AMMUNITION FOR PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS.
Nearly all the modern American pistols and revolvers are made to shoot
metallic cartridges. There are a few fine muzzle-loading duelling and
target pistols in use at the present time, but the great amount of time
necessary to load them, in comparison with the modern breech-loading arms,
makes them unpopular with most of the pistol-shots, and out of the
question for revolvers for military use, where rapidity of firing and
reloading is required. The difference between a muzzle and breech loading
single-shot pistol is apparently the same as the difference between the
two systems of rifles. If loaded a certain way there is no advantage in
one over another. Probably a muzzle-loading pistol, loaded the usual way
of duelling pistols, would show finer work than a breech-loading pistol of
the same weight, length of barrel and bore, loaded with a factory metallic
cartridge. But if two pistols exactly alike, with the exception of one
being a muzzle-loader and the other a breech-loader, were loaded with the
same charge, one being loaded at the muzzle, the other at the breech; but
instead of using a factory metallic cartridge the bullet was seated in the
rifling, and the shell loaded flush to its top, and placed in the chamber,
after the manner of loading the modern breech-loading target rifle,--it
is believed that one pistol would shoot as well as the other. Many of the
foreign target and duelling pistols of recent manufacture are made
breech-loading, and loaded in the manner described. The expert pistol-shot
is well aware that he can secure a great advantage by preparing ammunition
for certain purposes in a manner different from the way the manufacturer
makes it for the trade; but this point will be described later.
With the exception of the pistols alluded to, all modern American pistols
and revolvers take the metallic cartridges, which are produced in enormous
quantities and variety of styles in this country. These cartridges vary in
size, and are known to the trade from .22 to .50 calibre, and contain
charges of powder from 3 grains to 40, and bullets weighing from 30 to 300
grains.
The cartridge companies in America manufacture the following cartridges,
which are used in American pistols and revolvers:--
_Rim-Fire Cartridges._
Conical-ball cartridge for indoors, .22-calibre. .22-calibre: powder, 3
grains; lead, 30 grains. .22-calibre (long): powder, 5; lead, 30.
.25-calibre: powder, 5; lead, 38. .30-calibre: powder, 6; lead, 55.
.30-calibre (long): powder, 9; lead, 55. .32-calibre (ex. short): powder,
6; lead, 55. .32-calibre (short): powder, 9; lead, 82. .32-calibre
(long): powder, 13; lead, 90. .38-calibre (short): powder, 18; lead, 150.
.38-calibre (long): powder, 21; lead, 148. .41-calibre: powder, 13; lead,
130. .41-calibre (long): powder, 16; lead, 130. .44-calibre (short):
powder, 21; lead, 200. .44-calibre: powder, 26; lead, 200. .44-calibre:
powder, 23; lead, 200. .46-calibre: powder, 26; lead, 230.
_Centre-Fire Cartridges._
.22-calibre: powder, 15 grains; lead, 45 grains. .32-calibre Smith &
Wesson: powder, 9; lead, 85. .32-calibre Colt: powder, 12; lead, 90.
.32-calibre (short): powder, 9; lead, 82. .32-calibre (long): powder, 13;
lead, 90. .32-calibre Winchester: powder, 20; lead, 115. .32-calibre Smith
& Wesson rifle and .32-calibre Smith & Wesson, .32-.44: powder, 17; lead,
100. .38-calibre Merwin & Hulbert: powder, 14; lead, 145. .38-calibre
Smith & Wesson: powder, 14; lead, 145. .38-calibre (short): powder, 18;
lead, 130. .38-calibre (long): powder, 21; lead, 148. .41-calibre: powder,
20; lead, 130. .41-calibre Colt's D. A.: powder, 14; lead, 160.
.41-calibre D. A.: powder, 21; lead, 200. .44-calibre Webley: powder, 18;
lead, 200. .44-calibre Bull Dog: powder, 15; lead, 168. .44-calibre Colt:
powder, 23; lead, 210. .44-calibre Smith & Wesson, American model: powder,
25; lead, 205. .44-calibre Smith & Wesson, Russian model: powder, 22;
lead, 235. .44-calibre Winchester: powder, 40; lead, 200. .44-calibre
Merwin & Hulbert: powder, 30; lead, 220. .44-calibre Smith & Wesson,
Russian model, gallery: powder, 7. .44-calibre Smith & Wesson, Russian
model, gallery, round ball: powder, 7. .45-calibre Webley: powder, 20;
lead, 230. .45-calibre Colt's: powder, 35; lead, 260. .45-calibre Smith &
Wesson (Schofield): powder, 30; lead, 250. .50-calibre: powder, 25; lead,
300.
The above list comprises all the metallic cartridges known to the author
which can be found in the market at the time of writing this chapter. Many
of these cartridges are adapted to almost obsolete patterns of pistols and
revolvers, and would never be selected by skilled marksmen to do fine
work, for the reason that both pistol and cartridge are not suitable for
good shooting. We have previously alluded to the great number of cheap,
worthless pistols and revolvers to be found in the American market. Many
of the cartridges are for these arms. We have also mentioned the great
quantity of pistols and revolvers intended for weapons of defence at short
range. Among this list are numerous cartridges for these weapons, and
still others are for the best and most accurate of American pistols and
revolvers; these, with a few for foreign weapons, make up the list.
Among the cartridges largely used in single-shot pistols at the present
time are the following:--
_Rim-Fire Cartridges._
.22-calibre, conical balls; .22-calibre, short.
_Centre-Fire Cartridges._
.32-calibre Smith & Wesson; .32-calibre Colt; .32-calibre (short);
.32-calibre (long); .32-calibre Winchester rifle-cartridge; .32-calibre
Smith & Wesson rifle.
For revolvers no expert marksmen, unless obliged to, would use a rim-fire
cartridge, and the centre-fire cartridges giving the best results are as
follows: .32-calibre Smith & Wesson; .32-calibre Colt; .32-calibre
(short); .32-calibre (long); .32-calibre Smith & Wesson rifle, with round
or conical ball, light and full charge; .32-calibre Smith & Wesson,
.32-.44, Russian model; .38-calibre Merwin & Hulbert; .38-calibre Smith &
Wesson; .38-calibre (short); .38-calibre (long); 41-calibre; .44-calibre
Colt; .44-calibre Smith & Wesson, American model; .44-calibre Smith &
Wesson, Russian model, full charge and light charge, with round or light
conical bullet; .44-calibre Winchester; .45-calibre Webley; .45-calibre
Colt's Army; .45-calibre Smith & Wesson (Schofield). In rim-fire
cartridges the .22-calibre conical-ball cartridge is used in considerable
quantity. It makes very little report and hardly any smoke, and is used
largely by persons desiring practice indoors, where smoke and noise would
be objectionable. Manufacturers claim that this cartridge possesses great
accuracy at short range (ten or fifteen yards), and will not injure the
pistol. It is true that very fine shooting can often be done with this
cartridge, but the explosive substance with which this cartridge is
charged is tremendously powerful, and the slightest variation in the
quantity affects the power of a cartridge, and it is not unusual to get a
wild shot with good holding, and it is not uncommon to have a bullet
lodged in the barrel of the pistol from lack of power in the cartridge
sufficient to force it out. The question of its not injuring a pistol may
be true; but we should hesitate to use them in a pistol we desired to keep
for the finest work, although the sport which can be obtained with these
tiny cartridges tempts many enthusiasts to use them in great quantities.
There are conical ball .22-calibre cartridges in the market with very
thick, irregular heads. In using them there is much danger of premature
discharges, as by closing the pistol the head of the cartridge is jammed,
and an explosion is likely to occur, as they did several times in the
writer's hands. This fact well illustrates the greater danger in handling
rim-fire over centre-fire cartridges. The .22-calibre (short) cartridge is
consumed annually by the million in America by pistol-shooters. It is
probably as accurate, if properly made, as any cartridge in the world up
to a distance of fifty yards. It doubtless will continue in popularity for
many years, for it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a cartridge of
this size to sell for the price this cartridge does, and have it
centre-fire, besides the difficulty of making a primer small enough to fit
a .22-calibre straight shell. In all calibres above .22 the rim-fire
cartridge is fast becoming obsolete, and they are never chosen now for the
expert pistol-shot. The chief faults of the rim-fire cartridges are danger
and unreliability caused by the action of heat on the lubricant. Rim-fire
cartridges can be spoiled by placing them near a hot stove or where great
heat can reach them, or even by placing them in a show-window where the
sun strikes them; and ammunition which would shoot well on leaving the
factory, from the causes mentioned, would be liable to either miss fire or
shoot wild. Centre-fire cartridges are safer to handle, less liable to be
injured by temperature, but far from perfect. The pistols and revolvers
described in this work are probably not absolutely perfect; but it is
believed that they are much nearer so than the ammunition advertised to
use in them. Prominent among the faults in American pistol-cartridges
to-day are the following:--
1. The exterior diameter of the cartridge, instead of the interior
diameter, conforming to the bore of the pistol.
2. The excessive crimping of the shell to hold the bullet.
3. The placing of the lubricant on the exposed part of the bullet, instead
of in cannelures covered by the shell.
4. The want of a proper powder to load the cartridge.
The first fault may properly be laid to the door of the manufacturer of
the arms, which we are glad to say is found mostly in the cheap revolvers.
The second fault is being overcome by cartridge-makers, and, as a result,
better shooting is being done.
The third fault has taken the writer a long time to correct. The
Government Ordnance Board wisely saw this fault, and made the Government
revolver cartridge with no exposed lubricant. The Winchester model, 1873,
rifle cartridge has no outside lubricant. This is one reason why the Colt
frontier revolver is the favorite arm of thousands of frontiersmen, when
experiments would probably convince the most sceptical that the Russian
model cartridge as a charge possesses far greater accuracy, and if in the
hands of a battalion of cavalry would show much better results than the
army cartridge or the .44 Winchester. The Smith & Wesson Russian model
cartridge was designed by officers of the Russian government, but why they
decided to have an outside lubricant the writer could never conceive.
This cartridge, in a Smith & Wesson revolver, in cold weather, if shot
slowly out of doors, will foul a revolver to such an extent as to disable
it; and as Russia is a cold country, it would seem easy to imagine the
difficulty likely to arise from this cause. The writer, perceiving this
fault in the Russian model cartridge, visited the factory of the Union
Metallic Cartridge Co. and suggested a change. The superintendent of the
works immediately invited the writer to the testing-room, where fifty
shots were fired rapidly without cleaning, and the result offered as proof
of the excellence of the cartridge. It was suggested that a box be placed
out of doors, it being a cold day, which was done, and after a brief time
the cartridges were shot slowly, and before the box was half consumed the
revolver could not be cocked, from the excessive fouling. This
enterprising company at once saw the fault in this cartridge, and in a
short time the writer had the pleasure of receiving a box of the new
cartridges, with no outside lubricant, which, upon testing, were found
much cleaner; and it is believed that twenty, or perhaps more, of these
new cartridges can be fired in a Smith & Wesson revolver, and accurate
shooting secured. The improvement was so apparent that this company
discontinued the old manner of making this cartridge, and manufacture
their entire product of this cartridge with no exposed lubricant; and
other companies are to follow their example.
All ammunition which is intended to be carried in a belt or the pocket
should have no outside lubricant. When the exposed part of the bullet is
freely lubricated it is likely to become detached on one side, and
experiments have shown that a bullet, with grease on one side only, will
not shoot accurately; and we shall not be surprised later to see
cartridges for smaller calibres made with an increased number of
cannelures and no exposed lubricant. The chief trouble with revolver
ammunition to-day is its excessive fouling from the grease and powder. By
firing bullets into soft snow from a revolver which has been shot a few
times, the investigator will find a ragged bullet, which shows how it
raked over the adamantine-like crust which adheres to the inside of a
revolver-barrel, which impairs its accuracy; therefore the fine shot
cleans his revolver about once in every ten shots, if shooting the full
charge. We have seen frontiersmen who stated they seldom clean their
revolver except when they go hunting for a victim; but, as these
individuals never did what is now called fine shooting, and the man who
cleans his revolver as often as every ten shots puts ten consecutive shots
in a four-inch bull's-eye at thirty yards, it is evident that keeping a
revolver clean is conducive to good marksmanship.
Most shooters believe a great improvement will, before long, be made in
powder, and it is thought that this will lessen the fouling of revolvers;
but this difficulty is not likely to be wholly overcome.
Newly-made ammunition is more desirable than old, if great accuracy is
desired; hence many marksmen prefer to load their own ammunition, the mode
of which will be found in another chapter.