THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR'S EXCHANGE

Contents

Home

General Info

Ordering Info

Contact us

Cartridge Lists
Patent & Miscellaneous
US Rim Fire
US Center Fire Pistol

US Center Fire US Rifle
Metric
British

Shotgun Shells

Pictures

Posters

Contact us

Links to Other Sites     

Cartridge Collectors Organizations:
IAA
ECRA
SAAACA

Auctions:
Auction Arms
E-Bay
Ward's Collectibles
Sold USA

Books:
Armory Publications
WCF Publications

Other Collector's Sites:
Curtis Steinhauer

Home of the Old Ammo Guy's Virtual Cartridge Trading Table


Picture Page

June 2004


Anatomy of a .45-70 Morse Pattern cartridge...

I picked up this tired box of .45-70 Morse 'removeable head' cartridges (official name "Caliber 45 Rifle Cartridge, Morse Pattern, 1886") in an auction recently. The cartridges are headstamped 'F  1  87' and the top of the box is date stamped January 9 (?) 1887. It was a partially filled box, which was fine with me, as I seldom break up a full box of collectible cartridges, but have no problem taking the cartridges from a partial box to list individually in my trade stock on the web page. The box was almost entirely covered with clear tape to hold it together. After half an hour of work with a hair dryer to soften the adhesive and a knife to lift the edges of the tape, I think it turned out quite presentable with minimal loss of the label. Unfortunately, the adhesive from the tape darkened the paper, as can be clearly seen in the picture. This second picture shows the components of the case from one of the cartridges that came from this box. The case is made up of three parts, these being the removeable head, a light colored rubber seal, and the hull, which is essentially a tube with a flange formed at the base. The case and head were made of tinned brass, rather than Bloomfield gilding metal, a copper alloy that had been the standard for military cartridge production up to that time. The rubber seal fits down inside the removable head (a line can be seen on the side of the seal where it fit against the upper edge of the head), and when the head is slipped into place, it covers the narrow gap between the head and the hull to prevent the escape of gases when the cartridge is fired. I was surprised to find that the seal was still 'rubbery' after 117 years. Apparently, these seals were good for more than one one shot, and the cartridge case was only disassembled when it was apparent that the head was leaking when the cartridge was fired. The Morse pattern cartridge was produced by the Frankford Arsenal in limited numbers beginning in1886. Known headstamps include F 8 86, F 9 86, F 10 86, F 11 86, F 1 87, and F 2 87. There is also a 'MODEL 1886' headstamp on experimental versions of the cartridge, as discussed in Frasca & Hill's book The .45-70 Springfield. Based on its short period of production, one can assume that the Morse Pattern cartridge case did not offer enough benefits to warrant adoption as the standard by the Army. However, they did see use by the troops in the field, as evidenced by the cartridge cases shown in the third picture. These were found together at a site near Alkali Station (now Paxton), a stop along the Union Pacific Railroad on the south side of the North Platte River in Western Nebraska. Both are Morse Pattern cases, and are headstamped F 8 86 and F 9 86. They have been flattened, and were probably intentionally damaged in keeping with General Order No. 13, issued by the War Department on February 16th, 1876,  and intended to prevent serviceable cartridge cases from falling into the hands of the Indians, who were known to reload them using percussion primers. While the removable head was not adopted by the Army as the standard for its ammunition, the tinned brass that was used for the Morse Pattern cartridge cases was found to be stronger and more resistant to corrosion than copper, and was selected for the Pattern 1888 cartridge, the standard production cartridge which made its appearance in October of that year. Because the standard reloading tools caused damage to the rubber seal, a special set of tools had to be constructed at the Frankford Arsenal for reloading the Morse pattern cartridges. Illustrations of these special tools, and the directions for using each of the tools in the reloading process are included in these last two pictures, reproduced from an 1888 Ordnance Department publication.

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v

v


A box of 9mm WW2 Danish Army Revolver Cartridges...

Shown here is a full box of rimmed 9mm cartridges intended for use in the Danish Model 1891 Army Revolver, and manufactured by the Haerens ammunition arsenal in Denmark. Apparently, the revolver was well thought of, as it was still in use during World War 2, as attested to by the 1941 headstamp date and the January 29, 1942 date on the box label. The cartridge is quite similar to the .38 Short Colt, the only significant dimensional difference being that the 9mm case is slightly tapered, measuring .375" at the mouth and .386" at the head, while the .38 Short has a straight case measuring .375". The Danish Model 1891 revolver, shown here, was a cumbersome and somewhat less than attractive handgun that was obsolete long before this box of cartridges was produced for it.