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FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED
REVOLVER AMMUNITION PACKETS - DATED 1882 - 1892 - FOR
THE MODEL 1873 COLT ARMY AND THE MODEL 1875 SCHOFIELD
SMITH AND WESSON PISTOLS: Beginning in 1879,
Frankford Arsenal began manufacturing limited
experimental lots of solid-head, reloading Caliber .45
Revolver Cartridges. After extensive tests, on July 3,
1882, the solid-head, Boxer-primed, copper-cased Caliber
.45 reloading cartridge was adopted as the “Model 1882
Ball Cartridge for Cal. .45 revolver”. Apparently, all
of the production of this ammunition for government use
was done at Frankford Arsenal.
Up through 1885, the cartridges were headstamped with an
"R" at the twelve o'clock position, indicating
"Revolver", however this was the same "R" used in the
rifle cartridge headstamp.
Beginning with May, 1886, the "R" was dropped and these revolver cartridges were
headstamped with an “F” at the twelve o’clock position,
one or two digits denoting the month (i.e. 6 for June,
10 for October, etc.) at the eight o’clock position, and
two digits denoting the last two numerals of the year at
the four o’clock position.
Initially manufactured with copper cartridge cases, the
cartridge case was changed to tinned brass after June
30, 1890, however copper cases have been noted which are
dated as late as December, 1890. The reason for the
change was that tests had shown the brass case to be
less expensive, as well as holding up better than the
copper under repeated reloading. Some brass cased
cartridges appear to have been manufactured without the
tin plating.
One characteristic of these packets that is worth
mentioning here is the overwhelming tendency to find
these packets with one end panel opened, or missing
entirely. While its not uncommon to find individual
examples of other groups of cartridge packets which were
opened by overly curious collectors through the years, I
find it odd that the vast majority of these Model 1882
Caliber .45 Revolver Cartridge packets have one end
panel pried open, or again, missing entirely. And too,
the method of opening these packets is exactly the same,
suggesting they were opened by the same entity. I
suspect that many of these packets which survive today
came from the same single source such as Bannerman’s
Island, and for some reason they felt compelled to make
sure the cartridges were present in the packets, or to
check on the condition of the cartridges. Not an earth
shattering revelation, just sharing an observation.
These packets were issued during the very active later
years of the Indian Wars and on into the Spanish
American War, and would be a nice addition to a
collection from either era.
I have the following packets of this loading in stock,
and each is listed and priced individually below with
accompanying photographs.
NOTE:
Scroll down to past the full packets
to find offerings of individual cartridges from this
period.
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NO.
1
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED REVOLVER
AMMUNITION PACKET - DATED 1887 - VERY GOOD PACKET:
This packet is in very good condition. The packet is
still sealed, with the pull string intact, however the
right end panel is missing as explained above.
Otherwise, this packet is full form with a complete and
fully legible label, the edges are sharp, all of the
other seams are intact, and the packet is very solid.
The packet is filled with matching copper cased
cartridges, headstamped “F 5 87”.
SOLD - SEE ADDITIONAL LISTINGS BELOW
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NO.
2
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED REVOLVER
AMMUNITION PACKET - DATED 1889 - VERY NICE PACKET:
This packet is in very good condition. The packet is
still sealed, with the pull string intact, however the
left end panel is missing as explained above.
Otherwise, this packet is full form with a complete and
fully legible label, the edges are sharp, all of the
other seams are intact, and the packet is very solid.
This packet features an ink stamp on the top panel, “DEC
11, 1889”. This practice of ink stamping the packets
was started during this period, but its application
appears to be erratic and far from consistent. This
stamp may indicate the date when the packet was made up
at the arsenal. The packet is filled with matching
copper cased cartridges, headstamped “F 2 89”. (0732)
$400
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NO.
3 FRANKFORD
ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED REVOLVER
AMMUNITION PACKET - DATED 1891 - VERY SOLID PACKET:
This packet is in very
solid condition, but show some evidence of age. The
packet lid has been separated from the lower body with
the pull string which is still attached and intact, and
the lid’s left end panel is missing as explained above.
The label has some very minor loss along the line where
the string pulled through, however none of the critical
text is missing. Otherwise, this packet is full form,
the edges are sharp, all of the other seams are intact,
and the packet is very solid. The packet is filled with
matching tinned brass cased cartridges, headstamped “F
11 91”. (0734) $350
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NO. 4
FRANKFORD
ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED REVOLVER
AMMUNITION PACKET - DATED 1892 - VERY SOLID PACKET:
This packet is in very solid condition, but show some
evidence of age. The packet is still sealed, with the
pull string intact, however the right end panel is
missing as explained above. Otherwise, this packet is
full form with a complete and fully legible label, the
edges are sharp with some wear to the rear top and
bottom edges adjacent to the open end, all of the other
seams are intact, and the packet is very solid. The
packet is filled with matching tinned brass cased
cartridges, headstamped “F 9 92”. (0736) $375
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NO. 5
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED REVOLVER
CARTRIDGE - DATED 1885 - RARE HEADSTAMP INCLUDING THE
"R" FOR REVOLVER: Headstamped “R 3
85 F”, this is one of the early production externally
primed cartridges which included the "R" in the
headstamp, indicating "Revolver". Seldom found due
to the early production and low survival rate, this
cartridge is in full form and in excellent condition. (0127)
$50
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NO. 6
FRANKFORD
ARSENAL .45 CALIBER EXTERNALLY PRIMED REVOLVER
CARTRIDGE -
DATED 1891:
Headstamped “F 12 91”, this
Frankford Arsenal .45 caliber revolver cartridge is tin
plated which is intact with very little discoloration.
This is an excellent example. (0128) $45
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