44 smith and wesson american

savagelh

savagelh

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I was digging through my old ammo collection and found 35 rounds of a handgun cartridge headstamped 44 S&W am. I researched a little online and found out that it was used in the #3 revolver and developed in 1870. It's a cool little round. I pulled a bullet and it's definately black powder. It shoots a 205gr bullet at around 700 fps. Just wondering if anyone else has ever heard of these. It's not to be confused with the 44 S&W russian. Any info would be appreciated, value, rarity, etc.
 
I'm familiar with the cartridge. As to its rarity, I'm sure it is pretty rare, as it was rapidly replaced by the 44 Russian. I have a S&W 2nd Model American chambered in 44 Russian that was shipped in 1873. This same six gun was also chambered in the 44 American prior to the new (at that time) 44 Russian. So if the 44 Russian was coming out already in 1873, the 44 American was entering its dying days in the mid 1870's. Your cartridges are likely pretty old, although my copy of the 1896 Winchester catalogue indicates they were still be sold in 1896 for $19 for a box of 1,000. Those cartridges are advertised at 205 grains of pure lead over 25 grains of black powder. Here's a photo of my 2nd Model American, which would have looked identical to the same sixgun in 44 American caliber ....
2nd-Am-Rt-Thumb.jpg
 
Isn't the 44 American cartridge the same as the 44 S&W or 44 Special thats still common these days? That was the impression that I had anyway - maybe just with a different bullet weight.

I do know that the gun is a different model than the Russians.

25gr of black sounds pretty close to what a 44 Special holds IIRC.
 
No, the 44 American cartridge used an outside-lubed, heeled bullet. The bullet diameter was identical to the 44 Russian/44 special/44 Magnum, but the case was a small diameter due to the heel bullet. The only bullet today that I'm aware of that is the old outside-lubed, heeled style is the 22 rimfire bullets. When S&W was requested by the Russian Government to modify the cartridge and bullet to put the lube grooves inside the case, it was a good idea and today all cast bullets are like that.
 
The Winchester catalogue lists 25 grains. However that would have been with the old, balloon head cases. Modern home made cases like Mike Venturino used only permitted 21 grains of FFFg, FFg and Cartridge black powder. I'm sure that if you weighed the powder from the cartridge that you pulled the bullet out of, it would be quite a bit more than just 15 grains. Don't forget that the powder would have been compressed, and the balloon head case has more capacity down around the base, so it might look like less than 25 grains.
 
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