🔎 UNIDENTIFIED What type of bullet was this?

[Casey13]

Hi everyone,
I dug this old shell cartridge detecting in an old wooded area late this afternoon out near where I work. I haven’t dug a shell cartridge this size and was wondering what type of bullet it was. I included an old dropped .45 bullet I found a couple years back for size reference. I forgot my calipers at work to take measurements.
Thank you for looking!

 

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[smokeythecat]

Since it's a rim fire and obviously larger than a .22, it could easily be 19th century

 

[DizzyDigger]

I'm not positive it's a shell casing..there's no primer or primer hole, nor is there any type of rimfire mark present.

There were some larger caliber rimfire cartridges (up to .58), but the case and rim dimensions don't seem to fit any.

 

[pepperj]

From the photos I can't make out if shows where it had been fired.
Maybe you can find what it is on this link/or ask the author

THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

 

[pistol-pete]

Without further measurements, it appears to be a 41 Swiss rimfire caseing. Basing that on the slight bottleneck. About thr only caliber that had that. Further measuements could verify or disprove that.
10.4x38R Swiss Vetterli Rifle 1870's

 

[Casey13]

Since it's a rim fire and obviously larger than a .22, it could easily be 19th century

It definitely came out of the ground looking of that age.

 

[Casey13]

I'm not positive it's a shell casing..there's no primer or primer hole, nor is there any type of rimfire mark present.

There were some larger caliber rimfire cartridges (up to .58), but the case and rim dimensions don't seem to fit any.

Thank you DizzyDigger.

 

[Casey13]

From the photos I can't make out if shows where it had been fired.
Maybe you can find what it is on this link/or ask the author

THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

Thanks pepperj. That’s true, it’s hard to tell where it had been fired.

 

[Casey13]

Without further measurements, it appears to be a 41 Swiss rimfire caseing. Basing that on the slight bottleneck. About thr only caliber that had that. Further measuements could verify or disprove that.
10.4x38R Swiss Vetterli Rifle 1870's

Thank you pistol-pete. The 41 Swiss rimfire casing looks to resemble it the most so far.
I tried to measure it with some calipers today. It’s pretty beat up so it’s hard to get an accurate measurement.

 

[Retired Sarge]

Old photo, and the ammo is packed away so I can't get measurements of it. Here's a Swiss 41 (L) aka 10.4x38 round from my collection, next to a Snider-Enfield (R) round. The Snider-Enfied round is close in size to a 24 gauge shell.

Plus here's one example of a Swiss Vetterli rifle from my collection. This is a 1879 Model 1869/1871.

 

[BAW]

It would simplify matters if you could clean it enough see whether it has a rectangular dent on the rim, showing it to be rimfire, or a round dent in the center, showing it to be a copper inside-primed centerfire of the Benet type.
Pistol Pete has demonstrated his expertise again by suggesting it might be a .41 Swiss rimfire, which is something I would not thought of finding in the U.S. It is entirely possible, though. Around 1900 or thereabouts a number of Swiss rimfire military rifles, with appropriate ammunition, were imported into the U.S. for use as inexpensive hunting rifles. They were even available through the Sears and Roebuck mail order catalog.

 

[Gare]

What about a 44 Henry ?

 

[VaGent]

At first glance to me it looks like a Spencer cartridge casing. Is it actually tapered at the open end, or just deformed? Fired ones are almost always bent at the discharge end.

 

[pistol-pete]

Spencer Ctgs are under an inch long, except those loaded with shot are about the same size as this Ctg. Which is another possibility. Hopefully you can clean off the base and see if or what headstamp is there. If a SWISS CROSS case cloesd or U. P. H. possibly
The book shows the Vetterli Case as being 1.500 long and 1.540 at the base and my specimen is the same. Since this case is deformed and eroded. GUESS