The .44 S&W American / 11x23mmR (commonly called the .44 American) is an American rimmed

centerfire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i. ...

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

cartridge.

Description

Used in the

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a battery electric powered mid-size sedan with a fastback body style built by Tesla, Inc., introduced in 2017. The vehicle is marketed as being more affordable to more people than previous models made by Tesla. The Model ...

, it was introduced around 1869.Barnes, p. 167, ".44 S&W American". Between 1871 and 1873, the .44 Model 3 was used as the standard

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

sidearm. It was also offered in the Merwin Hulbert & Co. Army revolvers. The cartridge used an outside lubricated

heeled bullet A heeled bullet is a bullet that is necked down at its base to allow a projectile the full internal diameter of a gun barrel to fit in a cartridge case of the same or narrower dimension. Heeled bullets mostly disappeared with the advent of smokel ...

, either

Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

or Berdan

priming Priming may refer to: * Priming (agriculture), a form of seed planting preparation, in which seeds are soaked before planting * Priming (immunology), a process occurring when a specific antigen is presented to naive lymphocytes causing them to d ...

, and both

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...

loadings. The heeled bullets make the cartridge incompatible with .44 Russian, .44 Special, and .44 Magnum, which was made larger in diameter and longer to cover the exposed part of the bullet. Its power resembles the .41 Long Colt, .32-20 Winchester,Barnes, ".32-20 Winchester", p. 46. or .44-40 Winchester,Barnes, ".44-40 Winchester", p. 61. and it could be used to hunt small game at short range. The .44 American ceased to be commercially available around 1940. It can be

handloaded Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by manually assembling the individual components (metallic cartridge, metallic/polymer-cased ammunition, polymer case, primer (firearms), primer, propellant and projectile) ...

by shortening and reforming .41 Magnum cases. During the

gunfight at the O.K. Corral The gunfight at the O.K. Corral pitted lawmen against members of a loosely organized group of cattle rustlers and horse thieves called the Cowboys on October 26, 1881. While lasting less than a minute, the gunfight has been the subject of ...

on October 26, 1881,

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

carried an 8-inch Model 3 in .44 American. Earp had received the weapon as a gift from

Tombstone, Arizona Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Prospecting, prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last ...

, mayor and ''

Tombstone Epitaph ''The Tombstone Epitaph'' is a Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone, Arizona, monthly publication that covers the history and culture of the Old West. Founded in January 1880 (with its first issue published on Saturday May 1, 1880), it is the oldest c ...

'' newspaper editor

John Clum John Philip Clum (September 1, 1851 – May 2, 1932) was an Indian agent for the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in the Arizona Territory. He implemented a limited form of self-government on the reservation that was so successful that oth ...

References

Sources

*Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".44 S&W American", in ''Cartridges of the World'', pp. 167 & 177. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".32-20 Winchester" in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 46. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".44-40 Winchester" in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 61. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . {{DEFAULTSORT:44 SandW American Products introduced in 1869 Pistol and rifle cartridges Rimmed cartridges Smith & Wesson cartridges Wyatt Earp

Description

See also

References

Sources