|
THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR'S EXCHANGE |
|
|
Home of the Old Ammo Guy's Virtual
Cartridge Trading Table
Picture Page November 2018 Please note: Unless otherwise indicated, the pictures on this web site are my property, and should not be used by anyone without crediting the source. A UMC .32-40 Bullard cartridge box..... James H. Bullard was granted a patent for his repeating rifle August 16th, 1881 and began production as J. H. Bullard & Company in early 1882, manufacturing both repeating and single shot rifles. In May 1882, the company name was changed to the Bullard Arms Association, then in October 1883 it was changed again to the Bullard Repeating Arms Company. In January 1891, the company went out of business.
In addition to a wide range of popular sporting cartridges of the day, the company chambered it's rifles for seven proprietary cartridges that Bullard designed specifically for his rifles. These included the .32-40-150, .38-45-190, .40-70-232, .40-75-258, .40-90-300, .45-85-290, and the .50-115-300. (The three sets of numbers indicate the caliber, the charge of black powder, and the bullet weight.) None of these Bullard-designed cartridges proved to be very popular with shooters due to the limited production of the rifles that were chambered for them, and they tend to be relatively uncommon today.
The Union Metallic Cartridge Company began listing Bullard cartridges as early as their 1883 or 1884 catalogs; their Bullard line of cartridges included all except the .40-70 Bullard, which was never included in a UMC catalog. Because the Bullard company ceased production in 1891, prior to American firearms manufacturers introducing guns designed to use smokeless powder, the Bullard cartridges were never produced as smokeless loads. Bullard cartridges were no longer listed by UMC after their 1909 catalog. Sometime after the UMC and Remington Arms companies were merged in 1911, production of some of the Bullard cartridges continued to some extent and will be found in early Remington-UMC boxes.
. . . . . . . . . . .
. . This .32-40
Bullard box with it's salmon colored label was probably the only style box
produced by UMC for this
All boxes of Bullard cartridges that I have seen with Remington-UMC labels also contained 20 rounds. These cartridges are usually (if not exclusively) found with UMC headstamps (rather than REM-UMC) indicating that cartridges produced prior to the merger were still being sold.
The .32-40 box
pictured below was probably a source of confusion to Bullard rifle owners
when trying to find ammunition for their rifles after the .32-40 Bullard
cartridge went out of production. The cartridges in this box are
. . . . Sources: General information on the Bullard rifle manufactory under its various names, The Bullard Rifle (In a Nut Shell), Gene Weicht. Ohio Gun Collectors Association, www.ogca.com/thebullardrifle.htm UMC production of Bullard cartridges, UMC cartridge catalogs from the International Ammunition Association reference section, various catalog dates as discussed, http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/ammunition-catalogs Photo of blue label .32-40 Ballard and Bullard box, Down East Antiques & Collectibles,Inc web site, Item #16609, https://www.joesalter.com/category/products/Rare-Blue-UMC-32-40-Ballard-and-Bullard-Empty-box
Photo of .32-40 WCF caliber marking on Bullard target rifle frame, Rock Island Sept 12. 2014 auction, lot 1247, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/62/1247/excellent-bullard-single-shot-target-rifle
Photo of UMC .38-45 Bullard box, Rock Island Auction, May 20th, 2011, Lot 3047, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/52/3074/three-scarce-cartridge-boxes
.
|
cartridge,
as I have never seen another style box in this caliber. Note that this box
held only 10 cartridges. I'm uncertain as to why they would have
held only 10
cartridges,
but as this photo of the end of the box shows, a box would be a comfortable
fit in a pocket while hunting. I have seen four or five of these UMC 10 round
.32-40 Bullard boxes, and all appear to be in very good condition like the
one shown above; perhaps they came from the same source, a quantity of boxes
that were stored together over the years in optimal conditions. I have also
seen a few later-style UMC boxes with rounded corners of Bullard cartridges
in other calibers, including .38-45, .40-75, and .50-115. I've included a
photo of one of
these
later-style UMC boxes of .38-45 Bullard here. These later-style UMC boxes
have all been 20 round boxes.
.32-40 Ballard, also referred to as .32-40 Winchester
(WCF), .32-40 Marlin, and
occasionally .32-40 Savage. They are not .32-40 Bullard cartridges. This is
most obvious when you compare the shape of the cartridge case illustrated on
this box with the one illustrated on the box above. The reference to Bullard
on this box was for Bullard rifles that were chambered for the .32-40
Ballard cartridge rather than the 32-40 Bullard cartridge. Adding to the
confusion
was Bullard's method of marking the caliber on their rifles. Shown in this
photo is the top of the frame on a Bullard single shot target
rifle chambered for the .32-40 WCF (Ballard) cartridge; note the generic caliber
marking of 32 over 40.