.44 Colt Army Question

Seven

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We have found about 100 Colt. 44 drops at the Civil War campsite we are working. Thomas & Thomas have the bullet listed as the Colt Army "New Model", bullet number 32 on page 16. McKee & Mason have an "early model" listed as bullet number 82 on page 27 but it lacks the lower recess.

My question is this: both books have the Colt .44 listed as a pistol bullet, but I have a reproduction 1860 Colt Army pistol and a reproduction Remington 1858 Army pistol and neither of these guns have enough clearance for the bullet to be placed in the cylinder and rotated under the plunger to press the bullet into the cylinder. How were these bullets loaded into the original model guns.

The accompanying picture is the bullet in question. It is .675 long, .455 in diameter, and 196 grains in weight. Any help would be appreciated.
 

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I can tell you this, the real good experts will tell you that the Mason & McKee book contain numerous errors. The absolute best expert I can direct you to would be Pete Jorge (Hope I spelled that right), he hangs out at the Treasure Net forum site under the ID section. He goes by the Cannon Ball Guy. You will be impressed with the answer he gives you. And if you do go there please be sure to post his response here because I, too, would love to know the answer. Regards.
 
I can tell you this, the real good experts will tell you that the Mason & McKee book contain numerous errors. The absolute best expert I can direct you to would be Pete Jorge (Hope I spelled that right), he hangs out at the Treasure Net forum site under the ID section. He goes by the Cannon Ball Guy. You will be impressed with the answer he gives you. And if you do go there please be sure to post his response here because I, too, would love to know the answer. Regards.

Thanks Duggap
 
I'm going with

Yeah that's the bullet, but my question is "How did they load them into the pistol?" The bullet is too tall to go under the plunger ram on the Colt 1860 Army .44 as well as the 1858 Remington Army .44. Did they remove the cylinder and load them?
 
I'm going with

Here is a picture showing the problem. When the bullet is seated to the first ring in the cylinder, the bullet is still too tall to go under the plunger. The only way to load these bullets in any of the 1858 or 1860 caliber .44 pistol - which all the books say shot this bullet - is to remove the cylinder and load them then returned the loaded cylinder to the gun. This doesn't seem a correct procedure to me. What am I missing?
 

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I can tell you this, the real good experts will tell you that the Mason & McKee book contain numerous errors. The absolute best expert I can direct you to would be Pete Jorge (Hope I spelled that right), he hangs out at the Treasure Net forum site under the ID section. He goes by the Cannon Ball Guy. You will be impressed with the answer he gives you. And if you do go there please be sure to post his response here because I, too, would love to know the answer. Regards.

I talked with Cannon Ball Guy and evidently the reproductions have less clearance than the original pistols; at least that is the case with the two I have. If I find out any additional information I will pass it along. Thanks for the contact info.
 
I was on the right track after all.

CBG is very wise, so it's good to have his input to solve the mystery.

Yep, looks like you were right. Wish I knew someone who had an original Colt or Remington .44 to compare, but that has to be the answer. Nothing else makes any sense. Thanks again for the lead.
 
Could be that corrosion has changed the height and diameter of the original bullet. May be try some reproduction bullets. I have used them, but in a .36 caliber.

I have an original Colt .44 mold with 2 cavities; a round ball and a conical. The original bullets are actually slightly shorter than newly poured bullets a; the points have work off of the old ones. Diameter is almost exactly the same with only a slight buildup. Neither the old bullets or the newly poured ones have enough clearance to rotate under the plunger. They do make a modern conical for .44 reproduction revolvers but they are very different from the original bullets. I just wanted to fire some bullets poured with a original mold.
 
Just my .02, but I understood that, indeed, the cylinder was removed with more than one cylinder being carried when possible for a quick reload, dont know if this applied to all pistols or not
 
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