45 Colt to John Taylor for "Gender Reassignment Surgery" to a 44-40!

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  • Last Post 26 March 2019
Bryan Austin posted this 23 March 2019

Re-posted with permission of the author.


44-40 Blog

After years of trying to get an 1892 Japchester in 45 Colt to shoot accurately, I gave up. I sent the rifle to John Taylor for "gender reassignment surgery". It is now chambered in 44WCF. To say that I am happy with the quality of his work and the accuracy of the rifle would be a gross understatement. I have shot it on paper and have found a few loads this rifle really likes. I have put enough ammo through the rifle to consider it broken in and am starting load development. The pictured gong target was a complete surprise......
I was fire forming new Starline brass. The load was 6.4gr of Trailboss and my cast 43-220C wheel weight alloy bullets. Easily hitting clay birds on the 50 yard backstop. So just for the heck of it. I raised the tang sight and was hitting clay birds at 100 yards. Well.......the guy with the AR was done pelting the new gong at 200 yards so..... I figured I might be able to hit it at least once. After shooting and raising my tang sight until I was on target I hit the damn thing 10 times in a row, shooting off hand! Oh hell yes! I think this rifle and I are going to be close friends. You can see the small dings from the scoped AR 223 ammo vs the big lead splashes. You can also see that I was getting tired and wobbling. The last shot only about a quarter of a bullet hit the gong.
There were two black rifle enthusiasts behind me talking. When they heard the ding, ding, ding, ding they stopped and watched. I mean, a lever gun? No scope ? No bench rest? 😁
I hope this rifle likes 2400 as much as it likes Trailboss. ~Beldar Ramelsnert‎

 

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delmarskid posted this 24 March 2019

Nice!

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BigMan54 posted this 26 March 2019

Off hand ? 200yrds ? 

Heck I can't even SEE that far anymore.

That's some GOOD shooting. Yep

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

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Dale53 posted this 26 March 2019

SavvyJack,

Isn't it wounderful when a project comes together? Now, you have a VERY useful rifle! You'll probably be MUCH happier down the road with the conversion, too. The .44/40 was designed for a lever gun, for sure. It'll make a dandy deer rifle, too, when loaded appropriately!

Dale53

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Bryan Austin posted this 26 March 2019

 Dale, I wish it were mine but the owner is very happy with it!!  The 44-40 cartridge is a dandy one chambered in the Winchester and Marlins rifles.

I was shooting 265 yard targets yesterday with my Winchester 73' loaded with 7.4gr of Trail Boss. Took me a while to find the target but once I did.... 

?t=262  The Winchester 265 yard shots start at the 4:22 mark in the video. That was the first time I tried 6.4gr of Trail Boss at that distance, especially with open sites.

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LIMPINGJ posted this 26 March 2019

I have a Rossi 92 in 44WCF with a 20 inch barrel that I have been unhappy with the looks of.  The long rifle length forend makes the barrel just look short and fat.  I have been thinking of ordering a Green Mountain octagon barrel, they list one that is 27 inches and sending it to John.  He can make it a half octagon which will shave a little weight and it will look like a twin of my Winchester in 38WCF. 

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