So What do you do with an 1886 Winchester in 40-82 Caliber?

[southfork]

Has anybody got a source of 40-82 ammo, or a good recipe for making it? A while back I picked up an early 1886 rifle that had a rough bore, and so I had the barrel lined back to 40-82 by a gunsmith in Montana (Olsen?) Since then I've not come across either ammo or brass, but I do have an old bullet mold that throws decent 260 grain .40 caliber bullets.

Maybe I should have converted it to .50 caliber like is being discussed in that other 1886 thread , but somehow, somewhere I should be able to buy or make ammo (preferrably with smokeless powder). Any suggestions?

[RJS]

http://www.buffaloarms.com/Detail.aspx? ... 1&CAT=3838
Brass is available at Buffalo Arms
Ron

[Mike D.]

No, just order a set of Redding .40-82 W.C.F. dies and a hundred Starline .45-90 cases from Midway USA. Simply lube and run the .45-90 cases through the sizing die, trim to 2.4" and you are good to go. Steer clear of those Aussie cases from Bertram. Far too soft and short lived.

[KirkD]

I had a 40-82 for a while and started developing a smokeless load. I'm on the road now so can't say what it was. I'll check my files when I get home. I made my brass from Starline 45-90 brass like MikeD suggested. Works just fine. The hard part was finding a good bullet but looks like you got that covered just fine with that mould. Now you just need the powder and load.

[20cows]

So What do you do with an 1886 Winchester in 40-82 Caliber?

SHOOT IT!!!!!

[rjohns94]

Gad custom cartridges has ammo, bullets and brass. Looking forward to hearing how she shoots when you get that 1886 up and running.

[Larryo-1]

I must intercede here on this 40-82. I have three of them and love them all. I also have--and use an original mold. You must slug the barrel to find out what the bore actually is. I have two that are 0.403 and one (original) that is 0.4085. I use RCBS dies that include the Trim die. My 0ldest boy has one that I restored for him back in 1983 or so and he uses paper patched bullets and 50 grains of IMR 3031. To his credit he has got one moose and several deer with that rifle. I had written an article on that rifle and it was published in the Handloader back then. The old one that I have I had restored several years ago and that is the one with the 0.4085 bore. It likes lead bullets that mike about 0.407 and also 0.4085 jacketed 260 grain bullets that can be gotten from Buff Arms. Don't discredit this caliber. It is a flat shooter both with smokeless and with Black Powder. The newest that I have is a customized Model 71 in this caliber. It has a 0.403 bore. I use 58 grains of IMR 3031 in it with great success. So hang in there. There is also head-stamped 40-82 brass from Jamison now also.

[geobru]

The 40-82 is an interesting caliber. I have one that I have been playing with for about three years, trying to find the combination for the perfect load.

The originals have bores that vary above and below the original .406 bore. Mine requires .410 bullets, others on this board have them that measure .406 to .408. I assume that your relined bore will measure .406, so you should be good to go with the bullet mold you have.

The early originals come with soft steel barrels that require loads that mimic the velocities of the old black powder loads, which is about 1500 fps. I have the article that Larryo-1 wrote, and IIRC, he outfitted his gun with a modern barrel, and was shooting ~2000 fps. If your gun has a nickel steel barrel, it will stand up to the pressures of modern loads and higher velocities. Otherwise, stick with the lower velocity loads.

One thing about the 40-82 is that the original twist was 1:28, which means that the longest bullet that will stabilize is a little shorter than an inch according to the Greenhill formula. If your relined bore has a faster twist rate, your rifle will stablilize longer heavier bullets than the original barrel. I shoot bullets that weigh 270 to 275 grains.

Another thing is that there is a lot of airspace in the loaded cartridge, so I have found that I get better accuracy using a filler. This is a controversial subject among shootists on this board because of the fear of ringing the chamber with a pressure spike because the powder has to blow the filler out along with the bullet. In one of Mike Venturinos articles on developing a load for a 40-82, he used cream of wheat as a filler. Gad Custom Cartridges loads with cream of wheat filler and 4198 powder in their 40/82 reloads. Kapok, toilet paper and corn meal are also used. My 40-82 prefers coarse ground cornmeal, but my 45-90 likes TP. Maybe you won't have to use any filler, but that is for you to find out as you shoot your gun. For me, it makes a difference of shooting a 3" group at 100 yards with a filler, or barely keeping the group on a piece of paper without filler. The shorter cartridges such as the 40-65 and 45-70 are 3/10ths of an inch shorter than the 40-82 and 45-90, plus they have a faster twist which allows longer bullets that take up more of the room in the case, ao they don't seem to need fillers like the longer express cartridges.

I have researched loads for the 40-82 and have an excel spreadsheet with the results of that search. Whenever I see a load, I have recorded the source, the recipe, and any other information that was given in the source. PM me with your email address and I will send it to you.

Don't push these old guns beyond what they were designed to do. If you push them too hard, catastrophic failure can occur after many shots. Sixgun, one of the regulars on this board blew up a 45-90 after shooting his favorite hot load for several thousand rounds. He has made it clear in subsequent threads that he doesn't push his original 86's now. I am sure that others will chime in on this subject. Listen and learn because there is a lot of experience among the guys on this site.

Once you find the right load, shoot that baby! That is what they were made for. (My best 3 shot group with my 40-82 was 3.25" at 200 yards using a leadsled on a bench and a tang sight.)

[yooper2]

Get some brass (available from Bertram or Buffalo Arms, last time I checked), load up some ammo, and shoot that old rifle. My grandfather had an'86 in 40-82 and he always thought it was a great cartridge. He always said it quite flat shooting compared to a 45-70 or the old 50-70 and was wicked on deer and black bear. In short, I would enjoy that rifle in the great cartridge for which it is chambered. Above all else, have fun with old gal,

Eric

[Larryo-1]

Just read the last post. Thought that maybe I left something out so here for what it is worth: In my son's rifle cartridges, I use a tuft of kapok out of an old life preserver vest. In that new one it is not needed. When I did all my testing of over 25 different powders, I built me a test platform that is on a Remington Rolling block action and it looks like a "Gemmer Hawken" rifle. I put on a 32 inch barrel so that there are exactly 28 inches of riflings cause that was what I wanted. I, also, found out that old Sir Alfred Greenhill was correct about bullet length 'cause in the course of some of my tests, I did, indeed, find that the longer heavier bullets tumbled and keyholed. Now that all that is out of the way, I use that rifle for some playing at over 200 yards with paper-patch bullets. I got a paper-patch mold made by Tom Ballard of Clancy, Mt and they work great. The best BP load, so far--is 60 grains of FFg/card/wax plug/card and bullet. Got to try Swiss 1½ but haven't had time--yet! That '86 that I had restored uses bullets cast at 16:1 out of an original mold and it likes 50 grains of IMR 3031.. Of all the powders I tested, only 3031 and a couple of others are worthy of use. Hope this added info helps.

[southfork]

Thanks everybody for the tons of good info in response to my question! I appreciate the help and encouragement. Sounds like I have quite a few options that i wasn't aware of.

[Larryo-1]

No problem. Let us know how things work out for you and your 40-82.