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I can’t help it, wish I was good at this stuff…but figured some folks may be interested in seeing some 44-40 history, shooting, hunting, handloading and whatever else we can come up with…videos! I won’t be sharing any of the old videos…but may rerecord some old content if it’s needed. This isn’t cowboy action shooting….I think there is plenty of that already out there.
The channel is more focused on Winchester’s 44 W.C.F. cartridge than any of the actual firearms….but it does take two to tango!! I don’t have any original Winchester 44-40 rifles either, just the Uberti 73′, an original 1889 Marlin and a Marlin 1894CB.
Nothing sophisticated, just basic iphone, Longshot Marksman target video equipment, and maybe a gopro or two…and edited with capcut and youtube software.
website link – Chasing the 44-40 – YouTube Video Links
youtube channel link – Chasing The 44 W.C.F.
Introduction Video…hope to have Season 1, Episode 1 shot, edited and published in a week or two. We’ll start out with 25 to 300 yard targets, scopes and the Uberti 73′. Then we can move into whatever folks say they want in the comments. We can do handloading, pressure testing reviews, history, battle of the little bighorn, battle of the rose bud, hunting….endless opportunities.
I enjoyed it Bryan!
Many of us understand the importance, of the 44-40 cartridge, and it’s development, especially how it ties into the manufacturing, and the beginning of the model 1873 Winchester rifle. To me it helps many of us Winchester collectors, tie a lot more together, as far as the the primer wars, and cartridge development goes, along with the beginning of the center fire cartridge, and improvement from the .44 Henry Flat cartridge, that we all know was used in the Henry rifle, as well as the Winchester model 1866.
The need for a cartridge to withstand the demands of shooters to travel at a longer distance, with a little more oomph, than the .44 Henry Flat, surely helped Oliver Winchester, and others pursue the creation, of the .44 WCF, cartridge, and it’s development.
I think you’ve brought a lot to the table in you’re information, on more than one occasion, as it’s very evident that you have a passion, that is very much appreciated by many of us!
Keep up the great work!
Anthony
November 7, 2015
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Can’t underestimate the importance of the 44WCF for Winchester or cartridges in general, IMHO the only cartridge that comes close is the 30WCF. Some folks would make a case for the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen but this IS the Winchester board.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Can’t underestimate the importance of the 44WCF for Winchester or cartridges in general, IMHO the only cartridge that comes close is the 30WCF. Some folks would make a case for the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen but this IS the Winchester board.
Mike
Put me in the 30-40 Krag camp! 
Winchester was the first to adopt the 30-40 Krag for commercial sales rifles, starting with the Single Shot, and then the Model 1895.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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I’m a fan of the 30 US (and that beautiful Single Shot) but I think the 30WCF was more important to Winchester while the 30 US was a better milestone for cartridge history. Of course, I’m fascinated by most cartridges. I finally scored a copy of “Cartridges of the World” and enjoying it even more than I expected. I won’t admit to reading the chapters about modern cartridges, tho.
Mike
TXGunNut said
I’m a fan of the 30 US (and that beautiful Single Shot) but I think the 30WCF was more important to Winchester while the 30 US was a better milestone for cartridge history. Of course, I’m fascinated by most cartridges. I finally scored a copy of “Cartridges of the World” and enjoying it even more than I expected. I won’t admit to reading the chapters about modern cartridges, tho.
Mike
It interests me how really simple it is….but then again how complex. It was as if the 44-40 was the last, slow fat, cartridge before switching to the new small sleek cartridges.
44 W.C.F., 38-40 – black powder
30-40 Krag, 30 W.C.F, 44 W.H.V., 38 W.H.V., 32-20….and the ever so popular 38-55. Then of course, the 30-06′
That’s a dandy specimen there Bert, and in the T/D version too boot! 
Thanks for sharing!
Anthony
Anthony said
That’s a dandy specimen there Bert, and in the T/D version too boot!Thanks for sharing!
Anthony
It is definitely one of my nicer Single Shot rifles. It sat in the warehouse for nearly 10-years before it sold. Per the factory records, it was serialized in 1907, received in the warehouse in 1909, and it did not ship (sell) until 1919.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Can’t help but wonder about those R&R entries, Bert. Fascinating.
Mike
November 7, 2015
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Bryan Austin said
TXGunNut said
I’m a fan of the 30 US (and that beautiful Single Shot) but I think the 30WCF was more important to Winchester while the 30 US was a better milestone for cartridge history. Of course, I’m fascinated by most cartridges. I finally scored a copy of “Cartridges of the World” and enjoying it even more than I expected. I won’t admit to reading the chapters about modern cartridges, tho.
Mike
It interests me how really simple it is….but then again how complex. It was as if the 44-40 was the last, slow fat, cartridge before switching to the new small sleek cartridges.
44 W.C.F., 38-40 – black powder
30-40 Krag, 30 W.C.F, 44 W.H.V., 38 W.H.V., 32-20….and the ever so popular 38-55. Then of course, the 30-06′
Definitely some significant milestones in about 50 years. Can’t imagine a more interesting time period in the history of firearm or cartridge development. I think the 44WCF is where it all started to come together but I could understand arguments for other cartridges.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Can’t help but wonder about those R&R entries, Bert. Fascinating.
Mike
The sights on the rifle are not listed in the ledge record, but were very likely installed during the first R&R. The front sight is a Lyman No. 5B Combination and the rear sight is a Lyman No. 103 Micrometer Wind gauge. There was never a barrel mounted rear sight as there is absolutely zero wear near the dovetail slot or behind it.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Looking forward to future episodes, Bryan. My interest in the 44WCF is purely historical, I don’t own anything chambered for the cartridge. As discussed in the primer threads the 44WCF can be used to illustrate the evolution from the rimfire 44 Henry flat to modern centerfire ammunition. The firearms chambered for the 44WCF are interesting parts of the story.
Mike
Thanks, just got home and uploaded the first video. It is just an instruction video showing my ugly face and hearing my redneck voice! It shows the land I venture…and some past hunting snippets.
Should be public by 1:30pm
I hope to get some good target shooting clips this weekend
Bert H. said
TXGunNut said
Can’t underestimate the importance of the 44WCF for Winchester or cartridges in general, IMHO the only cartridge that comes close is the 30WCF. Some folks would make a case for the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen but this IS the Winchester board.
Mike
Put me in the 30-40 Krag camp!
Winchester was the first to adopt the 30-40 Krag for commercial sales rifles, starting with the Single Shot, and then the Model 1895.
Bert
The Texas Rangers, as a group, were pretty quick to adopt the latest advancements in weaponry. As the .30 WCF and .30-40 became available, a lot of Winchester and Marlin rifles and carbines chambered in 44 Winchester got traded at Petmecky’s gun store in Austin, for Winchester 1894 and 1895 replacements.
In those days, the State of Texas did not buy a Ranger his hardware; he had to fund those new repeaters out of his own, dusty pocket.
However, for a Ranger slow-trailing a herd of cattle stolen by comancheros through treeless West Texas where the horizons are long, an 1895 carbine and a supply of long-reaching .30 Army cartridges must have seemed like an uncommonly good idea and well worth the cost.
[Later on, when the Springfield 1903, 1927 Thompson, and the Colt Monitor came into existence, they were not completely ignored either.]
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Zebulon said
Bert H. said
TXGunNut said
Can’t underestimate the importance of the 44WCF for Winchester or cartridges in general, IMHO the only cartridge that comes close is the 30WCF. Some folks would make a case for the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen but this IS the Winchester board.
Mike
Put me in the 30-40 Krag camp!
Winchester was the first to adopt the 30-40 Krag for commercial sales rifles, starting with the Single Shot, and then the Model 1895.
Bert
, an 1895 carbine and a supply of long-reaching .30 Army cartridges must have seemed like an uncommonly good idea and well worth the cost.
I can only imagine they were then like we are now….I CAN NEVER AFFORD THE GOOD STUFF! 🙂
The difference was their lives often depended on their hardware. We don’t think of the Krag as a long range cartridge but it sure was, compared to the pistol cartridge carbines of the day.
I’m not prejudiced and the 44 WCF wasn’t– still isn’t — a pop gun, but a good marksman lying prone in the desert with either of the Winchester or Krag smokeless thirty caliber rifles rested on anything handy, would be deadly dangerous to a standing or mounted foe at 300 yards. That’s a game changer worth sacrificing maybe a year’s worth of third whiskeys and several hours entertainment at Madam Fifi’s place.
We’re not talking about ethical high lung shots at a meat animal. 170 to 200 grains of softnose lead still carrying over a thousand foot pounds of energy to the bread basket, cojones, or a knee would solve the problem, suddenly or eventually.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Zebulon said
Bert H. said
TXGunNut said
Can’t underestimate the importance of the 44WCF for Winchester or cartridges in general, IMHO the only cartridge that comes close is the 30WCF. Some folks would make a case for the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen but this IS the Winchester board.
Mike
Put me in the 30-40 Krag camp!
Winchester was the first to adopt the 30-40 Krag for commercial sales rifles, starting with the Single Shot, and then the Model 1895.
Bert
The Texas Rangers, as a group, were pretty quick to adopt the latest advancements in weaponry. As the .30 WCF and .30-40 became available, a lot of Winchester and Marlin rifles and carbines chambered in 44 Winchester got traded at Petmecky’s gun store in Austin, for Winchester 1894 and 1895 replacements.
Zebulon, I have a Colt SAA that was shipped to J. C. Petmecky in 1890.
The Military replaced the 45-70 Trapdoors with the Krag cartridge on 1-1-1894. The rifles were built at the Springfield Armory. These Model 1892’s made a huge step into the latest technologies of the day.
November 7, 2015
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I don’t mean to disparage the 30US, I feel it was an important transition from the early BP hyphenated cartridges I like to the modern smokeless cartridges, much like the 30WCF. In fact, the 30US is a current project for me. I just want to applaud and encourage Bryan for giving the 44WCF its due. I have a lot of fun with some of the early WCF cartridges and even dabble a bit with the 45 Colt, 45-70 and 45-90. Who knows, a nice enough 1873 or 1892 in 44WCF might follow me home someday and help me overcome my apparent prejudice against this cartridge.
Mike
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