TomH Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) Hey all: Dad and I got out today to do some detecting. Unfortunatly....the rain wiped the road out going up the hill and I didn't want to chance getting high centered by sliding into the gullys that were carved in it.So....plan B...what was plan B....oh yah, Just go find another wash somewhere. Hit a couple of new spots and found lots of old lead and a interesting casing.Its 40 cal. and is a rimfire with two hammer hits on it 180 deg. apart. It has a H stamped on it from the inside. The other thing is also 40 cal butis pretty small and I cant see it flying through the air very well.Anyone know what these items are. Im thinking the casing is from Wyatt Erp or Billy the kid. I may be wrong though. Really awesome weather out there. Go detecting!Tom H. Edited January 10, 2016 by TomH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilishjim Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Hornady ? or Hopalong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Tom, I was trying to get to a spot I know there is nice gold. Just beyond the sign they stopped grading, and my truck was sliding everywhere in L4.... MISSION ABORTED Shot taken at 6700 feet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newriverblake Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Hey Tom, I have found the same case before, I know that the H stands for Henry but I don't know much more than that, Cool finds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwaysdirty Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Definitely Wyatt Earps casing. Glad you guys got out Tom. You'll get'm next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Tom, The cartridge is either a Henry or Winchester, the length of the cartridge will have to be known for a correct ID. I'm also confused if it's indeed a .40 caliber, the only firearms that had dual firing pins were the Henry, the 1866 Winchester and the Swiss Vetterli 10.4mm Repeating Rifle, the Henry and the 1866 Winchester both were chambered in .44 caliber and later in .44-40, the Vetterli was right at .41 caliber but the cartridge for it shouldn't have a H head stamp, the length of the cartridge and confirmation of the caliber will tell the tale of which firearm fired the cartridge you found.​Also the Henry cartridges were known for bulging at the bottom as shown on your cartridge because of the weak construction, which leads me to believe it's a Henry cartridge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilishjim Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 maybe Doc Holiday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Tom, The cartridge is either a Henry or Winchester, the length of the cartridge will have to be known for a correct ID. I'm also confused if it's indeed a .40 caliber, the only firearms that had dual firing pins were the Henry, the 1866 Winchester and the Swiss Vetterli 10.4mm Repeating Rifle, the Henry and the 1866 Winchester both were chambered in .44 caliber and later in .44-40, the Vetterli was right at .41 caliber but the cartridge for it shouldn't have a H head stamp, the length of the cartridge and confirmation of the caliber will tell the tale of which firearm fired the cartridge you found.​Also the Henry cartridges were known for bulging at the bottom as shown on your cartridge because of the weak construction, which leads me to believe it's a Henry cartridge.Interesting Skip.It is .825 thous long.It could be a 44. the top is slightly bent so I could not get a good measurement.TksTom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newriverblake Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I think your right Tom I have 3 of those cases and they are all a little bent too but, 44 cal is close on my calipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Interesting Skip.It is .825 thous long.It could be a 44. the top is slightly bent so I could not get a good measurement.TksTomBeing that it's .825 long, that would confirm it's a Henry cartridge, if it's is .44 caliber, you can measure the rim/base of the cartridge, if it's a Henry .44 caliber the rim should measure right at ,52-inch.The later 1866 Winchester used a longer cartridge because of as you pointed out the shorter cartridge of the Henry didn't have enough powder to give the .44 round the power it should have.The H stands for New Haven Arms Company which made the Henry rifle and the ammo and was later rename to Winchester by Oliver Winchester who was a major stock holder in New Haven Arms Company, the H head stamp was kept because of the reputation of the New Haven Arms Company's ammo.The reason for the dual firing pin was because of the poor reliability/distribution of the primer within the rimfire cartridge which was prone to misfiring, there have been cartridges found with 4 firing pin marks, where the cartridge misfired even with the dual firing pin and was re-loaded and fired successfully the second time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newriverblake Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I think there .44 Henry cartridges, from what I have seen on Google the double firing pin was because the primer system sucked it was fulminated Mercury and the extra firing pin gave it a better chance of going off. But I very well could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I think there .44 Henry cartridges, from what I have seen on Google the double firing pin was because the primer system sucked it was fulminated Mercury and the extra firing pin gave it a better chance of going off. But I very well could be wrong.Blake you are correct, I was editing my post as you posted to add that info along with some other facts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Being that it's .825 long, that would confirm it's a Henry cartridge, if it's is .44 caliber, you can measure the rim/base of the cartridge, if it's a Henry .44 caliber the rim should measure right at ,52-inch.Spot on at .52 well at least that mystery is solved!..I wonder what that other thing that I found was....Its copper clad.Anyhooo....even though we didn't find any yellow stuff today, we found a LOT of old lead and stuff others have missed...............so...if there was yellow stuff there, Dad and I would have got it Just a great day out.Tom H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 I think your right Tom I have 3 of those cases and they are all a little bent too but, 44 cal is close on my calipers.What the hay....was this guy just going all over blasting stuff up!?? Tom H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 What the hay....was this guy just going all over blasting stuff up!?? Tom H.Probably shooting it out with injuns or bandidos!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Boy Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 He must have been everywhere! I have a couple of those as well.AJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Ewwww....do you have deforsters on your gloves? :PTom H.Tom, I was trying to get to a spot I know there is nice gold. Just beyond the sign they stopped grading, and my truck was sliding everywhere in L4.... MISSION ABORTED Shot taken at 6700 feet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugget108 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Skip is correct. We actually find alot of them up here where we hunt the gold and coins. I have never found one until I moved up here. It was special ammo for the Henry rifles at the time. There is alot of interesting info on the web. I didn't know anything about them until last year.Dan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ4AU Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Being that it's .825 long, that would confirm it's a Henry cartridge, if it's is .44 caliber, you can measure the rim/base of the cartridge, if it's a Henry .44 caliber the rim should measure right at ,52-inch.Spot on at .52 well at least that mystery is solved!..I wonder what that other thing that I found was....Its copper clad.Anyhooo....even though we didn't find any yellow stuff today, we found a LOT of old lead and stuff others have missed...............so...if there was yellow stuff there, Dad and I would have got it Just a great day out.Tom H.That copper clad thing would be called a penny, Tom. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mn90403 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 You go Skip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeJ Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Glad you guys got out yesterday !!Cool finds.... We took the kids to play in the snow... Awesome weather yesterday.... Enjoy it while it lasts !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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