44-40 vaquero chamber throats

[beginner]

hello
I just bought 2 vaqueros in 44-40. they are s.s. one made in 1995 and the other in 2000. the one made in 1995 has throat dia. measure .425 with barrel grove dia. of .429. the other one is fine with throat dia. of .430 barrel grove dia. .429. did chamber casting of both and they are the same size. I shot the one with .430 throat using .430 cast 200gr. bullet and 20gr. of 2f black powder and it shot fine no leading.
my question is who reams out these cylinders? I know I could rent a reamer but from what I can tell they start with a .427 pilot. I have read where Ruger does not work on these they stopped making them.
The other question is should the throat be opened up to .432 on both cylinders and go with a .431 bullet? The .430 bullets I am using will not go through the .430 throats without forcing them but they do not lead.
thanks
Bill

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
We have 2 guys,,, BOTH very, very good at this. Both are members of this Forum!

2 Dogs
DougGuy

Either gentleman can help, their prices are very reasonable, and I've never seen any complaints about their work.

 

[DougGuy]

I can ream and hone the throats to accept a .430" bullet with a light drag fit. Most members seeking to have a problem solved usually send a PM which can be replied to with shipping info, pricing, etc..... The problem with the 44-40 is once you get a larger bullet fitted into the case, it won't chamber because of the case neck being too big to go into the chamber fully. Usually it requires two reaming operations to get the 44-40 to use .431" bullets, you ream the throats to .4315" and then you need to ream the chamber necks to accept the OD of the case with the .431" bullet seated in there. This effectively "cures" the 44-40 of the mis-fitting size for the modern 44 magnum barrel which Ruger uses for this caliber. Some throats are .425" some are .427" but most are .425" and I have a special pilot I use for these when I ream them to .4315" for use with .431" bullets.

 

[DougGuy]

It is also possible to ream the throats to .4315", and you use whatever the largest size bullet you can get into the case and still have it chamber, which may be a .430" and if you are using a soft enough alloy which I DO recommend, it will obturate upon firing and fill the .4315" throat without having to ream the chamber necks. Provided you are loading with enough of a charge to make decent enough pressure to "bump" up the bullets as they are fired. This way you can effectively deliver a .431" bullet to your .429" barrel and it will shoot accurately and won't lead the barrel. I like an alloy no harder than BHN 14, and generally prefer 12, soft enough to scratch with a thumbnail, and I prefer soft lube as well. This will work great for your 44-40.

 

[powder smoke]

The trouble with Ruger's 44 40 revolvers they use .429 barrels 44 40 uses a
427 bullet. I have had a couple and traded them away accuracy suffers big time. ps

 

[Johnnu2]

I had DougGuy do my .30Carbine cylinder and couldn't be happier with the results, price and super quick turnaround time....

 

[beginner]

I called Ruger today and they told me send the cylinder with .425 .throats to them and they would ream to .430. So i sent it to them. Thanks for all your help
Bill

 

[DougGuy]

I called Ruger today and they told me send the cylinder with .425 .throats to them and they would ream to .430. So i sent it to them. Thanks for all your help
Bill

That's a new one on me! First I have heard of them offering to address cylinder throats.. Good for Ruger!

 

[beginner]

Got my cylinder back today from Ruger May 26th just over a week including shipping both ways Throat Mic out at 431. Ruger came through