.44-77 and paper patch?

[Distant Thunder]

I promise I'll start a new thread when I actually have my rifle back from Shiloh.

Just to update those who might want to know.

Kirk and I had agreed to drop the octagon Green Mountain blank and go with a Krieger round blank back in mid December. Kirk ordered the Krieger barrel then.

I briefly touched base with him in mid January and he was still waiting for the barrel.

Two weeks ago I was on the BACO website looking at bullet molds, which I do a lot because I don't seem to have enough molds I can't find that are squirreled away somewhere around here.

I happened to wonder over to the barrels and came across the Krieger round blanks in .438"/.446" and saw they were in stock. Hmmm! So I emailed Kirk to point that out. As my luck always goes, Kirk was away at a gun show.

He called me last week the morning he got back to Shiloh and after checking with Krieger on my back ordered barrel. Krieger had told him it would be at least another 6 weeks before they would be running .44s.

Kirk said that if BACO did actually have a barrel in stock he would work with that. I offered to call BACO and check that they did have the correct barrel blank in stock and if they did I would order it immediately and have them ship it direct to Shiloh if they would do that for me. Kirk agreed.

So I called BACO, they did have that exact blank in stock and would ship it direct to Shiloh. The barrel was delivered to Shiloh last Friday.

Keep in mind that this has been 6 months since Shiloh received my action and the GM barrel I bought back in July!

At least I now have my action and a suitable barrel for Shiloh to work with sitting in a building in Big Timber, MT, finally! What a mess I've made of this project!

I can only hope that Kirk is able and willing to put this rifle in production fairly soon and I think he will.

I am now, after many months, right back where I was in September of last year, but in much better likelihood of having the project actually moving forward. One thing for sure, the weather is likely to much more friendly by the time I see my rifle again. Then again knowing my luck it will still be snowing in June in Wisconsin! Wouldn't be the first time for that!

[Don McDowell]

As long as the weather cooperates to get to Lodi in May I’m good with that

[Hiwall55]

I would have had it shipped to me so I could check dimensions first.
I had GM check every 44 barrel they had in stock last fall and the bore on every one was .436 to .4365.

[Distant Thunder]

Yes, I have talked to Green Mountain and they admit their .44 caliber barrels run on the "tight side" (.436/.445"). While that wouldn't be what I would want given a choice it is not in and of itself a deal breaker.

Krieger barrels are single cut and lapped, that process tends to yield a more uniform and hopefully standard size bore and groove diameter (.438/.446"). I do know that those that have used the GM .44 caliber barrels are happy with them and other calibers too.

Shiloh button rifles their barrel, as does GM, so that process works well. I am a bit confused why GM would produce barrels that are consistently under size? When I emailed GM about their .44 caliber barrels they called me within 15 minutes! So they are at least cognizant of the need to address customer concerns. This was only my second direct contact with GM and I will say they are easy to talk to. I have not had a problems that they needed to take action on so I don't how they are in that area.

I've never had direct contact with Krieger. Their barrels are much used in BPCR and everyone I know of is happy with their product.

If I had this to do all over again I think I may have just gone with the 19-twist Shiloh barrel and made that work for me. I'm sure it would have, but I do believe the 17-twist Krieger will be easier to get good results with as the range increases. I'm happy with my choice, I only wish I had started here 6 months ago.

[Don McDowell]

That 17 twist will definitely allow for a longer bullet than the Shiloh barrels, but I still don't see any problem with that 19 twist when the bullet length is kept at 1.3, providing it's large enough in diameter to start with.
Either way I think you're going to like that 44-77 chamber.

[Distant Thunder]

Don,

I'm still excited about it and looking forward to it. As usual I learn my lessons the hard way. The mistakes I made in getting project going have cost me about a 4 month longer wait is all. Once I have the rifle that won't matter at all. Right now it's a little disappointing is all.

On the plus side, I have just about everything I'll need to start loading and shooting waiting for the rifle and the weather will be better for shooting once it does get here. It's all good.

[Don McDowell]

I think that given the twist in that Kreiger barrel, you might be very pleased with the BACO 434470 bullet cast from 16-1
I know it shoots very well in the Green Mountain barrel this 44-90 st is built into.

[Distant Thunder]

I've got an adjustable mold that should give me plenty of length options within a useable range. I am also working on a mold that will be the same nose shape as my .40 caliber that I gave you a drawing of and maybe some samples. My memory thing don't work so good no more.

That mold will be a nose pour and cast a bullet 1.450" long. I really like that bullet in my .40-65 and I can't see how it wouldn't be a great bullet in the .44-77. With a little luck I'll finish the mold by the end of the week. It will be a 2-diameter design.

This is the .40 caliber bullet, patched and unpatched. The .44 caliber will look the same except the groove diameter section will be much shorter to fit my Shiloh.

   

If it works as good as I hope I'll make a .45 caliber version later this year. That could be a pretty big IF, but I'll know soon if my new setup works or not. It takes me forever to make a mold, I guess I'm just slow! Nobody would be willing to pay for the time I put into these things! The thing is, I really enjoy doing making molds and being able to make my own molds and "tweak" them is one of the keys to the success I've had with paper patch bullets. If I had to buy all the paper patch molds I've tested over the past 12 years or so I'd be eating a lower grade of dog food that's for sure.

[Don McDowell]

Yes that looks to be a good design.
I've often thought about having some one take a shot at enlarging the 40 caliber dual diameter I had Brooks make.
In my mind the base diameter would be .436 and the base of the nose would be .432

[Don McDowell]

Here's my 40 bullet.