Vintage 38 WCF & 44 WCF

According to Cartridges of the World (14th ed.), the 44 Winchester Center Fire Cartridge was introduced as the original chambering for the Winchester Model 1873 rifle. The 38 Winchester Center Fire Cartridge was introduced in 1874, based on the 44 WCF necked down to take a .401 diameter bullet. Colt began chambering these cartridges in their Model 1873 revolver around 1878.¹ These two cartridges in various forms have been chambered in a wide variety of rifles, carbines, revolvers and shotguns.

These two cases have been given a number of different names by different makers to differentiate their product from other makers or emphasize minor differences in loading. The more common variant names are 44-40 and 38-40 Winchester and Marlin, as well as 38 and 44 Colt Lightning Magazine Rifle. They have been loaded with solid lead, hollow-point lead and jacketed projectiles, as well as roundball, shot and blank loads. Marble Arms brought out a combination over/under pistol with a detachable stock called “The Game Getter” in 1908. The upper barrel in this gun was a smooth bore, chambered for the 44 WCF case. This led to 44 WCF variations known as the “44 Game Getter” cartridge, loaded with both roundball and shot.² There is also a 44 WCF variant with a longer neck variously known as the 44XL, 44XL Shot and 44-40 Extra Long.

The more or less “standard load” for the 44 WCF was a 200-grain, solid lead bullet with 40 grains of black powder. The typical load for the 38 WCF was either 38 or 40 grains of black powder with a 180-grain bullet. There were a number of loads other than these two to be found in the contemporary ammunition catalogs prior to World War II. There were reduced powder loads with standard weight bullets and “express” loads with the standard powder charge and a lighter bullet, presumably to increase velocity. Both standard and express loads are sometimes found with lead hollow-point bullets. The only loads left in production currently are the low-pressure smokeless loads with jacketed bullets. In order to investigate the performance of the discontinued black powder loads and early smokeless ammunition it was necessary to recreate them by handloading.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, black powder, smokeless and semi-smokeless propellants were used in factory loads and hand loads. Generally in that era, FFg granulation was recommended by the reloading manuals for these cartridges. Factory loads in the catalogs were also listed as loaded with semi-smokeless powder including King’s Semi-Smokeless, Lesmok and Nublend.

Nublend is listed in the 1925 Western Ammunition Retail Catalog and is shown loaded in the 38 WCF, 44-40 Winchester & Marlin, the 44 Game Getter and the 44 XL shot cartridges in place of black powder. It was described as, “developed to fill the demand for an explosive combining the accurate qualities of black, and the cleanliness of smokeless powder. Nublend is of exceptional power and the fouling left in the gun is negligible.”³ Based on the description of Nublend powder, it’s some sort of semi-smokeless, or possibly a bulk smokeless, but no other information was available. 

King’s Semi-Smokeless is generally believed to be black powder incorporated with 20 percent nitrocellulose of 11.5 percent nitration, and was manufactured on black powder machinery, as well as being glazed and offered in the same granulations as black powder.⁴ Lesmok was manufactured by DuPont and contained charcoal with around 10 to 20 percent nitrocellulose.⁵ The Peter’s 1925 Catalog shows cartridges formally loaded with black powder now loaded with King’s Semi-Smokeless.⁶ The 1911-12 Remington-UMC Catalog shows both the 38 WCF and 44 WCF loaded with Lesmok (as well as black powder) and utilizing the standard weight 180 and 200-grain solid lead bullets.⁷ The primary impetus for semi-smokeless propellant was reduced fouling (sometimes with a modest increase in velocity) and being able to load bulk for bulk using black powder measures. 

Factory catalogs often give the weight of black powder used in the factory load, but don’t specify the granulation or a particular make and type of black powder. The same is found for semi-smokeless, though they will usually list the make of powder. Whelen (1918), Mattern (1926) and Hatcher (1935) all recommended FFg black powder for loading the 38 and 44 WCF cartridges. Smokeless factory loads were also listed by all three authors using the Sharpshooter powder. Sharpshooter was a double-base powder originally produced by Laflin & Rand in 1897, and later produced by DuPont after it acquired Laflin & Rand, and then by Hercules after the “Powder Trust” was broken up. Sharpshooter powder was discontinued in 1948. It consisted of perforated discs with 40 percent nitroglycerin. It is stated by Neuschaefer (2007) to have a burn speed between modern Blue Dot and modern 2400.⁸ Venturino (1999) shows the use of Accurate 5744 in the 38 WCF and 44 WCF rifles.⁹ He does not, however, list 5744 among the smokeless propellants in Shooting Colt Single Actions (1995). The implication is that he didn’t consider 5744 suitable for use in revolvers.

It was desired to recreate the standard, reduced, and express black powder loads to explore their qualities, as well as low pressure smokeless loads similar to those available with lead bullets prior to World War II, in order to compare them to their black powder equivalents. The intention was to use propellants that were in use during the time frame under consideration. However, a number of propellants available then are no longer in production; Bullseye and Unique still are. Sharpshooter is long gone and Alliant 2400 is probably the most comparable current propellant. Semi-smokeless powder disappeared during World War II and is no long available. Black Horn 209 (BH209) is currently available as a black-powder substitute, and while not a semi-smokeless, it serves the same niche today as semi-smokeless did, producing similar velocities with significantly less fouling when loaded by bulk.¹⁰ 

The test rifles were an Uberti Low Wall rifle in 38 WCF with a 30-inch barrel and a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited in 44 WCF with a 24-inch barrel. The revolvers were a Cimarron/Uberti Single Action Army in 38 WCF and an Uberti Remington-type 1875 in 44 WCF, both with 7½-inch barrels. The shotgun was a Stevens single barrel tip-up with a patent date of 1913, and a 26-inch barrel. The top of the barrel is marked “44 SHOT.” When running a cleaning patch through the bore, it has a noticeable choke. The nominal bore diameter for the 44 Shot cartridge is .425 inch. The inside muzzle diameter of the shotgun, measured with a dial caliper, is .418 inch, indicating a probable choke constriction of .007 inch.

The tests were restricted to the use of lead bullets; solid, hollow-pointed or hollow-based as well as the roundballs and shot used the Game Getter cartridges. The purpose of the tests was primarily to see if the express loads were of any advantage over the standard loads in either velocity or trajectory over the effective range of the rifles, which is taken to be around 200 yards. Secondly, it was desired to find out if the hollow-point bullets added to any significant degree to the terminal effects in either rifle or revolver. Third, to see what the recoil reduction is between the 40 and the 28-grain black powder loads and fourth, to determine what the effective range of the 44 Game Getter roundball and shot cartridge was. Starline cases were used for both 38 and 44 WCF loads. Primers were Large Pistol of varying makes based on what was available. The 40-grain black powder loads required the use of a compression die to fit it into the case. The 135-grain .38 and 200-grain .44 bullets were “pentagon” hollow-points from Hunters Supply.

Creating Shot and Roundball Cartridges

I could not find any firm data as to how much shot was used in the shot cartridges. The best estimation was between ¼ to 3⁄8 ounce (around 110 grains to 164 grains). Black powder takes up enough room in the case to make some sort of shot container necessary. The Speer 44 shot capsule #8782 was used. With smokeless, sufficient space is available to allow the shot charge to be contained within the case. Starline 44-40 cases were used for the 44 Game Getter cartridges and Starline “5 in 1” blank cases were used for the 44 XL shot cartridges. The Doppler radar chronograph I was using would not track the shot loads, so I have no velocity data for them.

Comparing the published dimensions of the 44 XL case with the “5 in 1” blank case, it appears that the blank case is very similar to the 44 XL case. The other is that the case mouth is small enough to enter a 38 WCF chamber. To create 44 XL cases, they were first expanded with a 44 Magnum neck expanding die and then full-length sized in a 44 WCF size die. The other notable difference is the enlarged primer flash hole in the blank case, which is to prevent the primer from backing out when fired as a blank. This needs to be considered when working up the propellant charge for shot. Having no data, and using around 175 grains of shot (No. 8 or No. 9) with card wads, I carefully worked up charges with Bullseye; five grains in the 44 Game Getter and 5.2 grains in the 44 XL. Waters fiber wads were used. A .44 x .060 wad was inserted sideways in the neck and pushed down below the neck then righted and pushed down on top of the propellant as an over powder wad. In some loads a Thompson pre-lubed felt wad was used as a cushion wad over the over-powder wad. Shot was inserted and a fiber wad (.030) was used as an over-shot wad and gently roll-crimped. When the Speer capsule was used, the case was not neck expanded and the capsule was seated by hand down on the powder and given a modest Lee factory crimp to hold it in place during handling.

Pure lead .433 roundballs from Speer were used for the Game Getter roundball loads. These were lubricated with Lee Liquid Alox and pushed through a Lee .430 sizing die and then re-lubricated. This produces an equatorial belt around the ball. The ball was seated with thumb pressure to the belt and then roll-crimped. Some loads used a Thompson 45-44 pre-lubricated felt wad to help with fouling from black powder. This wad was not used with smokeless.

Performance

GOEX black powder was used, except as noted in the tables. One surprise is that Swiss FFg is considerably more energetic than GOEX FFg per unit of mass, based on the muzzle energy per grain weight of propellant. In the 44 WCF with a 24-inch barrel, a 165-grain bullet and 40 grains of Swiss, the efficiency was 21.56 FP/grain, with a 160-grain bullet and 40 grains of GOEX the efficiency was 14.51 FP/grain. With GOEX the efficiency of the 38 WCF was slightly higher than the 44 WCF in both the rifle and revolver, the same powder charge producing somewhat higher velocities in the 38 WCF. Some of this in the rifle could be attributed to the longer (30-inch vs. 24-inch) barrel of the 38 WCF, but the same difference was noted with the revolvers. This difference was attributed to having the same mass of propellant gas fill up a larger volume of barrel in the 44 WCF versus the 38 WCF, resulting in a lower mean effective pressure during the barrel dwell of the projectile.

Calculating the muzzle impulse of the 40-grain and 28-grain black powder loads shows a recoil reduction of 28 percent in the 38 WCF and 29 percent in the 44 WCF. With single action revolvers in the 2.5 to 2.75-pound range, my experience is that when the muzzle impulse is around 1 pound/second or higher the felt recoil becomes uncomfortable or even painful at higher levels. The 40-grain load in the 38 WCF produced a muzzle impulse of 1.04 pound/seconds, while the 28-grain load had a muzzle impulse of 0.75 pound/seconds. In the 44 WCF these figures are 1.01 and 0.72 pound/seconds. I think the primary purpose of the reduced black powder loads was to reduce recoil in revolvers to a level most people were comfortable with. Reduced loads were common in the 45 Colt for this very reason. A secondary purpose for these reduced loads would be small game hunting use with the rifles. 

Sharpe (1948) noted that the 38 WCF and 44 WCF were “dual use” cartridges as they were used in both revolvers and rifles. As a result, the smokeless powder loads needed to be adapted for use in one or the other.¹¹ I found this to be generally true, with Bullseye and Unique performing better in the revolver than 2400 or 5744. The 2400 gave good performance in the rifle, but mediocre performance in the revolver, leaving many unburned granules of powder. The 5744 in both rifle and pistol left considerable un-burnt powder. I do not recommend 5744 in either a rifle or revolver but Unique performed credibly in both. If I were to load cartridges for dual use, Unique would be my choice. Black Horn 209 performed well in both rifle and revolver and is also a good choice for dual use.

Terminal Effectiveness

To determine if the hollow-point bullets in the 38 WCF and 44 WCF were worth the effort, testing was conducted using two-liter plastic bottles full of water. The rifles were tested at 20 yards and the revolvers were tested at seven yards. It would have been preferable to be able to quantitatively test the results, but I had no means to do so. Instead, the degree of disruption of the two-liter bottles was judged to be proportional to the amount of energy transfer. It is no surprise that the hollow-points did more damage. The solid bullets produced a round entrance hole and a slightly split exit hole. The hollow-point bullets blew the bottles almost in half. The effect was more noticeable with the rifles but was still there with the revolvers. The roundballs when fired from the shotgun at 20 yards did considerable damage to the bottles, better than the solid bullets, but not as good as the hollow-points. The 38 WCF load with a 135-grain hollow-point and 40 grains of FFg, proved to be the most damaging of all in both rifle and revolver. The roundballs when fired from the shotgun grouped well enough to be usable on targets like groundhog, foxes and coyotes to 25 yards.

The shot loads I tested were out to 25 yards on clay pigeons set on the berm. From the shotgun, the 175-grain No. 9 nickel-plated (NP) shot load would crush or shatter the clay out to 15 yards and usually break off pieces to 20 yards. The 200-grain No. 9 nickel-plated shot loads would crush clays usually to 20 yards. The 125 grain No. 9 loads with the capsules would similarly break clays out at 20 yards. At 25 yards all three loads were very iffy on clays, seldom breaking them. The capsule loads were tested on paper from the Marlin carbine. It produced usable patterns to about 10 yards. These patterns often were doughnut-shaped with patchy centers. I experimented with lubricated felt wads in the shot loads as a cushion and as an aid for black powder fouling. The shot loads generally patterned better without the felt wads. I did not test the shot loads in revolvers as the loads with capsules were longer than the revolver cylinders.

Trajectory

Using the Coxe & Beugless chart for determining the coefficient of bullet form, I estimated the G1 ballistic coefficient of some of the bullets that were tested. (See Table 4 for details.) The data was calculated using the JBM on-line trajectory calculator.¹² The intention with black powder express loads was to flatten the trajectory over typical big game hunting distances of the era, typically out to 200 yards. With larger cartridges it was possible to get a point-blank range on a deer-sized animal out to 200 yards. None of the standard or express loads tested will give a point-blank range on a deer-sized animal to 200 yards, the point-blank ranges being closer to 115-130 yards. With the express loads in the 38 WCF and 44 WCF the improvement in trajectory or energy was marginal to nonexistent. The standard 38 WCF and 44 WCF loads performed similarly, with more energy at 200 yards than the express loads. The 44 WCF express load with the 165-grain bullet flattened the trajectory three inches over 200 yards at a cost of some terminal energy. Its primary advantage was the energetic Swiss powder, which gave it a significant velocity advantage. The velocities of the bullets at 200 yards from the rifles were similar to the muzzle velocities of the revolvers, indicating that the rifle loads at 200 yards would have similar terminal effect to revolvers at close range. The 200-yard velocities were high enough that expansion of the lead hollow points would probably occur.

I was impressed by the 38 WCF as opposed to the 44 WCF; it just seems to be a better-balanced and efficient cartridge in both rifle and revolver than the 44 WCF. The late Mike Venturino was similarly impressed with it, saying that if he had been in the Old West it would have been his choice for a pistol-caliber carbine for defensive use.¹³ Whelen (1918) felt that the 38 WCF in standard form was suitable for deer and black bear to 200 yards.¹⁴ He felt that the 44 WCF was only suitable for 150 yards due to poor trajectory and poor accuracy.¹⁵ Mattern (1926) stated that the factories were trying to kill the 38 WCF off, but that it wasn’t going away. He also stated that the killing power of the 38 WCF could be increased by using a hollow point.¹⁶ Sharpe (1948) stated that the 38-40 WCF – when used in a rifle – was an excellent medium power load, but did not recommend it for deer.¹⁷ As a revolver round, he said that it was obsolete, but kept hanging on in popularity and after 60 years was still a big seller in the handgun line.¹⁸ He felt that the 44 WCF rifle cartridge was an excellent round, suitable for game up to deer, though he did not recommend it for that animal. He also thought that it would hang on for some time to come. As a revolver cartridge, it was an extremely popular big-bore.¹⁹ Personally, I agree with Mr. Venturino; if I had been in the Old West my preference would be to use a 38 WCF revolver and carbine.

Sources:

¹ Barnes FC, ed. W. Todd Woodward, Cartridges of the World 14th edition (COTW 14) 2014 pages 161 and 164

² COTW 14 page 223

³ Western Catalog of Ammunition 1925 page 10

⁴ Worden EC Nitrocellulose Industry, Vol. 2 1911 page 956

⁵ Worden page 957

⁶ Peters Ammunition Catalog No.40 1925 pages 12, 35, 38, 39

⁷ Remington-UMC 1911-12 Catalog page 91, 94

⁸ Neuschaefer K. The Smokeless Powders of Laflin & Rand And Their Fate 100 Years After Assimilation by DuPont. 2007 page 38

⁹ Venturino M. Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West. 1999 pages 145, 155

¹⁰ According to its Safety Data Sheet (2021) it is composed of Nitrocellulose, Guandine Mononitrate, Potassium, Perchlorate and Ethyl Centralite. I suspect that the Potassium Perchlorate leaves hygroscopic residue in the fire arm and cartridge case, which will attract moisture, requiring prompt cleaning of both.

¹¹ Sharpe P. Complete Guide to Handloading (1948) pages 396, 399, 411, 414

¹² www.jbmballistics.com

¹³ Venturino 1999 pages 285-286

¹⁴ Whelen T The American Rifle 1918 page 270

¹⁵ Whelen 1918 page 278

¹⁶ Mattern JR Handloading Ammunition 1926 pages 305-306

¹⁷ Sharpe 1948 page 396

¹⁸ Sharpe 1948 page 411

¹⁹ Sharpe 1948 pages 400,414