The Reeder 44-40 Review...A Dream Gun...

I may well be the only Misfit to get worked up about getting a new gun in an obsolete caliber. But, I gotta be me so the story goes.

The will be a long, drawn out multiple post review. Simple reason is there is a lot to tell.

The 44-40 suffers from many of the same none standard dimensions of many of the old hyphenated cartridges. So, here goes.

Originally loaded with .426" bullets caused problems as barrel dimensions became standard .429" with the 44 Special and later the 44 Magnum.

Gunsmiths started trying to "fix" this, but many got it wrong. They built 44-40s with .431" throats, but failed to change the neck dimensions to allow cartridges to seat when loaded with bullets over .427". This made an existing problem worse.

This has slowly corrected itself through the years. My Colt New Frontier 44-40 has .431" throats and my Uberti Flattop Target 44-40 has .4305" throats. Both allow proper bullets to seat and shoot lights out.

Enter the Reeder 44-40. It arrived today and has proper .431" throats and chambers correct bullets just fine.

But, the similarities end there. The Reeder gun is built brute strong on the Ruger Blackhawk Frame.

A few debate this and I make no recommendations. But the weak spot of a six shot cylinder is at the lock notch.

I don't have the knowledge or equipment of the custom gunsmiths. But, common sense comes into play.

Measuring the cylinder thickness at the bottom of the notch came in as follows. Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt .052". Ruger Super Blackhawk 44 Magnum .070". Reeder 44-40 .065".

In my calculations this puts the strength more in line with a 44 Magnum than a 45 Colt. I'll likely limit my loads to 30,000 psi out of respect for the brass thickness. But, no reason this fine old cartridge can't receive the same performance boost as the old 45 Colt in the Ruger Blackhawk.