what happens if you accidentally load 45 colt in a 73 Winchester in 44-40
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- @WildWestExtravaganza
this video was made for Josh of wild west Extravaganza. his episode on bass Reeves has a story where bass Accidentally loads 45 colt into his 73 Winchester in 44-40. while he was trying to get the 45 colt out the rifle Discharged and killed his cook. after doing this it shows how easy this is to do. the 45 colt and 44-40 are very simple in size and shape at a quick glance. if this happens it's fairly difficult to get the 45 colt round out of the rifle. I had to Disassemble the rife to get it out. one more reason I believe if I lived back then and my life depends on firearms. I would have my pistol chambered in 44-40 if I owned a 73 Winchester.
a link to the video • Bass Reeves: Runaway S...
This video was made to help josh from the wild west Extravaganza youtube channel and podcast for his episode on bass Reeves. Bass Accidentally loaded a 45 colt round into his Winchester 1873 in 44-40. While trying to remove the 45 colt he some how shot and killed his cook. Loading a 45 colt ends up being Frighteningly easy to do. But is extremely difficult to remove. I had to take quite a bit of the rifle apart to remove the 45 colt.
So it is stuck so tight that it can't be dislodged via a cleaning rod or wooden dowel down the muzzle and tapped lightly with a hammer?
@edb3877 I could get the bullet and case out of the chamber. But you can't get the 45colt out of the top of lifter. It's just a tiny bit to big. Once the 45 colt gets in the lifter there is no real easy way to get it out.
@@snappers_antique_firearms Interesting. Thanks for the tip on this. I always wondered why they did not make
.45 Colt rifles back in the 1870s and 1880s. A lot of people sure liked the .44-40 for this in rifle and pistol.
@@edb3877 the biggest reason why 45colt was never chambered in the 73 Winchester. the 45 colts rim is to small for reliable extraction. Modern 45 colt ammo has a bigger rim then the originals. Another thing is the straight wall of the 45 colt sends lots of blow back into the action. So if ran with blackpowder 45 colt the gun gets gummy and clogged up Fairly quickly. 44-40 has a tapperd wall and has very little blowback. So it can run with blackpowder ammo for a long time before it gets gummed up.
@@snappers_antique_firearms Yes, I have heard that the old .45 Colt round had a thin rim that worked OK in a revolver but not too great in a rifle. Maybe
use one of those revolver / rifles for this. Even that would not have the ammo capacity of the Winchester and Henry rifles of the day. Good point on the
.45 Colt being a straight walled case and the .44-40 case being tapered. I had not thought of that aspect of it. I should have, though, as my old Colt .36
Navy revolver got pretty sticky after a couple of cylinders were fired through it. No case, of course, so the powder fouling was pretty bad.
I just came over from Josh's Wild West Extravaganza video on Bass Reeves. Thanks for showing us what may have happened there when he shot the cook. 👍
Thanks for stopping by. It was my pleasure to help Josh. After all the entertainment he has given me over the years. It's the least I could do.
Thank You for the information. I just came here after watching the Bass Reeves episode at the Wild West Extravaganza to subscribe.
Best Wishes.
Thanks and welcome.
Sounds like it would be a good idea to have a carbine and a sidearm in the same caliber back in those days, but that might not have always been the case.
Awesome, thank you. I hope that wasn't too much trouble
It was no trouble at all, Josh. it was a pleasure. I wanted to film getting that 45 colt case out. But let's just say it would definitely not be family friendly. If this ever happened in a gun fight, that's Winchester is completely useless. Most of the rifle has to come apart, and it's still not easy. Kind of scary because 44-40 and 45 colt look pretty much the same. I could see this happening. One more reason I think if I lived back then and had a 73 Winchester. I would carry a colt Single action army in 44-40. Same ammo between them and never have to worry about putting 45 colt in the Winchester on Accident.
@@snappers_antique_firearms great point
@@snappers_antique_firearms When was the first year that a lever action was chambered for .45 Colt anyway? Wasn't it much later?
@@exothermal.sprocket they never were originally chambered in 45 colt. Only modern replicas are chambered in 45 colt. The biggest reason is the rim size on 45 colt. Josh of wild west Extravaganza found a story where bass Reeves Accidentally loaded a 45 colt into his rifle. And while trying g to remove it the rife went off killing his cook. After trying this it's Frightening how easy it is to make this Mistake. 44-40 and 45colt are very similar in size and shape. And you are not getting it out without Disassembling the rifle
@@snappers_antique_firearms What I can find, and yes the are very closely related:
45 Colt 44-40
Rim dia: .512 .525
Rim thk: .060 .065
Base dia: .480 .471
Neck dia: .480 .443
It happens more often than you think
I didn't know that. It seems so easy to do it Dosnt shock me it happens a lot
Good information.
Good to know. Those look pretty similar. The reason why we might carry matching pistol and rifle/carbine calibers. Or you could carry a .45-70 rifle…..not likely to mix up .45 Colt and .45-70 rounds. Thank You.
100% I definitely believe if I lived back then and my life depends on my firearms. I definitely would have a pistol and rifle of this size in the same Caliber. Since Winchester never originally chambered the 73 Winchester in 45 colt. I would have both in 44-40.
A couple of months ago, a friend of mine did the opposite. He accidentally loaded a 44-40 in his 1st Gen (1907) SAA, chambered in 45 Colt. No big deal: pop instead of a pow and a bulged case, but thankfully nothing else. The only sounds were to his pride.
I have heard a few times of people doing that in a SAA. I am sure it must have happened many times in the past. 45colt and 44-40 Cartridges are very close in size. I was asked to make this video from a friend and fellow youtuber, josh from the wild west Extravaganza channel. He read that this happened to bass Reeves.
I believe a Texas Ranger actually did that once in an Indian fight. He managed to unscrew the sideplates off using a pocket knife, get the .45 case out of there, put the toggle link and sideplate back on and get back into the fight with his fellow rangers
Wow talk about bad luck. amazing to hear he fixed it.
Good info. Wild West Extravaganza sent me here.
Welcome!!
what a fabulous short sharp and punchy video that showed a brilliant example, well done old mate, excellent
Thanks Steve if you watch the wild west Extravaganza's video on bass Reeves you will see why this video was made. Cheers old friend
alrighty-then, I'll go see if I can find that, cheers mate @@snappers_antique_firearms
@HistoryHorsesandCowboys I put a link to his video in the description if you have a hard time finding it. Prepare to be blown away if you've never seen his videos. There podcast so it's story telling with video. But he is the best out there for telling detailed stories about the old west. Everytime I find myself drive on a trip or reloading ammo. I put on his podcast.
It would have worked if Winchester added the forward assist.
🤫🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Exactly what I thought would happen before watching the demonstration. Now, try a 44 magnum and 357 magnum cartridges.
Yeah, if you watch the Wild West Extravaganza TH-cam channel. Bass Reeves accidentally did this. it was a Fairly
common thing to happen in the old west. Especially if you carried a colt single action army in 45 colt and a 73 Winchester in 44-40. In person the rounds are very close in size and easy to mix up. Unfortunately, I don't own any 44 magnum or .357 magnum to try. The .357 magnum is going to be far too small in diameter to work. 38 special brass almost falls through the barrel. 44 magnum, though, might fit but be very tight. I am comparing the 44-40 to the 44mag sizes off the internet. They seem Farley close in size.
Yeah my brother did the same thing in a 66 but it was a 357 in place of a 38 needless to say and trying to get it out it discharged but nobody was hurt
It's crazy how easy it is to load the wrong ammo and its shockingly hard to get out.
Good video and the reason i rebuilt my open top in 45 colt also bought my 92 in 45 colt. Figured there would be less chance of this and if i carry the rifle and any pistol i only need 1 caliber
100% agree. Plus the Convenience.
100% agree. Plus the Convenience.
Sucks that the whole gun needs to be disassembled!
Being it's so easy to accidentally load 45 colt, I believe that if I were to have lived back then and I depended on the firearm with my life. I would have both my pistol and rifle in the same caliber. 44-40 since they never originally loaded the 73 winchester in 45 Colt. The easiest way I found to get the 45 colt out was to disassemble the magazine tube.
@@snappers_antique_firearms I get it. Thanks for putting it into persepective!
Im sorry but i think i need an explanation as to how you could get an accidental discharge if you had a 45 stuck. Nothing woukd be in chamber and no way to close the breech and fire if it was because the 45 is blocking the lifter.. so how could there have been an accidental discharge?
I thought the same thing. I can't see how it would have fired. I was going very gentle, but apparently, if you pull the lever back hard enough, about 1/3 of the 45 case will inter the chamber. I don't know how the primer went off. But being 1/3 into the barrel, the case would balloon or explode. With enough energy to push the bullet through the barrel. supposedly, this has happened several times in the past. With very similar outcomes. I guess they end up beating it and somewho hit the primer with something.
@snappers_antique_firearms thank you, I feel better knowing it is physically possible, on that note.. I suppose I should now ask how much is it going to cost my ex wife to fix the same problem?
She got my 44-40 in the divorce, somehow I accidentally loaded 45 in the tube in my last days of ownership.
Jk.
@blueliesmatter2 🤣🤣🤣 let's hope while she's trying to get it.out she don't pretend your the cook and she's bass Reeves.
ah
The reason this video was made. there are historical accounts where this was accidentally done in the old west. Josh from Wild West Extravaganza podcast found an account of this Happening while he was doing research on Bass Reeves. Bass Reeves said the gun has to be taken apart to fix this jam. He asked me to try it and see what happens plus to see How hard would it be to clear the jam. Spoiler alert you have to take the gun apart.
What ever happened to the 1873 video?
It's still coming. I have redone it 4 times. It is finally almost done. It will be out within the next week
Question can you shoot 44 mags out of a 444?
Definitely not when it comes or original antique guns, especially prior to around 1900. They weren't made to shoot modern smokeless ammo. It's likely it would destroy the gun. Even if it's a modern made rifle or pistol, on paper, it might fit the chamber. But the pressure is a lot higher on 44 magnum. It's a high probability that you would Damage the gun. I have never done it so i really dont know. You could if the Cartridge fits, shoot 44-40 in a 44mag. Because its a far lower pressure. But i really dont know if the Cartridge would fit.