Little Bighorn
June 26th, 1876
Winchester 73's Used at The Battle of The Little Bighorn
25 Cartridge cases that link to 11 Rifles used by the Indians
1984 Survey, pg 61&63
- Glemmed from Archaeological Insights into the Custer Battle, An Assessment Of The 1984 Field Season -by Douglas Scott
Rifles Represented, #1 thu #7
Custer Battlefield
14 Cases Found, FS#
1. 108, 634
2. 109, 1527
3. 646, 1710
4. 1335, 1621, 1771
5. 1749, 1821
6. 1770, 1776
7. 1763
1987 Survey, pg 106&166
- Glemmed from Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn -by Douglas Scott
Rifles Represented, #8 and #9
Reno-Benteen Defense
7 Cases Found, FS#
7. 4654, 4655
8. 2240, 2258, 2259, 2267, 4983
2004 Survey
- Glemmed from a 2006 Archaeological Mitigation -by Douglas Scott
Rifles Represented, #10 and #11
4 Cases Found
9. 9612 (Reno-Benteen Defense), 9730 (Custer Battlefield) **noted to match 1749
10. Location not noted, 9624
11. Location not noted, 9801
1. Noted are 11 rifles, but if case FS9730 matches case FS1749 (2006 Mitigation Report), wouldn’t that represent the same rifle as well as those two cases that match to FS1821? If so, should't this account for 10 rifles...not 11...or did I miss something?
2. It was not noted were cases FS9624 and FS9801 were found.
Custer Battlefield Area Only! Artifact location chart from Archaeological Insightes.......~Scott - 1987
Underestimating the range and accuracy of the 44 Henry and 44-40 cartridges
44 Henry - 108 Rifles (Henry and Model 1866') Represented
58 rifles represented at Custer Battlefield
46 rifles represented at Reno/Benteen Battlefield
4 rifles represented at both battlefields
44-40 - 12 Rifles (Model of 1873') Represented
7 rifles represented at Custer Battlefield
3 rifles represented at Reno/Benteen
1 rifle represented at Weir Point
1 unknown
44 WCF Cartridge Case Log ~ Bryan Austin - 2021
April 2022, 44-40, 1,350fps, 37 hits @ 265 yards, Uberti Winchester 73'
The below target shows "Hit" placements from three different firearms.
The larger red box, real time hits, are from my 265 yard 44-40 original velocities, but using smokeless powder.
The white box shows replicated hits from Swiss sharpshooters using the Winchester Model 1866, during the 1866 Switzerland Trials in Switzerland.
The blue dots shows replicated hits from John Korts reduced load 44-40 to replicate the 44 Henery;s 1,125fps velocities.
The below images show both location over-lays [LSH and Reno-Benteen] of 44 cal cartridge cases and bullets. Although they do not seem to merge on troops from Last Stand Hill or Deep Ravine, they certainly do seem to have played an extreme roll from Greasy Grass Ridge following Co. C back up Calhoun Ridge to Calhoun Hill as well as pushing what was left of them, to include Co. I, back toward Last Stand Hill. I feel this defeat at Calhoun Ridge, Calhoun Hill and the retreat towards Last Stand Hill (with the loss of 100+- troops) was a major turning point to loosing Last Stand Hill. Dr Douglas Scott personally emailed me the color maps. THANK YOU Dr. Scott!!!!!!!!
Contrary to the text in the box, this image shows the locations of 44 cal Henry cartridge cases recovered from 1984 to 2004. The green dots are Troop's grave markers.
Same area as the aforementioned photo but this shows the location of recovered 44 cal bullets.
44's used at the battle.
Above shows the more likely paths taken to Last Stand Hill from Ford B (the river) by Custer's left wing. Custer was reported stopped at the river by 9 or 10 warriors like White Cow Bull, who had a Repeater. After Custer's troops headed back north, the warriors followed. Also quick to follow was Crazy Horse and many warriors. Custer's HQ, F and G columns reported to be at the Ford B crossing, then split into two as the moved north towards LSH. Right Wing Companies C, E and I came in from the south east to Calhoun hill by way of NYE-Cartwright ridge. C advanced down to Calhoun Ridge by Greasy Grass ridge and retreated back to CH. What was left of C merged with E and I and were nearly wiped out while retreating to LSH. 100 troops lost from the right wing before LSH. Many lost from the left wing before reaching LSH. 45 reported dead at LSH while another 28 were reported grouped together in Deep Ravine (not marked) but downhill back to the river from LSH. The Repeaters played a vital roll in this battle.
Reno-Benteen really took a beating from everything the warriors could shoot at them throughout the night and all of the next day. Because of the distances to the south and southeast, much focus was on the closer distances from the bluffs. Some warriors close enough to throw dirt clots at the troops, most 44 shots seem to be from 100 to 200 yards.
Possibly the oldest known 44 WCF cartridge cases. pre-1877.
It is reported that; "Some cartridge cases [found on the Custer Battlefield] were made of Bloomfield Gilding metal (essentially hardened copper), but soon went to brass. That brass is not the bright brass used since around 1885 or so, but a slightly more coppery colored brass." (Scott 2018)
More Catalog testimonials,
"The records show that all decisive actions of history, with muzzle-loaders, have been fought with a distance not exceeding 50 to 150 yards. Making all possible allowance for improvement in modern arms of precision, 500 yards will more than cover the distance at which decisive conflicts will be fought". ~1875 Winchester Catalog
This image from Scott's 2006 Final Report shows;
Item C. is claimed to be a 44 WCF case of the Mibank primer design. However, a size comparison shows that the example case is too long to be a Milbank primed case.
This could be FS9612 which was located near the Reno-Benteen area and matched another case, FS9730, that was located at the Custer Battle Field...probably either in Greasy Grass Ridge or "Henryville".
It is also worth noting item d, a 45 Colt cartridge that would be of the folded head type design.
Books by Douglas D Scott
Archaeological Insights Into the Custer Battle: An Assessment of the 1984 Field Season - 1987
Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn - 1989
Uncovering History: Archaeological Investigations at the Little Bighorn - 2004
**Scott notes that during the 2004 survey, twenty-one .44-caliber bullets were recovered. They were not able to distinguish which bullets, if any, came from any of the Winchester 73 rifles because the 44 Henry, Winchester 66'and 73' used the same 200gr bullets. They discovered 5 different designs...Flatbase-flat nose, flatbase-crimping groove, raised base, recessed base and the two ring flat base. Scott also notes that the 21 bullets recovered in the 04' survey basically duplicated the 252 bullets in the 84' survey.
"We found many of the 220 grain bullets with 6 right land and groove impressions indicating they had been fired in either a Henry, Model 1866, or a Winchester M1873. The bullets, as you know, and the rifling are indistinguishable in these guns. We found many that had hit at high velocity suggesting they were fired from relatively short ranges. We have little direct evidence of their effectiveness, but there is one case in particular, where a .44 bullet found its mark. We recovered a nearly complete skeleton of a soldier in one of our marker excavations. His remains were overlooked by the later reburial parties. There is evidence on his ribs of a bullet passing through from right to left. Perhaps coincidentally, there is a fragment of a bullet embedded in his left arm bone, near the wrist. The bullet is impact damaged, but could easily be .44-caliber." (Scott 2018) I believe this to be the remains found at Marker 128 and described in Scott's book, Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, page 76-78. I thought I saw a photo of the lodged bullet in the wrist but can't seem to find it".
I will continue to read the three books and one on-line article sources for any additional information. Somewhere I saw something about a rifling twist rate but it must not have been to important for me not to make note of it. I will recheck.
These examples should be 44 Henry bullets. The photos show what should be 44 Henry bullets recovered from the Bighorn site. They are either 225 gr. Henry bullets or early 2xxgr 44-40 bullets. Notice the groove designs.....my bet would be 44 Henry. The two bullets to the left are enlarged in the second photo. Of the two, the bullet on the left is obviously Heeled, (below the first two driving bands).
The bullet to the right seems to be of the same design but the rifling embedded into the lead looks different and the heel, if any, is not visible. I can not tell if the rifling is right or left handed but could very well be a recovered 44-40 bullet.
