartridge?

THANKS!

[Terry Murbach]

1. NO
2. UNIQUE; 5744;[ BUT NOT IN '73's ]
3. .400 TO .4015" IS CORRECT. IT IS NOT NOT A 41 CALIBER BARREL.
4 W-W; STARLINE[ PREFERED ]
5. EVERY DIE COMPANY MAKES 'EM.
6. THE RCBS 38-40 ' COWBOY " DIERS ARE SUPERB.
7. BUY A LEE 38-40 FCD FIRST THING !!!!

[Pete44ru]

.401"/10mm cal

Powders:
TrailBoss - good/bulk
H4227 - 15-16 grs in the 38-40, for an 1873.
RL-7 is a good choice for a full capacity loading in the 38-40, and produces b.p. + velocities at low pressure. 25.8 grs / RL-7 / 13,500CUP under a 180 gr bullet, velocity runs near 1,400 f.p.s.

Some like the Lee 175 TC mold/slug.

Starline sells new brass for $28/100

.

.

[rbertalotto]

Thanks folks

I ordered 200 pieces of brass, wads and a compression die from Track of the Wolf

I ordered a set of Lee dies from Titan Reloading

I ordered a Lyman #401043 mold from Custom Cast Bullets on Ebay.


Now I just need to decide if I'm going to reline the barrel and chamber myself or have someone do it. The price to buy the barrel drill and barrel liner is $200 and I can rent a reamer for $36. Just about the exact same price to have Redman do it. But I can do it in a day, not sure how long a gunsmith would take. I need this rifle in action ASAP for CAS this summer.

I have the lathe and I've rebarreled dozens of rifles so I'm not concerned about being able to do it, I just won't have any need for the drill ($103) once this rifle is done....Sure wish I could rent or borrow a barrel drill.

We'll see

[Don McDowell]

3f (37-40 grs depending on your cases)black powder. Bludot if you reline the barrel
Bullet diameter .401-.403, the rcbs 180 gr is a great bullet
The lee dies are a waste of money, should of got the rcbs or the Hornady...

[RIHMFIRE]

#1) Black Powder only? no
#2) If folks are shooting smokeless, what powders? unique
#3) 41 cal, correct. What is a reasonable Lee mold? bullet dia = .401 slug your barrel
#4) Where can I get brass? I use Starline and get them from Midway
#5) Who makes dies for this cartridge? Lee is what I use...but RCBS, Redding and a couple others

great cartidge...mines an original winchester 92 in the rifle configuration
with a 24" octogon barrel...very, very accurate
top rifle

[rbertalotto]

The lee dies are a waste of money, should of got the rcbs or the Hornady...

Really, how so? In my tests a few years ago using a digital concentricity comparator, the Lee Dies in four different cartridges produced the most concentric ammo of all tested except for Wilson hand dies in 6BR. The Lee bested all comers in the other three flavors. (BTW, The RCBS...Not So Much!) Hornady and Forester created excellent rounds, but not available in some cartridges and much more expensive.

LEE dies are the best bargain going in the reloading world...........Sometimes you do NOT get what you pay for.....

[rbertalotto]

RIHMFIRE.............Beautiful rifles!

[Don McDowell]

Well if you like dies that won't size the neck down far enough to hold a .401 bullet, combined with an expander die that will rumple about every 3rd case mouth, along with a seater die that you can actually see the seating stem rise and fall as the bullet reaches the top of the swing, and those wonderfully craftted pieces of scrap metal won't put enough of a crimp to hold a .401 in the case, then by golly lee's are just the thing you need....

[KirkD]

Up until recently, I had an original '73 38-40. I used smokeless all the time in it. My two loads were:

17.5 grains IMR SR4759 under a 40-180 RCBS plain base bullet for 1,328 fps

17.5 grains of 5744 under the same bullet for 1,331 fps

I used RCBS dies. Really liked them.

The 38-40 is a nice little cartridge. Good for Whitetail deer out to 100 yards.

[Mescalero]

Listen to Don McDowel,
he knows of what he speaks.

[RIHMFIRE]

RIHMFIRE.............Beautiful rifles!

thanks

[cshold]

Don’t hesitate to give BP a try sometime.