A Brief History of .44-40 Winchester

This week we take a brief look at the history of the .44-40 Winchester cartridge, also known as the .44 WCF or .44 Winchester. This cowboy action caliber became the most popular cartridge in the United States, especially among settlers in on the frontier. It remains a popular revolver caliber today, and is used regularly in Cowboy Action Shooting.
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FIREARMS SHOWN
.44-40 Winchester Model 1873 Lever Action Rifle
.44-40 Cimarron Single Action Army 1873 Replica

[@mkshffr4936]

You should gain anywhere from 200-400 fps going from pistol to rifle with the same load. One of the issues to watch for is chamber and barrel dimensions. Original spec is for .427 bullets but many modern guns use the .429 barrels used for .44 Mag/Spl. The manufacturers don't always cut the chambers to match the bore. So you will want to check proper matching and that your pistol matches the rifle.

[@kn6vbw]

The Winchester 1873 is not “the gun that won the west”. That title goes to the 1873 Springfield Trapdoor Carbine, the standard firearm that was in the hands of every soldier on the frontier. The saying that the Winchester won the west came from a marketing campaign, I believe from the early 1900’s. It was just an effort to sell more rifles.

[@richardkut3976]

Grit & Determination Won The West. Take care,

[@BeingFireRetardant]

Land thievery and guile and duplicity 'won' the West, but carbines certainly played a part. All depends on perspective. 9x19mm and 5.7x28mm are the new .44-40 in terms of pistol/carbine combos currently.

[@scvandy3129]

"drmichaelword," Even though the phrase came from the manufacturer's marketing department that does not belittle, negate the fact "The Gun That Won the West" took hold, was accepted for the Winchester 1873. . . . . . . It's said Colt saw an obvious, ready-made campaign and used it as well, for its new Single Action Army .45, also debuting in 1873 when the U.S. Army selected it as its official sidearm. And it immediately became a hit with the civilian market as well, due in large part to ammunition, in part because its central fire application allowed a more potent charge than the .44 rimfire, then in vogue. . You write: " . . . came from a marketing campaign, I believe from the early 1900’s." "Early 1900s"?! Why would Winchester -- or ANY company -- wait A QUARTER OF A CENTURY to introduce a marketing slogan?! [early 1900s minus 1873 = 30 years, approximately). FURTHERMORE, by then the West had been settled, for nearly 15 years. December 1890, southwestern Dakota Territory was time and place of the depressing, shameful, notorious Battle at Wounded Knee -- more like the Army's and their Indian police agents' massacre of more than 200 Indians on the reservation preceded by the murder of their proud leader, Chief Sitting Bull -- is considered the closing of the Wild West, the last gasp of the great, American frontier. "1873 Springfield Trapdoor [single shot] Carbine, caliber .45-70, was in the hands of every soldier on the frontier." Exactly -- the military's choice. By then the public had been exposed to the Henry Repeating Rifle (lever action, 1860) and its successor the Model 1866 in the rather anemic .44 (rimfire) caliber aka .44 Henry. When the more powerful .44 Winchester Central Fire (WCF) [today more commonly known as .44-40] was introduced with the stronger framed Winchester 1873 the public ate it up. [Strangely, and with sometimes dire consequences, e.g., Custer's Last Stand, the Army stuck with its single shot long gun for 20 more years.] A marketing campaign, The Gun That Won the West, would hardly be 'wasted' on the military's choice of weaponry, Springfield Trapdoor, because a government contract guaranteed its purchase and usage. But advertising the Winchester 1873 to the general public as The Gun That Won the West was effective; it resonated with the them. Your declaration: " . . . a marketing campaign . . . early 1900’s. It was just an effort to sell more rifles" results in a response, something like "Duh." OF COURSE, selling more rifles is the hoped for result of ANY firearms' manufacturer's marketing campaign. One of the search engines lists FIVE candidates for The Gun That Won The West: long guns, Spencer (repeating rifle), side-by-side double barrel shotgun and Winchester 1873 rifle and carbine; handguns: Derringer (!) (very small, one or two SHORT-barreled pistol that slips into a vest pocket or lady's purse) and Colt's Single Action Army in .45 Colt. Note, all five are for the civilian market with the exception of .45 Colt which had been developed for the Army and right away law enforcement, general public as well as 'the no-accounts,' 'the bad guys' adopted it as an ideal sidearm. 1873 Springfield Trapdoor Carbine 'The Gun That Won the West' -- I think not.

[@davidgardner863]

I have a 73’ musket and a trapdoor both in excellent original condition. The trapdoor carbine was the Calvary issue and the longer barrel rifle was for the infantry. The Winchester musket was purchased by several foreign countries for their military and also available on the civilian market.

[@Salieri47]

For the algorithm.

[@user-kc8re9ed2s]

......and they are a lot easier to clean when you shoot 'real black powder'.

[@georgelewis7010]

Could everyone stop calling the 45 colt a 45 long colt