The WCF Sixguns

The Winchester Centerfire (WCF) sixgun cartridges actually started in the Winchester Model 1873 lever gun. Even though they were originally rifle cartridges, they fit nicely into the Colt SAA. It made a lot of sense to have a lever gun and sixgun chambered in the same cartridge in the last quarter of the 19th century. Actually, it still does, which is why lever guns in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum especially are so popular.

Duel Threat

Five years after Winchester brought forth the .44 WCF — mostly known these days as the .44-40, in the Model ’73 lever gun — Colt chambered their popular Single Action Army in the same cartridge. Meanwhile Winchester necked down the .44-40 to .40 caliber and called it the .38 Winchester Centerfire. In 1884, Colt began offering the Single Action Army in the new .38 WCF. The .44-40 is basically a .45 necked down to .43 as a bottle-neck/tapered cartridge feeds much more smoothly through the action of a lever gun.

The most popular chambering in the Colt Single Action Army in the 1st Generation run from 1873-1940 was the .45 Colt, followed by the .44-40, and then the .38-40 came in third with about 30 other chamberings filling out the balance. With all the excellent straight-walled sixgun cartridges we have such as the .44 Special, .45 Colt, .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum, I cannot come up with a single practical reason for the existence in the 21st century of the .44-40 and/or .38-40, but does shooting always have to be practical? Sometimes we do things just because they’re fun and/or connect with past history. The .44 and .38 WCFs do both.

In addition to this, we now have access to high quality lever guns, which are replicas of the Winchester 1873 and Winchester 1892, and they add to the fun of shooting and the connection with the past when chambered in .44-40 or .38-40 as a companion carbine to the Colt Single Action. I’ve hunted a lot with a .44-40 sixgun and have yet to have any deer-sized game or jackrabbit complain because it wasn’t a .44 Special or .44 Magnum. The .38-40 will always have a special place in my sixgunnin’ heart as my first centerfire sixgun more than 55 years ago was a 4 ¾” Colt SAA .38 WCF circa 1900.

The Colt Single Action Army was so superbly designed it still exists nearly 140 years after its introduction with more than one-half million being produced. Everything about the original Colt Single Action Army is perfection. The grip frame, borrowed from the 1851 Navy, is the most user-friendly grip ever designed for shooting standard loads; the hammer is just the right angle for most thumbs to reach; the balance is so good it has never been surpassed and it is the most naturally pointing sixgun ever designed.

In 1962 Colt introduced their modernized version of the Flat-Top Target with the New Frontier having a Flat-Top frame and adjustable sights. When the Single Action was resurrected as the 3rd Generation, Colt also brought back the New Frontier including a 4 ¾” .44-40. I think so much of mine it has now been fitted with one-piece ivories. The .38-40 has also been produced in the Third Generation run of Single Actions. Mine is one of the very early ones with a 4 ¾” barrel and it has been fully engraved by Dale Miller along with a companion .44-40 in the same barrel length. My latest WCFs are from the current production, a 4 ¾” .44-40 and a 7 ½” .38-40 and they are excellent Single Actions in every way. My hope is Colt will chamber the resurrected New Frontier in these two calibers also.

When there was a real shortage of .44 Specials, especially in the 1970s, many sixgunners started with a Colt Single Action .44-40 and added a second cylinder in .44 Special as both barrels have the same dimensions. It is just as easy to go the other way, that is, start with a .44 Special and add a .44-40 cylinder. I have done this with Colt Single Actions, a New Frontier and even a Texas Longhorn Arms West Texas Flat-Top Target. And what we do with a Colt Single Action can be done just as well with a Ruger. Not just any Ruger will do for converting to .38-40, or .44-40, or a dual cylindered project.

New Model .357 Rugers are too big and bulky and that is why the most popular sixguns for conversion are the Three Screw .357 Blackhawks, the Flat-Top made from 1955 to 1962 and the Old Model from 1963-1972. A Ruger New Model .357 converted to .44-40 or .38-40 will be the same size as a .44 Magnum Blackhawk without the versatility. There are New Models that are exceptions, namely the 50th Anniversary .357 Blackhawk, .44 Special Flat-Top Blackhawk and the New Vaquero. All of these have the New Model transfer bar safety and yet are the same size as the original Three Screw .357s.

Mix-n-Match

Barrels for single action conversions on Rugers can be found several ways. Custom barrels or Ruger .44 Magnum barrels from any model Ruger .44 Magnum can be utilized; or any Third Generation Colt Single Action or New Frontier barrel has the same thread size — 24 tpi — as the Ruger main frames.

New Frontier barrels look particularly good on Flat-Top or Old Model Rugers. When my local gun shop, Shapels, was going out of business, I bought all of their .44 New Frontier barrels. One 4 ¾” .44-40 marked barrel was used by David Clements on a Three-Screw Old Model to build a Convertible .44-40/.44 Special sixgun. Expertly tuned and beautifully blued, this dual cylinder .44 has an action that is practically indestructible and shoots superbly with either cylinder.

A second New Frontier barrel, this one a 7 ½” version, was used by Brian Cosby to build a .44-40 on a Ruger Three-Screw and Larry Crow built up what is one of my favorite .38-40s by re-chambering the cylinder and fitting a custom 7 ½” barrel on another .357 Ruger Three-Screw. This gun is exceptionally attractive with its deep blue finish and gold accoutrements and is also an excellent shooter.

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