Driftwood..
You ever try filling hollow base bullets with soft beeswax as a grease cookie? My long barreled 38 WCF Model likes that for some reason. I put a little piece of wax paper over the powder if the shooting match is more than a couple days away.
I gave up on grease cookies once I discovered the Big Lube bullets. More on that in a minute.
What diameter bullets would one choose for either 44-40 or 45 Colt? Guess I'd have to slug the bore of any of said rifles/revolvers to be certain. Is there a mould number that has big old grease grooves that people have had success with?
Here is the answer to all your problems with getting enough grease into a Black Powder bullet. Check out the various molds. There is even one that I designed. No, I do not get any money from sales. Regarding bullet diameter, the groove diameters of my 44-40 rifles are all either .427 or .429. I have compromised at .428 for all my 44-40 bullets. Most 44-40 rifles made by Uberti today are coming out of the box with .429 barrels. But it does help to slug the barrel to make sure.
http://www.biglube.com/Default.aspx
The original 45 Colt brass back during the actual black powder cartridge era and early smokeless period had a very small rim. It was designed for the Colt single action pistol (SAA) and that gun used a rod ejector. Experiments conducted by Winchester back in the 1870s showed that the 45 Colt cartridges of that era did not reliably extract when the firearm was dirty and fouled.
Can you provide a source for that information? Frankly, I don't believe it. Winchester was not the slightest bit interested in chambering a rifle for 45 Colt, the 44-40 cartridge was designed from the ground up as a rifle cartridge. Large rim to expedite extraction, and a tapered shape so they would feed more easily into a rifle chamber. Revolver cartridges do not need to be tapered because they are inserted manually. But to feed in a repeating rifle, a tapered cartridge is a big plus.
Yes, loading 44-40 can be challenging. It is because of the thin brass at the neck. You have to take your time and set your dies carefully. Some swear by a Lee Factory Crimp Die, only seating the bullet with the seating/crimp die, then forming the crimp with the FCD. Also, go slow, don't pull the handle in a hurry. If you jam a 44-40 case against the bottom of the die you will probably ruin it. Go slow so you can feel if it contacts the bottom of the die. I load most of my 44-40s on a standard RCBS die set, not even the fancy 'cowboy dies'. It really does not matter what brand of die you choose. Here is another hint: If you are loading relatively 'fat' bullets because of a large groove diameter, you may find that the brass crumples a bit. Try using an expander from a 44 Mag/44 Sp die set instead of the one that comes with the 44-40 die set. Most 44-40 die sets expand the brass for a .427 barrel. A slightly larger expander, such as one for a .429 barrel such as 44 Mag/44 Sp will expand the neck a tad more, reducing the friction the bullet encounters as it slides into the neck. The friction can cause the case to crumple down below the bullet. Just be sure you give the case a real firm crimp, because you will have less neck tension than normal on the bullet.
I do have a Marlin lever gun chambered for 357 Mag. I mostly shoot 38 Specials out of it. Same story as 45 Colt. The case wall is fairly thick. Under the pressure of a 38 Sp the case does not fully expand to seal the chamber. What's the problem with that? What does it matter if cases come out a little bit sooty?
Here is another thought about fouling. The action of a toggle link rifle such as a Henry, Winchester 1866, or Winchester 1873 has the carrier up front, ahead of most of the action. So any fouling that gets past the shell will be less likely to get into the mechanism. The later guns like the 1886, 1892 or 1894 have a tilting carrier right in the middle of the action. So any crud that gets past the chamber is more likely to foul the action. And a toggle link gun is much simpler to take down than a '86, 92. or 94. The '73 is the easiest of all. One screw to remove the side plates, then everything falls right out.