.44 Colt / .44 S&W American /.44 Henry Center Fire

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Cross posted here from SCORS ad Frontier Iron, as it applies to 1866 CF.

Doing research for my Cimarron Smith and Wesson No.3 American model, I had several realizations, based on research and anecdotal evidence.

One the .44 American was basically a center fire .44 Henry, since S&W's initial offering was in .44 Henry, and the Army wanted the cartridge to be changed to center fire.

Second, in the late 19th cntury, the ,44 S&W American and .44 Henry center Fire were used interchangeably in S&W Americans and the final 1866 version, the .44 Henry center Fire.

Third, .44 American would actually work in a 1860 .44 Colt conversion.  American Cartridge is only .01" smaller diameter than the .44 Colt, and the bullet of the American is only slightly more than .01' smaller than the .44  Colt bullet according to my measurements of the originals of both in my cartridge collections.  I tried .44 American's in my .44 Colt revolver, and they we just only the slightest bit looser than the .44 Colts.  I mean, like the thickness of a piece of printer paper looser!

Forth, Smith and Wesson's original designation was  just .44-100, and later called it .44 S&W.  At least one manufacturer produced the .44 American ammo under the label of ".44-100" saying it was also suitable for Colt's revolvers (I'm guessing 1860 Richards) and Winchester Rifles (1866 CF?)

My guess the .44 S&W would shoot reasonable from a Colt Conversion, the soft lead bullet obdurating into the .450" bore.  The American had a 218 grain bullet over 25 grains of powder, and the Colt was a 225 grain bullet over 26-27 grain black powder.  I would conjecture that in the vast stretches of the west, due the the proliferation of both Colt's conversions and S&W Americans (both in use with the Cavalry before 1874/5) S&W American ammo was used fairly often in Colt's conversions.  If a store keeper had limited ammo, a cartridge that could be used in both conversions and Americans (and later center fire 1866s) made sense.

.44 Henry RF and CF both have a case base of .440" + or -.  .44 Russian is .457" whereas .44 Smith and Wesson is .440" the same as  both Henry cartridges/. My original.44 Colts are just a hint over .450".

If I was a lawman back then carrying a 8" American for a problem solver for serious social work, with a short 1860 Conversion as a back-up (the way I do now at SASS matches), I'd probably just fill my cartridge belt with .44 S&W for both guns.

We live in a world of computers, micrometers, CNC machines and 3d metal printing, nano science, and disposable everything. We order from Amazon. We like exact, and want things to be correct. We talk about magnumitus, and MOA at 25 yards for pistols.

In the 1869, they lived in a world of pen and paper, rulers, files, chisels, and lathes, and use it until i can't be repaired anymore.  For them then, if it something still works or was close, that was good enough. They ordered through the town's general store. They used anything that they had at hand, as long as it worked most of the time.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Common practice is to use .41 magnum brass (.435" case) for fabricating .44 Henry and 44 S&W (.440" case). XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Senior moment.

[Coffinmaker]

  Hey TL

It should be noted, the Henry Rifle was never produced to run 44 Henry Central Fire cartridges.  Further, the 1866 was never produced in 44 Henry Central Fire configuration for domestic sale/consumption.  The 1866 Central Fire rifles were the very last run of 1866s produced by Winchester and were all produced for military export to Brazil.

The pitiful few Central Fire 1866s we see here are rifles that were, at some point, re-patriated from South America.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

This in really interesting.  All the literature says the .44 S&W American is a .440" case and the bulletin .432".  WELL I have a dozen original rounds of .44 S&W of assorted manufacturers, and ALL have bullet of .440" to .449", as well as the case diameter of .440".  The rebated heel inside the case may be .432".  This means they would be a better performer than I original thought in .44 Colts.  In fact, I have several .44 Colt and .44 S&W that are the same diameter!