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+---- Forum: Paper Patch (http://historicshooting.com/forum-41.html)
+---- Thread: .44-77 PP bullets. (/thread-2971.html)
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Gunlaker - 04-18-2020
Jim, I've used dry felt wads a little in my .45-2.4" PP rifle, and almost always in my Shiloh .45-2-7/8". In both cases I simply copied Kenny Wasserburger's wad stack which is a veg wad, an LDPE wad, and a 1/8" dry felt wad. It's never caused me any problems with cases. It might be worth another try if you want to do some experimenting.
Chris.
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Distant Thunder - 04-19-2020
Chris,
My plan is first and foremost is to have fun and enjoy the crap out of the .44-77. To do that will include a lot of experimenting. This all assumes that I can get some fairly good accuracy out of a bottleneck case and I'm sure I will.
Beyond the obvious challenges of BPCR shooting, which have held my interest for these many years, I have especially enjoyed the challenges the sport offers the experimentally mined person like myself. I think that is a need that is perfectly filled by the .44-77 and paper patch bullets.
The .44-77 is a cartridge not seen in great numbers today and even the caliber is not that widely used when compared to the .40s and .45s. Being a truly obsolete cartridge with no SAAMI specs makes just getting good usable brass more of a challenge than many of the other cartridges of the 1800s.
BPCR has progressed enough at this time that all of the accoutrements for the .44-77 can be obtained, even if at greater expense. The fact is that the COOLNESS rating of the .44-77, especially when loaded with a paper patch bullet and chambered in a 1874 Sharps, is unequalled and will help make any added cost worth while.
[attachment=1714]
The extra cost part is largely behind me now and my thoughts are more toward what I hope to accomplish with this rifle/cartridge once I have it. At somewhat more expenses and unquestionably more wait time I opted to go with a Krieger 17-twist barrel and have Shiloh do the work. The reason I chose to go with a 17-twist over Shiloh’s 19-twist is to have a better chance of realizing the FULL potential of this great cartridge. I chose Shiloh to do the work because I believe their standard .44-77 chamber the best readily available and will be key in achieving my goals.
With the 17-twsit barrel on my 1874 Shiloh I should be able to get very good accuracy out of PP bullets from 450 grains ( and maybe lighter) to 530 grains or a bit more and that will cover a very wide range of BPCR sports. These will include, I hope, silhouette and mid-range as well as Creedmoor and even hunting under all conditions likely to be encountered. If I am successful I will have something that has always been of interest to me and that is one rifle/cartridge that can do it all well.
Yes, there are other cartridges and rifles that can be used to “do it all” with PP bullets but to my thinking none would stand out from the crowd like an 1874 Sharps in .44-77 with a paper patch bullet! Others can argue for whatever cartridge or rifle or bullet they want but I think most shooters will have to admit that nothing speaks of the big bore single shoot rifles of the 1870s like an 1874 Sharps rifle shooting a .44-77 loaded with paper patch bullets. That’s just my opinion.
For me it was the 1874 Sharps and paper patch bullets that was the main draw that brought me to BPCR in the beginning. It didn’t take long and I noticed how really cool the .44-77 and a paper patch bullet was compared to all the others. In 1981 I remember reading an article in Guns & Ammo by Elmer Keith in which he mentioned his .44-77-470 Sharps and hunting with it for everything that could be hunted in Montana. Now Elmer loved the 3 ¼” cases and made no secret of it, but I was drawn to the earlier cartridges, the .50-70 and the .44-77.
My 1874 in .50-70 has been an excellent hunting rifle for me, but is somewhat limited in it’s usefulness as a target rifle in my experience. I hope to soon see just what a .44-77 can do for me in the field and on the range. Yes, I plan to experiment, a lot!
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Don McDowell - 04-19-2020
Jim I have no doubt but what you will be very pleased with what you can make that 44 do when you get it. I also think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to get it to preform well.
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Kurt - 04-19-2020
May first large bore cartridge rifle was a roller chambered in the .43 Spanish. it was a fine shooter till I rung the chamber, actually split it from shoer loading it. A skinny kid I was at 15 I wanted to reduce the recoil with the sifted out blasting powder we kept out in the machine shed for blowing stumps and splitting large Maple logs so we could handle them for cutting firewood. I even had a 40 bn at one time but it never shot as well as the 43.
Now I have several .44's straight's and two .44-90 BN's and two .44-77's
Kelly Roos shot the .44 70 Maynard and I don't remember who it was that shot a .44-77 and both done well at the matches using them.
Using the 17 twist is a good move with the .44-77 as well as the larger brother .44-90bn. I have them in the 16 twist, 17 and 19. I favor the 17 because like you said Jim, the selection of bullets. The 16 twist gets a little more temperamental for some reason then the 17 and 19.
I'm looking for a 30 finish 17 twist .438/.446 barrel now for another .44-75 ballard on a 85 action. Then I think my arsenal will be complete again.
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Distant Thunder - 04-19-2020
Well it looks like according to the two biggest enablers around here that I'm going to need a second .44-77! And just so you guys can sleep well at night you should know I've already been looking at the options. Not saying that it's going to happen, but I am looking. How would it look if I'm the only one without at least two .44s in my safe? What would people think of me? I'd have to stay home and away from other people and wear a mask! Oh wait, I have to do that already!
Still, I think it's best to let the dust settle on this first .44-77 before I get all carried away. Not that it would be the first time I did such a thing.
Heck who knows that Krieger barrel may end up a garden stake before the summer is over. That is of course if the governor will let us plant things in the backyard ever again!
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Don McDowell - 04-19-2020
44's are sorta like Lay's potato chips you can't have just one..
I'm tossing around the idea of a 44-70 st..Just not sure what I'ld do with it.
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - J.B. - 04-19-2020
Fear not Jim... I only have one 44 in my safe
.. ... But then I do have another 44 in a safe in the U.S. ..so that probably doesn't help my argument. 
... Kurt ... did you really say your arsenal would be complete.. again ? I didn't think a complete arsenal was 'a thing'
. Seriously Jim... I can't see you being disappointed in the 44 x 2 1/4". Pleasant to shoot and has good manners. I haven't had the opportunity to shoot silhouette much at all and loved it when I did. My first and last match was with the 44. 76 x Swiss 1.5, card wad, 485 gn Brooks gg ( sorry ) and I managed a 21. Was probably beginners luck but it was fun getting it all the same.
J.B.
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Gunlaker - 04-20-2020
Jim, I'd love to have a .44-77 too and I'd do it just like you are. My only problem is that I'm in Canada and all of the special stuff costs way more to get it here. That's why I've stuck with the more commonly available cartridges. But the .44-77 just looks cool :-)
Chris.
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Kurt - 04-20-2020
I wonder if Jamison still have their tooling for brass or if they sold it. And if they sold it who picked it up?
RE: .44-77 PP bullets. - Don McDowell - 04-20-2020
All their equipment was auctioned off, where it went is the question.
My best guess is that Mead in Nebraska got it, but I don't know for sure.