i have an old winchester 73 in 44-40 rifeling is good farthest shot i have from stand to feeder is 50yards, anyone know the speed and punch of a factory loaded ammo out of this 20in rifle? thoughts on whitetail close shots with it?

Since it was originally designed for black powder pressures i would caution using anything but black powder or reduced power loads, such as those used for cowboy shoots. Had a friend destroy a beautiful old Trapdoor Springfield, by shooting Corbon 45-70's through it.

yes id get the off the shelf 44-40 loads for cowboy action shooting thoughts on if it would take care of business on a whitetail? at 30-40yrds?

If your real careful with your shot, like maybe in the neck only, you might could pull it off. As much as i love old Winchesters and 44-40's I'm not to sure it's something i would try with reduced load 44-40's.

its not really a deer killer in the cowboy action loads, since they are designed to knock over steel plates and nothing more. if you were feeling reeally froggy, a head or high neck shot might work. try and get some black powder loads that are not designed for cowboy action. if my memory serves me right, remington green box will be fine, because SAAM requires all rounds loaded to be able to fire in the weakest action strenght safely. thats why, 45-70 loads are so weak from the factory, because there are still a few trapdoors floating around there. i would ask a gunsmith though, allthough they all have different opinions also

I have an old 73 in 38-40 cal. I have killed 2 deer with it at about 60 yds. Not sure about the ballistics. Since it is essentially a pistol sized bullet, I doubt that the specs are all that great. I have several boxes of ancient bullets so I wouldn't have any idea what speed they are running.