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Home of the Old Ammo Guy's Virtual
Cartridge Trading Table Featuring a wide range of antique, obsolete, and modern ammunition for collectors Picture Page August 2008 An very uncommon .41 revolver cartridge......
The United States Cartridge Company produced a relatively unknown cartridge
they called the .41 Colt Extra Short Centre Fire, which was listed as
adapted to 'Colt's Revolvers'. It is included in their 1891 and 1908
catalogs, so it was available at the very least between these two dates,
although I suspect it was developed earlier than 1891. The U.S.C. Co. 1881
catalog and an
bullet - .408" case mouth - .408" base - .408" rim - .440" case length - .608" overall length - .925"
The second cartridge in the picture is a typical U.S.C. Co. .41 Short Double Action with an outside lubricated bullet and a rounded copper primer. It was developed for use in Colt's Model 1877 Lightning double action revolver. Its dimensions are: bullet - .405" case mouth - .408" base - .408" rim - .433" case length - .622" overall length - 1.082"
The third cartridge in the picture is an early U.S.C. Co. .41 Short Single Action, developed for use in Colts Model 1874 New Line single action revolver. This one also has an outside lubricated bullet, a high copper content unheadstamped case and a rounded copper primer, but its rounded head indicates that it was made sometime earlier that the .41 Extra Short. The dimensions of this cartridge are: bullet - .408" case mouth - .406" base - .408" rim - .464" case length - .632" overall length - 1.088"
The cases of all three cartridges are similar. The difference in the case lengths doesn't mean a whole lot, as I believe chambers of the Colt .41 revolvers were bored straight through, allowing the use of short and long as well as inside and outside lubricated versions of the various .41 cartridges with their confusing assortment of case lengths interchangeably. Contrary to my initial reasoning and the information in Brandt and White & Munhall, however, the rim of the extra short case more closely matches the double action cartridge rather than the single action. This is a critical dimension, because the Colt double action revolvers had chambers that were closer together than those of the single action revolvers. Consequently, the rims of adjacent cartridges would interfere with each other and not allow the second cartridge to be fully chambered if one attempted to use single action cartridges in a double action revolver.
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A closer look at Smith & Wesson loading tools:
. .
. .
Several years ago, I included on one of my picture pages photos of the set
of .32 S&W reloading tools shown above. It was made by or for Smith &
Wesson between 1880 and 1889. These reloading tool sets were
made in .32, .38, and .44 caliber; prices for the three calibers on a March
1, 1883 advertising brochure were $1.50, $1.75, and $3.00
The instructions for using the loading set are printed on a label on the top of the box.
. . . .
There are no other labels or markings on the box to indicate what cartridge the tools are intended for, or that they were made or sold by Smith & Wesson, nor is there any evidence that there ever were any other labels. The tools give no clue as to their caliber or their maker, as none of them is marked in any way.
I recently picked up another partial set of .32 S&W loading tools, also
missing the mallet and powder measure, as well as the box and the wood
primer punch. Two bullet molds were included with these tools. Aside
from showing the effects of much more use and abuse,
Remington Arms Company sold a line of reloading tool sets that was nearly identical to the Smith & Wesson tools. They are so much alike that it is possible both companies obtained them from the same source, receiving them in generic boxes and adding their own labels prior to selling them. The different arrangements of the case priming hole and screws can't be used to distinguish between Smith & Wesson and Remington molds, as this tooling apparently was not standardized for Smith & Wesson, and possibly not for Remington as well. The general consensus among the reloading tool collectors is that the rounded handle ends would indicate a Remington tool. In addition, it is generally understood that Smith & Wesson tolls were not marked. The presence of the .32 on the second mold, coupled with its rounded handle ends, might indicate that it is a Remington product. . .
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I used a set of these tools to seat one of the bullets; a newly cast bullet and the loaded cartridge are shown here. Pushing the bullet through the loading die sizes it prior to seating it in the case. Only that portion of the bullet below the lubricating groove is sized, and measures .315" after the process. Just above the groove, the bullet measures 308". Once the bullet is seated in the case, this .308" measurement is all that is available when determining dimensions of the cartridge unless the bullet is removed from the case to expose the portion below the groove for measuring. Note the similarity of the loaded cartridge shown here and the .32 S&W cartridge illustrated in the lower right corner of the 1883 brochure above. It should be pointed out that all of the earliest .32 and .38 Smith & Wesson cartridges used grooved, externally lubricated bullets. This is contrary to the information provided in Chuck Suydam's U.S. Cartridges and Their Handguns, which states that both cartridges when introduced were inside lubricated. Because the earliest of these cartridges were unheadstamped, they cannot be distinguished from the 'actual' .32 and .38 Merwin & Hulbert cartridges once they are removed from their boxes. At the point that headstamps came into use in the mid-to-late 1880s, the transition to internally lubed, ungrooved bullets on factory loaded .32 and .38 Smith & Wesson cartridges had already been made. The Merwin & Hulbert cartridges never made this transition, and continued to use the grooved externally lubed bullets until the end of their production in the early 1900s. . .
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1882 advertising broadside do not include the
it.
The picture here was taken from the 1891
catalog, and shows both the .41 Short and the Extra Short. The double action
cartridges are designated as such and listed separately in the catalogs,
which would lead one to assume that the extra short cartridge was originally
intended for use in Colt's single action revolvers. In support of this
assumption, Jacob Brandt (Manual of Pistol and Revolver Cartridges) and
White and Munhall (Pistol and Revolver Cartridges) include the .41 Extra
Short Colt as another name for the .41 Short Colt Single Action. The U.S.C. Co. catalogs indicate
that the cartridge was loaded with a 130 grain bullet and 20 grains of
(black) powder, compared with the 165 grain bullet and 22 grain powder
charge of the .41 short. I have found no evidence that any other company
offered the .41 Extra Short cartridge. Winchester did produce a cartridge that is loaded with a short blunt-nosed 130 grain bullet and
20 grains of black powder, but it has a longer case and is listed as the .41
Long center fire in their 1879 catalog and simply the .41 center fire in later
catalogs.
A group of cartridges were included in a recent on-line
auction, all matching with folded head unheadstamped cases, copper primers,
and short blunt-nose, belted bullets, which were described as .41 Extra Short
cartridges made by the United States Cartridge Company. The cartridge on the
left in this picture is one of those cartridges from the auction. The cases have high copper content typical of early U.S.C.
Co. cases, and the rounded primers are copper. I pulled one of the outside
lubricated bullets and it weighed 126 grains.
Dimensions are as follows:
Shown
here is a picture of a box for these cartridges, which Brian Clark was kind
enough to send to me. It probably dates from sometime in the 1880s. The box
label states that the cartridges were intended to be used in Colt's
This
second picture was taken from the December, 1980 issue of the Gun Report
magazine, and was brought to my attention by Otto Witt. The box label
appears to be an exact duplicate of the label on the other box. including the
RIFLE CARTRIDGES over-label. As far as I know, a headstamped example of this
cartridge has not come to light, suggesting that production was so limited
as to not warrant the expense of a headstamp bunter. Consequently, it is
probable that only a single printing run of the labels was made; if that
assumption is correct, then all of the labels for this particular cartridge
will be the same. This second picture also shows the cartridge, which
matches the cartridge pictured above, as well as an insert that was in the
box indicating that the cartridge was intended as a target load. The
reduced powder charge and lighter bullet would be expected on
a short range, target load. 
respectively.
I have included a portion of the 1883 brochure here that illustrates the
loading set. It appears I am missing two of the pieces, the mallet and the
powder measure. An 1888 Smith & Wesson broadside also has the loading set
illustrated, and indicates that the prices were unchanged for the .32 and
.38 sets; the price or the .44 set had dropped to $2.75, and $2.50 was now being
charged for a set of tools for the .320 revolving rifle cartridge. 
neither
matched my original mold in other ways. My original mold is at the top of each of
these pictures that show all sides of the three molds. The most obvious
difference in the molds is in the placement of the hole where the empty case
is inserted for repriming. On the first two molds this hole is in the right
half (when viewed from the handle end with the sprue side up). On the
opposite side from this hole is a screw that seats the new primer. This
screw can be adjusted to ensure that the primer is seated to the proper
depth in the head
of the cartridge case. There are also a couple of small differences in the
first two molds, these being the more rounded shape of the handle ends of
the 
second
mold, and a '32' stamped just ahead of the primer seating screw head, also
on the second mold. 
This
picture of the interiors of the molds provides a better perspective of the
placement of the priming hole and screw on each. More interesting, however,
are the matching bullet cavities of all three. I cast bullets using all
three of the molds and found that they produce matching bullets weighing about 94 grains. These
bullets are considered to be of the 'Merwin & Hulbert style', having a
deep grease groove which is positioned just above the case mouth when the
bullet is seated in the case. According to the loading instructions, the
bullet would be dipped in melted beef tallow after it was seated, filling
the groove and providing lubrication to the bore of the barrel when the
cartridge is fired. While the second mold has non-Smith & Wesson
characteristics, the fact that it produces the same
bullet as the other two would suggest that it is not a Remington mold. I'm not aware that
Remington produced any firearms chambered for the .32 S&W cartridge in significant enough numbers as to warrant
their stocking reloading tools in this caliber. 
