Posted 11 years ago
Kollector
(106 items)
These bullets were found in an area of town that was being torn down for use as a park. After the buildings were vacated they were to be bulldozed down. The public in general were going in and stripping out what ever they wanted. Me and some friends went in and looked around . I found a tin can ( Baking powder) with these bullets plus some others that were given away. Mostly rim fire. The 4 nonrimfire at right id as (topmost) U.S. 44 WCF primer stamped US , next below -38 WRA Co WCF, The 2 below are UMC 44 S&W A.
The rimfires have a U stamped on the bottom.
You have collector's items. The .44 WCF would be .44-40 (.44 cal, 40 grs. blk powder). This is not a specialty of mine, but I think the US was the manufacturer instead of gov't.. There were .44 cal rimfire for some guns like the volcanic & Henry, which were the birth of Winchester but not the only guns to use that cartridge. Same thing applies for the .38. If rimfire it was used in a variety of guns. If center fire, then it is .38-40 (.38 cal & 40 grs blk pdr). The .44 UMC (Union Metallic Cartridge Co.) should be a separate species from the .44-40 & probably center fire. S&W had the patent for the bored through cyl. revolver which drove Colt & others nuts until it expired. The S&W .44 came in several shapes, including a short .44 for guns made for Russia. Interesting find you have & should take to a gun show if you want to sell as they are hard to come by. Don't expect to retire on your find, but may pay for a few liters of petrol & a good time. Bon chance!
Greetings Blunderbuss
Well I declare I have had these since 1966. I never thought much of them as collectable. I sure do appreciate all the information you have given me. I guess I should not clean them .Right? I recently dug a cartridge up in my brothers property that I cleaned up and polished. I have misplaced it. Back in the fifties there was an old gun store downtown. The name was Porchernic's or close to that spelling. I bought a bunch of 22 rimfire which used and a box of Remington Kleanbore 32-20 for 32 Winchester. Price is still on the box $2.45. I place this stuff on the site to find out about it..
Again thanks for taking the time for all the information.
Best Regards
Ben
Kollector, I'm no expert & in those days many calibers were coming out to be tried. I can't really tell details by your pic., but the .38-40 & .44-40 had a slight neck to the case about 2/3 way up from the base. Nothing sharp like a 30-30. Hope I have helped. The orig. rim-fire cartridges were invented by Henry & Winchester rim-fire rounds still have an "H" on the bottom unless they have changed since I left the States 42 yrs ago. Re: .22 ammo.
Kollector & Blunderbuss,
The .44 S&W American is smaller than the S&W .44 Russian
The .44 S&W AM case & bullet is 35.63 mm in length & the casing is 11.08 mm in diameter.
The .44 S&W RUS case & bullet is 36.33 mm in length & the casing is 11.50 mm in diameter.
The Russians wanted a round where the bullet fit into a case of larger diameter and hence the .44 Russian round was born. This was S&W's big-bore cartridge of choice at that time.
That was a nice find Kollector.
Dave
I had a pistol in .45 Russian when a teenager that I couldn't find ammo for & thought I remembered it as being shorter. One of the experiences that got me to start reloading about a year later.
Very interesting and educational post. I never gave much thought to ammo being collectible. I have some boxes of ammo I packed away years ago. I think mostly pretty common 30-40 krag 30-06, 32 S&W etc. I'm not sure why I ever kept it.
BB2,
In comment 5, did you mean .44 Russian? I don't recall a .45 Russian, Smith & Wesson had a .45 S&W Schofield.
Dave
Pw, I had a Galand revolver in about 1960 as a present. There were a couple of rounds with it that I was told were .44 Russian & never found a match, traded the gun & didn't look back. I just took a stroll thru Googleland & it appears it was a 12 m/m(.4724) but of course caliber designations were often misleading then, & sometimes now. Any ".22" is actually .223-.224. In other words, I didn't "slug" the bore. As I remember, it was Belgie made, beautiful condition & had cartridges I couldn't find. Few people realize that a .38. .380, .357 & 9 m/m are the same dia. bore or within a few thousands inch of .357 & take the same cal. bullet.
BB2,
Interesting, I have a Galand that is a 9mm. According to the information I have found, they were made in 7mm, 9mm, & 12mm. A very interesting double action revolver with an interesting self-extractor system.
Dave
I agree. It was a very good sys. but I have mainly been into Amer. made so guess I'm prejudiced. Since living "outside", I'm opening up more. But at 67? That Galand is a true precision revolver.