✅ SOLVED I found a U.M.C. 45-70 shell yesterday

[tamrock]

Yesterday morn I took my dogs out for their walk. I lived in this neighborhood for 26+ years and have found great pleasure over the years picking up relics at the open space to the east of my house. Over the years I found many relics of the past. The town I live in is Lafayette, Colorado and it was a coal mining district up to the 1970's. When I first moved here the old fella two houses down was a dusted up old coal miner who I'd sit and watched TV with and shoot the bull as I was a hard rock guy and he a coal miner. I remember he had on his coffee table set with UMW magazines as reading material set out. Ed was his name an ol' Ed died maybe 3 years after I moved here of the black lung. I'm grateful to have known one of the last persons of what this place I live was in the past. Now its all hi-tech whippersnappers. It is a most liberal environment around me today. Thanks be to God I can escape for weeks at a time in my work. I only rest my head here for Mama.

Now for this 45-70 I found... This shell, is most odd to find in this area IMO. I've found in the area of the old coal mine I hunt around some 12 gauge stuff and more modern spent cartridges among many other relics of that era. During the first of the 20th century the mines in the area had labor wars and the Colorado Militia, Colorado National Guard & Federal troops had been sent in to control the situation (miners were killed in this conflict) Most well know was Ludlow in the southern front range. I've looked at as many pictures as I can find on line to see if any of these government military agency's carrier a trap door rife that this would have been shot from I'm thinking?. This area had in what I believe was never a place of good Deer, Elk or and larger game to hunt unless the Buffalo roamed the high arid dry grass lands of what was the past in this land here. I know the Springfield trap door was a military rife and is this a possible military round with these marking? This shell was found next to a hole that's around 8 ft diameter and 5 ft deep. The hole has been there for the 20 + years I've poked around and I now have a thought it may have been dug a fox hole to have an advantage position at this old coal mine site. I'll get my cheap detector over that way soon and search that area of the hole. The button I also found close to the 45-70. It looks like maybe an old Levis rivet (18mm dia. / 0.708 in.) I'll get it cleaned up some and see what it says.

I've posted a google-view link map also of my little place I go, so you all can zoom in and look over the site. I live in the neighborhood area to the east.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/L...2!3m1!1s0x876bf36c78a8c2c3:0x775e73acfeadd604

History of the area labor wars History ? Coal Mining Labor Conflicts |

 

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[Citiboy289]

If I am not mistaken UMC had some connection with Remington

 

[AU Seeker]

I think you may have found a cartridge that maybe older than you think and was used by the military during the Indians wars and made so it couldn't be found and reloaded by Indians.

The Secretary of the War issued an order that all used cartridges be made unusable after finding out the Indians were reloading used cartridges found on the battlefield.

Many soldiers would smash the cartridges flat and then fold it over so it couldn't be straighten out, thus preventing an Indian from being able to reuse the cartridge.

Read the last article at the bottom of this page.

THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

Here's a recreation of the order by the government.

Here's a picture of one such cartridge that was thought to be destroyed per the above order and similar to the one you found.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Tamrock, your UMC (Union Metallic Cartridge Company) .45-70 rifle bullet casing, marked "UMC SH .45-70" dates from about 1885 into the 1890s. The SH means it is a Solid-Head casing. Info on time-dating it is here:
THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR
(Although that webpage is about .45-60 cartridges, the time-dating info about the headstamp-marking applies to your .45-70 casing.)

I doubt your casing was used by a soldier, because the US Army issued Arsenal-made ammunition to its soldiers (such as, Frankford Arsenal cartridges for the .45-70 rifle). See photos and info on that type, here:
THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR
Non-government manufacturers like UMC made ammo for "war surplus" Army rifles which had been sold to civilians for
"sporting" use.

Citiboy289, the Remington Arms Company and the Union Metallic Cartridge Company merged in 1910, becoming the Remington-UMC Company. Prior to that time, they were fierce competitors in the ammunition market.

 

[tamrock]

Thanks! Cannon Ball. It was an unexpected find for the area. Who knows how it ever came to end up where I found it. Could have been a hunter or just a shooter? Maybe a coal miner target practicing with the best rifle he had for a possible gun fight with the state militia. From what I've read, it just took one shot from the rabble rousersing coal miners and it was answered with a quick reply from a Browning M1895 machine gun. Thats how the fighting ended. Miners knew they were outgunned. I did see a photo on ebay that had a WW1 tank in the old main street of Lafayette Colorado, -the town I live in- when the Federal troops showed up. This area had coal mines spotted all over with striking miners on site ready for a fight. Wished I'd a purchased that old photo because I can't find it now on line. I'll call this solved now and a possible piece of local history.

Thats a great little pieces of history you've offered, AU Seeker, but I think this shell casing may be off that possibility of being used by the US Calvary during the Indian wars, unless some of the ammo was provided by a retailer under contract I'm thinking. I'm not discounting the info you provided. This shell is smashed and folded over, but a plow or farm tractor could have also done the same. Who can know for sure the story behind this old 45-70

 

[turtlefoot13]

First, I am in no way contradicting the information that TheCannonballGuy gave you, as he has much more knowledge and information than I. I am just adding to the "confusion" on dating headstamps. Researching and dating headstamps, primarily shotshell headstamps, is a passion of mine.

Original catalogs are not the most accurate way to date headstamps, but are very helpful.

The latest listing that I can find for the "SH" headstamp is in the 1913-1914 Remington UMC (post merger of Remington and the Union Metallic Cartridge Company) catalog. Note that Remington UMC is still showing the UMC SH headstamp.



Adding to the confusion, the 1889 Hartley & Graham Export catalog shows the UMC .45-70 SH headstamp is being listed as a .45-70 Marlin "Grooved Bullet" round.



The 1896 Hartley & Graham catalog shows the UMC SH headstamp as "Winchester and Marlin Metal Cased rounds", "Gould rounds" and "Solid Ball" rounds.



One more thing to add to your find, the very first "SH" headstamps had raised letters. The one that I have in my collection will date to the mid 1880's, according to the Remington historian.



Congratulations on the nice find!
Doug

 

[BosnMate]

There were National Guard units armed with the model 1873, 45-70 Springfield up to and during WWI. Our local museum has pictures
of our home town Nat'l Guard during WWI armed with trapdoor Springfield's. I have no idea if the regular army issued the National Guard
ammunition, or if the State purchased ammo on the open market. But you might do some research to find out what guard units the Governor
called up, and what they were armed with. Isn't the Militia supposed to provide their own weapons? -- which could also account for a Model 73
being there. Is this site the location that a picket fight too place? A model 73 flips the empty brass quite a distance, so I loose an empty every
now and then, but except for the early inside primed ammo, a lot of empty brass was saved for reloading. The orders for the soldiers to destroy
empties involves the early inside primed ammo, once the center-fire reloaded-able cartridges came along, the soldiers collected brass and used the
reloading tools issued to the company to reload their own ammo. This is all re-searchable, I've done it, but it was a long time ago, and that info
isn't at my finger tips now.

 

[tamrock]

There were National Guard units armed with the model 1873, 45-70 Springfield up to and during WWI. Our local museum has pictures
of our home town Nat'l Guard during WWI armed with trapdoor Springfield's. I have no idea if the regular army issued the National Guard
ammunition, or if the State purchased ammo on the open market. But you might do some research to find out what guard units the Governor
called up, and what they were armed with. Isn't the Militia supposed to provide their own weapons? -- which could also account for a Model 73
being there. Is this site the location that a picket fight too place? A model 73 flips the empty brass quite a distance, so I loose an empty every
now and then, but except for the early inside primed ammo, a lot of empty brass was saved for reloading. The orders for the soldiers to destroy
empties involves the early inside primed ammo, once the center-fire reloaded-able cartridges came along, the soldiers collected brass and used the
reloading tools issued to the company to reload their own ammo. This is all re-searchable, I've done it, but it was a long time ago, and that info
isn't at my finger tips now.

The points you mention are some of the very thoughts that went through my mind. The WW1 era CNG having surplus Springfield Mod. 73 does make sense to me. I've looked over many of the photos that come up online over the early events of the 20th century out here in the coalfield of Colorado. I've got two local museums also to go do some research and they've kept a load of info from these events in history from pictures to news paper articles. Some how I have a hunch this shell is a piece of those events. I know there are photos out there one will not see on the internet. I'll be doing some digging and thanks for some good directions to follow. Could there also be any clues found by a close inspection to the firing pin impact strike that would point more to what type of firearm this casing was most likely used in? Would a pin strike of a Marlin lever action 1895 differ from the pin strike of a Trap door Springfield.

 

[BosnMate]

The points you mention are some of the very thoughts that went through my mind. The WW1 era CNG having surplus Springfield Mod. 73 does make sense to me. I've looked over many of the photos that come up online over the early events of the 20th century out here in the coalfield of Colorado. I've got two local museums also to go do some research and they've kept a load of info from these events in history from pictures to news paper articles. Some how I have a hunch this shell is a piece of those events. I know there are photos out there one will not see on the internet. I'll be doing some digging and thanks for some good directions to follow. Could there also be any clues found by a close inspection to the firing pin impact strike that would point more to what type of firearm this casing was most likely used in? Would a pin strike of a Marlin lever action 1895 differ from the pin strike of a Trap door Springfield.

If there is a difference, it would be very slight and I would think hard to figure out. I don't own a Marlin, so have no personal experience.

 

[tamrock]

If there is a difference, it would be very slight and I would think hard to figure out. I don't own a Marlin, so have no personal experience.

I'm sure it would be tough, unless there are some distinct differences such as the diameter between the two pins being clearly different. I watched a show once on a rifle a fella had that family lore said it was used in the Battle of Little Big Horn and with ballistic research it was proven to be so, due to actual spent cartridges found on the battle ground. It was the firing pin fingerprint that proved it. Ever since we had this large amount of rainfall last September that field has revealed some interesting artifacts, such as old broken bottles and items of metal. I did find an old harmonica reed close to this old casing also. I believe just to the south along the fence line was an old home site at one time.