For anyone looking for a pretty nice box of 38-44 Target Ammo, Ray Giles has a box of Winchester for sale on his site. I think it is partially full. I already have one or would jump on it.
Ed

Am I missing something?

.38-44 did not come into existence until about 1930 as an uploaded (about +P+) .38 Special. Therefore it can't be pre-1900

I don't think .38-44 ammunition was ever made in a "Target" version. There would be no point in that. One would just use .38 Special wadcutters, etc. for target use.

Do you have the right caliber?

.38-44 Target was for the New Model #3 Target model and was a full cylinder length case with the bullet seated completely within the case.
The 38-44 you are thinking about was the Heavy Duty that was basically a 38 Special built on a .44 (N) frame.

No relation whatsoever between the two. (There was also a .32-44 Target)

.38-44 Target cases and boxes are quite scarce.

__________________
Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

DWalt:
Here is a pic of a box of UMC. Cartridges inside are primed only and have a headstamp of UMC .38-44
Ed

Interesting. I always wondered what this round looked like. I guess it was an early wadcutter of sorts.

Howdy

Here is a scan of an old S&W catalog that illustrates a couple of the old cartridges.

Attached Images

catalogillustration44singleaction02cropped.jpg (67.5 KB, 280 views)

I've got a few loose 32-44's for my NM#3 target, but I havent seen them for a few years. I'll have a look in the ammo drawer.

Thanks Driftwood. A 32 and 38 wadcutter I guess. SDH nice gun. Gotta get me one of those someday and load and shoot that 38 or 32 round. Just for the heck of it.

Actually, it's not a wadcutter. It's a round nose bullet----and perhaps a round ball-----I don't recall. I also don't recall if the round was ever available with a wadcutter bullet. And it's not so much as I don't recall as I never knew one way or the other about that in the first place.

The whole point of the 38/44 round is the case is the same length as the cylinder. And the whole point of that is the bullet leaves the case and is immediately in the barrel----in the rifling. There is no "forcing cone". Specifically, the bullet does not leave the case in the cylinder and then rattle around in that comparatively unconstrained environment, suffering who knows what sort of damage and deformation on its way to the forcing cone and then into the rifling. The system produces vastly superior accuracy to that employed in the typical revolver--------then and now!

Ralph Tremaine

I dont' have any factory loads for mine but I have read that they were loaded with a 146 gr RN of blunt roundnose shape (not the same bullet as for .38 S&W) seated down in the case with 20 grains of black.
There was a gallery load with a round ball way down inside over maybe 5 grains of black. Henry Stebbins said that one was a bad fouler, not enough resistance to cleanly burn even the small charge.

I have made cases for mine out of .357 Maximum trimmed to cylinder length and loaded with a .38 Special roundnose and a powder charge like a .38 Special wadcutter. Say 158 gr RN and 3.2 gr W231.
The brass expands a good deal in the larger chamber but seems not to be a problem with the lilght loads. Not that I shoot it a lot. I have become concerned over shooting it at all with even light nitro loads and will probably try it with black, then retire it to a collection.

.357 trimmed to cylinder length, 20grains of pure black FFFg and a 158 grains RN lubed with natural grease, seated firmly on the powder. Is that close to the original 38-44target load perhaps? It is worth trying. I will report back with results. Thanks....

That's .357 Maximum trimmed to cylinder length; Magnums are shorter than the cylinder.
I never did get around to shooting mine with black before I sold it to a collector. One of the fakes did quite well, though.

I realize this thread is older than dirt, but I was drawn here because Mangosteen gave me a like; and maybe others will be drawn for who knows why. I'm running my mouth here/now to confirm the original load was a 146 grain round nose bullet over 20 grains of fff black----the gallery load was a 70 grain round ball over 6 grains of fff black.

As an aside, I'll tell you the NM #3 is among all the rest of the large frame top-break revolvers (and any small/medium frame top-breaks made before about WWI) to appear on Dave Chicoine's Never Use Smokeless List. (In the event you are not familiar with Mr. Chicoine, suffice it to say he's forgotten more about all this stuff than you or I know------and will ever know!!)

Ralph Tremaine

I'm not following Ralph,
Are you asking or telling?

If you're telling, which cartridge manufacturing company are you referring to?

Murph

Given that there are both Long Strap and Short Strap New Model 3 in Target ( 1 7/16 inch and 1 9/16 inch cylinders ) was the ammo altered in any length after the long strap came around. Almost flush with the cylinder face for accuracy was the design as I understand it for the round casing. If the length was not modified for the long strap version does this mean there is a 1/8 inch shortfall for the Long Strap. Not sure if it makes much difference. Maybe it was just the factory settings for the 44 Russian at the time.

Ralph is that list in his book called Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West. Just bought one on EBay anyways.