.40-72 Winchester Center Fire | ||||||||||||
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Type | Rifle | |||||||||||
Place of origin | United States | |||||||||||
Production history | ||||||||||||
Designer | Winchester Repeating Arms Company | |||||||||||
Manufacturer | Winchester Repeating Arms Company | |||||||||||
Produced | 1895 to 1936 | |||||||||||
Specifications | ||||||||||||
Case type | rimmed | |||||||||||
Bullet diameter | .406 in (10.3 mm) | |||||||||||
Neck diameter | .431 in (10.9 mm) | |||||||||||
Base diameter | .460 in (11.7 mm) | |||||||||||
Rim diameter | .518 in (13.2 mm) | |||||||||||
Case length | 2.60 in (66 mm) | |||||||||||
Overall length | 3.15 in (80 mm) | |||||||||||
Rifling twist | 22 | |||||||||||
Primer type | large rifle | |||||||||||
Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||
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Test barrel length: 26 Source(s): The Rifle in America |
The .40-72 Winchester, also known as .40-72 WCF is a centerfire straight-walled rifle cartridge designed for black powder rather than smokeless powder. It was introduced in 1895 for the Winchester 1895 lever-action rifle.
The original Winchester factory load consisted of a 300-grain (19 g) bullet at 1,420 ft/s (430 m/s) or a 330-grain (21 g) bullet at 1,380 ft/s (420 m/s).
With the introduction of superior cartridges designed for smokeless powder, the .40-72 Winchester became obsolete and was soon dropped from production. Production of loaded cartridges by Winchester ceased in 1936.
Besides the Winchester 1895 lever-action, the .40-72 Winchester was chambered in the Winchester 1885 single-shot rifle.