My “Anti-Tactical” .44-40 single-shot, backpack gun just got back from John Taylor. The tiny pre-war H&R .410 and 28-ga. shotgun frame has served as my “Bunny Gun and backpack rifle” platform for about 20 years. The first barrel John Taylor fabricated for me was a .32 S&W Long. I briefly experimented with it being rechambered to .32 H&R Magnum and it is now a .32/.38 Special (Short Blackout Rimmed Rook, aka SBRR) necked down with cutoff .300 AAC Blackout dies.
The next barrel was a .32 ACP, made from an M1 Garand pull-off, 18” long with ten-inch twist. That was wonderful, but after having Andy Evans convert a Remington 580 boltgun to .32 ACP for me, I rechambered the shorty .32 to .32 S&W Long, having a correct rifle throat.
I then added to the Bunny Battery a second small H&R frame, a 28-ga. with deeply pitted barrel obtained from Ric Bowman, which I had John set up first in .38 Special and later added to it a .45 ACP, these all being in in addition to the original .410 barrel, which started life as a 2-1/2” chamber with 26” full choke, and is now a 20” cylinder bore with 3-inch chamber. I was very lucky that the .410 barrel fit OK and functioned well on either frame, because the 28-ga. barrel was too deeply pitted to polish the bore out useably and I really didn't want to get into another shotgun gage, so I let John have the 28-ga. barrel for parts to do a stub-conversion for somebody. How my .410 came to become a cylinder bore goes back to my practice of firing roundballs in it. This worked well until one day I probably got a ball cast of something other than pure pead, which probably ge-hardened one, instead of a dead soft one. Upon firing the gun actually recoiled FORWARDS, the muzzle splitting about 3 inches behind the front bead, at the choke constriction, spreading like the hood of a cobra!
I the best Frank Marshall tradition, the muzzle was lopped off with a tubing cutter, then recrowned with a .50 BMG deburring tool. My buddy Jimbo installed a new bead sight and punched the chamber out to 3 inches. The bore now that all the original choke was gone is a true .427 cylinder from end to end. I felt proud of my self and could well imagine the spirit of Frank Marshal speaking to me using his best Robert Newton impersonation as Long John Silver in Treasure Island saying,
"Aye Laddie, now ye have a proper shot and ball blunderbuss, just the medicine for shooting pelicans or parrots so you can use their guts for fishbait, and dry their flesh for jerky or being filleted into the lifeboat stewpot, 'tis so dandy for repelling any nasty sharks or Spanish pirates which come to close, says I...."
Returning to current reality.....Numrich had brand new, unused Marlin 1894S .44-40 Microgroove 20” barrels in stock. The temptation was simply too great, so I bought one, and sent it to John. He cut off the threads, made and fitted an underlug and extractor, then rechambered the barrel in using the same same reamer he used to clean up my “too tight” Ruger Vaquero, so both of my .44-40 revolvers and now both .44-40 rifles would all interchange ammo.
While John did bush the shotgun firing pin, to avoid piercing primers, the tiny iron action isn't strong enough for a high intensity cartridge like the .44 Magnum, which operates at about 38,000 psi. Factory .44-40s don't exceed 13,700 psi. Handloads suitable for the Winchester 92 and Ruger Vaquero generally don't exceed about 22,000 psi, similar to 3” .410 rounds and the .45 ACP, which we already knew from experience, are happy in this small action.
Another factor favoring the .44-40 chambering over a .44 Magnum was the very light weight of the gun. My project goal was 4 pounds, maybe 2 kilograms as absolute maximum. Having shot a 4-1/2 pound .44 Magnum Cadet Martini, owned by Ken Warner, I had no desire to repeat the experience. The .44-40 made more sense.
We fit TechSights adjustable front and rear post and peep, which resemble the issue sights on the M16A1 rifle. Both practical AND Tactical I reamed the aperture of the short range leg to “ghost ring” and will set up a basic 50 yard, woods, snap shooting zero. Then we will see how much elevation change I get by flipping over to the “long range” leg on the peep, hoping that it is close at 100 yards.
After cutting off the receiver threads and refitting, the finished barrel is 19-1/2” and the gun with sights exactly 4 pounds and is only 34-1/2” long! This is a full 3 pounds lighter than my .44 Magnum levergun Trijicon sight and but cuff holding 8 rounds. The objective is as a backpacking companion to be teamed with my sturdy, fixed sight Ruger 5-1/2” .44-40 Vaquero. Full charge Winchester 92 and Ruger style .44-40 loads give about 950 fps with a 230-grain bullet from the revolver and 1250 fps from a 20 inch rifle. Quite Enough.
Of course, if I choose to carry some other revolver, I have the other handgun-caliber barrels to choose from. The tiny shotgun with .410 barrel combined with ONE handgun- caliber barrel to match whatever handgun I carry is the basic plan. The takedown shotgun package with two barrels and a Ruger revolver together weigh less than my 1894S Marlin lever-action, providing great flexibility and practical 100 yard reach in a compact package! Two guns are always better than one. Being able to choose a shotgun, rifle and a revolver is the dog's bollocks!
Range report to follow soon!
73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia