[EagleDreamer]

My father-in-law recently bought a used Uberti revolver. I have only had a chance to glance so far. On the barrel it is marked 44 Mag.

He took it out to shoot and bought a box of 44 Mag. He called me and said when he put the cartridge in the cylinder about 1/2 in was sticking out of the back of the cylinder. So I had him double check to make sure it says 44 Mag and it did.

The guy he got it from said he never fired the gun for whatever reason. Upon further discussion he told me the guy had given him a box of 44-40 shells with the gun. I am not familiar with this cartridge. I am just assuming here, is the projectile of the 44-40 a .40 cal projectile?

I am not quite sure the model of the revolver but in my OUTDATED gun guide it could be an Uberti Cattleman? In my guide there were no 44 mags listed but there was a 44-40. I searched the Internet and found in 2010 they started producing the Cattleman in 44 Mag. The gun is blued with a case hardened frame and wood grips.

Any ideas of what this could be? I also know there will be requests for photos so I will try to get those ASAP.

[JonM]

Its possible its a conversion with the wrong cylinder. For something like this contact uberti with the serial number in question.

[c3shooter]

The OLD system of naming cartridges was the external diameter of the case (and of the bullet- bullets were heel seated, and were same size as the case) for the first number. The second number was the powder charge in grains of black powder. So you had a (nominally) 44 caliber bullet over 40 grains of powder.


This is a link to some info on the 44-40 cartridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.44-40_Winchester

If Uberti does not respond, or if this gun may have been altered since leaving the factory, please have a smith check the gun over- he MAY need to make a Cerro-safe casting of a chamber to be sure.

DO check to see if the gun has been fired- 44 Special can be fired from a 44 mag cylinder- but it builds up some carbon right in front of the shorter case mouth that, if not cleaned, COULD interfere with loading 44 mags.

[EagleDreamer]

Originally Posted by c3shooter

If Uberti does not respond, or if this gun may have been altered since leaving the factory, please have a smith check the gun over- he MAY need to make a Cerro-safe casting of a chamber to be sure.

DO check to see if the gun has been fired- 44 Special can be fired from a 44 mag cylinder- but it builds up some carbon right in front of the shorter case mouth that, if not cleaned, COULD interfere with loading 44 mags.

I did tell him for sure not to try to fire it until we get this figured out.

Thanks for the info on the .44-40 also.

I do plan on contacting Uberti to get their input.

[crossfire]

It might be a dual cylinder gun where the Magnum cylinder is missing. The .44 Mag isn't the most comfortable round to shoot in a handgun and light recoil factory ammo for it didn't exist until fairly recently. Yes, you can shoot .44 Special in a Magnum, but until the cowboy shooters started using that round, .44 Special ammo wasn't that easy to find either. The .44-40 operates at the same pressures as the .45 Colt. The .44-40 bullet used to be .002" smaller in diameter but nearly all use the same bullet as the Magnum now.
When Dirty Harry made the S&W M29 famous, a lot of them wound up back at the dealers because the owners did not care for the recoil.

[HOSSFLY]

Sounds like a convertable with a cylinder missing-
I had a Uberti with both 44 SPECIAL cylinder & a 44-40 cylinder-
Never heard of 44mag / 44-40 convertible- Been quite a while since i fooled with Cowboy guns tho-

[hiwall]

if it was from a convertible you would certainly think that the cylinder would be stamped with the caliber.

[JonM]

markings can vanish from people refinishing or wear if it wasnt a very good stamping

[EagleDreamer]

I went and looked at the gun again last night and the markings are clear as day. It says " S.A. Cal. .44 Mag" on the barrel. Upon further inspection on the CYLINDER it has marked "44/40"

That being said I put a 44 mag in the cylinder just to see and it went in with about 1/4 inch sticking out the back of the cylinder. So I took it out and put in a 44/40 and it went in perfect all the way. I set the 2 cartridges side by side and they appear to be the exact same length, but the 44/40 has a slight taper to it about halfway on the case.

So I am assuming it is a convertible that's just missing the magnum cylinder. Im still going to get it looked at by a pro but do you guys think she is safe to shoot?

[hiwall]

no reason it would not be safe. Let the wife shoot it first though