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[Beeps in my sleep]

Was at a site of skirmish during the Civil war today. Found 2 of these shell casings. They are Rim fire and have a U engraved. Can somebody enlighten me as to the time period and if the U meant Union? I cleaned one for photos for you. Here you are. I have no way of measuring or anything. They are about the size of a larger caliber revolver casing. No where near as tiny as a .22. First time I have ever seen these.

 

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[MuckyBottles]

Was at a site of skirmish during the Civil war today. Found 2 of these shell casings. They are Rim fire and have a U engraved. Can somebody enlighten me as to the time period and if the U meant Union? I cleaned one for photos for you. Here you are. I have no way of measuring or anything.

View attachment 963752 View attachment 963753 View attachment 963754

Remington brand .22lr had the U headstamp for quite a while before they switched to the script "Rem" headstamp. I think that happened sometime in the early-/mid-80s.

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

I will take a photo of size next to a .22 cartridge for you here it is

 

[MuckyBottles]

I will take a photo of size next to a .22 cartridge for you here it is

View attachment 963774 View attachment 963775

Maybe a Union Metallic CO. round?

Meine Reisen sind immer gut.

 

[Tejaas]

.44 Henry rimfire. The "U" headstamp is actually Remington, a charter of UMC during this era.

Used with the 1866 pattern Volcanic-->Henry-->Winchester rifle, and was discontinued around 1934.

I have attached a photo of a box from my collection.

Great find!

 

[Itsmine]

Here you go. I looked this up by accident. It looks like a 6 mm. Flobert shell and could be one of these french shells. Mucky you are correct. It's from the Union Metallic Ammo Co. Here's the link:

http://sgtriker.com/images/flo75.jpg

Nice find!

 

[Tejaas]

Here you go. I looked this up by accident. It looks like a 6 mm. Flobert shell and could be one of these french shells. Mucky you are correct. It's from the Union Metallic Ammo Co. Here's the link: http://sgtriker.com/images/flo75.jpg Nice find!

Wayyyyy to small.

The 6mm rimfire was largely overshadowed by the pinfire cartridges... The most commonly known being the 12mm used in the Model 1858 Lefaucheux revolver.

 

[allen_idaho]

I believe that is a .32 short

Both the .32 short and .32 long rimfires could be found with a "U" headstamp.

 

[Tejaas]

I believe that is a .32 short Both the .32 short and .32 long rimfires could be found with a "U" headstamp.

Absolutely!

I use the rough size comparison In his photo... Looked more .40 than .30 to me, haha

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Beeps in my sleep wrote:
> Was at a site of skirmish during the Civil war today. Found 2 of these shell casings.
> They are Rim fire and have a U engraved. Can somebody enlighten me as to the time period
> and if the U meant Union?

In a way, it does stand for "Union" -- but it is from the post-civil-war era.
Just yesterday here in the What-Is-It forum I answered about bullet-casings with an indented U marking. (That thread's title is "These old shell casings?") Here is what I wrote:
On a bullet casing's base, an indented letter U represents the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, which used that indented letter-marking from 1885 until approximately 1920, even though the company was bought by the Remington Arms Company in 1912.

Now, returning to today's reply, here's some additional info for Beeps in my sleep:
The Union Metallic Cartridge Company was first incorporated in 1867... but didn't put an identifying marking on its bullet-casings until 1877. From that year through 1880, the marking was a RAISED letter U. Afterward, the company reverted to producing casings with no marking until 1885. From that year through 1920, the marking was an indented letter U.

To ID the bullet-casing you found, I need super-precise measurements, because it could be either a .44-caliber or .45-caliber casing.

Whatever its ID may turn out to be, I'm sure it was not fired in a .44 Henry Rifle, because that rifle had a very distinctive "double" firing-pin, and there is only one firing-pin mark on your casing's base.

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

Beeps in my sleep wrote:
> Was at a site of skirmish during the Civil war today. Found 2 of these shell casings.
> They are Rim fire and have a U engraved. Can somebody enlighten me as to the time period
> and if the U meant Union?

Just yesterday here in the What-Is-It forum I answered about bullet-casings with an indented U marking. (That thread's title is "These old shell casings?") Here is what I wrote:
On a bullet casing's base, an indented letter U represents the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, which used that indented letter-marking from 1885 until approximately 1920, even though the company was bought by the Remington Arms Company in 1912.

Now, returning to today's reply, here's some additional info for Beep in my sleep:
The Union Metallic Cartridge Company was first incorporated in 1867... but didn't put an identifying marking on its bullet-casings until 1877. From that year through 1880, the marking was a RAISED letter U. afterward, the company reverted to producing casings with no marking until 1885. From that year through 1920, the marking was an indented letter U.

To ID the bullet-casing you found, I need super-precise measurements, because it could be either a .44-caliber or .45-caliber casing.

Whatever its ID may turn out to be, I'm sure it was not fired in a .44 Henry Rifle, because that rifle had a very distinctive "double" firing-pin, and there is only one firing-pin mark on your casing's base.

Thank you so much! I have no calipers or anyway of measuring other than a tape measure or a ruler. Once again you and the rest of Tnet helped me. Thank you all for this ID I got two of these suckers, and its neat to hear the history behind them!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Beeps... if you can spare $15 for a relic-ID tool that you will never regret buying, go here:
Search results for: 'caliper'

A digital caliper is the best way to precisely measure bullets, buttons, coins, and buckles. It's important because sometimes as little as two 1/100th of an inch (.02-inch) can change a relic's ID.

If you prefer to never have to worry about batteries, a non-electric "Dial" version is available for a few bucks more.

To save the cost of shipping, I bought mine at the local Harbor Freight Tools store. Also, I used a 25%-off coupon from my local newspaper's Sunday insert containing coupons. The HFT website has an option to find the nearest HFT store by searching with your zipcode. But if you prefer to order online, you can use discount-code 59564455 to get the additional $25% off. (Note, the discount is limited to one item, not multiple items ordered at the same time.)