Rossi Rifleman

Stephan wrote:Sure not many .44-40's!....Not as many .45 Colts as I figured would be either.

I've noticed that for years on the forums I frequent that everybody lusts after the .357 mag versions and it does show as the most popular

Most lever gun enthusiasts are also revolver fans .... and most revolver fans have more specimens chambered in .38 spl and/or .357 mag. Matching handgun/long gun caliber set ups are quite desirable .

.357

[1].357, [1].44-40, [3].45 Colt

357 Magnum

.357 magnum in 24" octagonal barrel. Great companion for my Taurus Gaucho or Taurus Model 66 in the same caliber.

Stephan wrote:Sure not many .44-40's!....Not as many .45 Colts as I figured would be either.

I've noticed that for years on the forums I frequent that everybody lusts after the .357 mag versions and it does show as the most popular

The shop I frequent has not had any .44-40 in stock that I can recall.
Around here you do not find .44-40 at Walmart where most people pick up their range ammo.

Same thing with Walmart and .45 Colt around here. The local shop however tries to stock it as do another couple shops. The past six months or so there's someone asking for .45 Colt once or twice a week. In the last couple months that they have had some one box has been sold. It is more expensive than .44 Mag.

There aren't that many .44-40 guns easily available compared to the other calibers. .45 Colt can be had but tend to be found mostly in the cowboy action crowd. At the same factory ammo performance point most folks will go .45 Auto instead. At the same size revolver most folks will go .44 Mag for the extra power and ease of finding factory ammo.

In addition I think folks who reload are more likely to go for .44 Mag than folks who don't. If you are a factory ammo only kind of person the .357 makes a lot of sense.

Your comments are pretty much how I see it Archer in regards to ammo choice effecting the distribution. The poll is also reflecting what I thought I was seeing reflected in our topics and posts; twice as many 357 Mags as 44 Mags or 45 Colts. Just a splattering of 44-40 Wins and 480 Rugers. I wasn't sure how the 454 Casull was figuring in as it has just been showing up steady at retails for about a year now.

The 44-40 Win crowd probably is not well represented in the poll as it seems to be favored heavily by the Cowboy Action fellows, a group that has not participated much here. When I first started the laid out the forum I even had a forum category specific to the group but; alas, no posts after a year so it was removed. Despite my thoughts on who might be supporting it's purchases, Rossi has dropped the cartridge it so it probably wasn't selling well.

44 mag, windy 44-40

.357 Mag 20" barrel, .44 Mag deposit placed, waiting for ticket to be amended, 16" barrel.

45lc (2) 44 mag (1) 357 (2)