What is the real caliber of a .44?

[Oohrah!]

Got into a "discussion" on another forum, guy was claiming that the Colt .44s (in my case a Pietta Colt Navy Confederate .44) was actually a .45 caliber. I argued that the ball was .45+, but was shaved off to .44 in the cylinder. He disagreed that much was shaved off.

So, I used a set of precision dial calipers (+/- 0.0005in) and measured both my cylinders and bore, and found them to be on the order of .441-.444. The balls actually measured around .455. So, about 0.01in is shaved off?

Not an exact science, but before I show my antagonist my results, any other thoughts?

 

[drband]

Looks about right. However, to complicate the .44 picture-- 44spc & 44mag are spec'd @ .429 for the bore with cylinder throats around .430-.431
I'm not sure why. Maybe someone can enlighten us. (And yes, I know you're talking black powder pistols. Just thought it was interesting the modern 44's have similar confusing measurements.)

 

[RecoilRob]

The early cartridges were loaded with heel-type projectiles like a 22LR but later ones started putting the bullets down into the brass to better protect the lube grooves. This, of course, means the same diameter casing will use a reduced diameter barrel to properly fit the inside dimension of the case.

 

[drband]

That makes perfect sense! Thanks for the help!

 

[rodwha]

I have a Pietta Remington NMA. My chambers, prior to reaming, were 0.446". Driving a ball through the barrel shows grooves of 0.452". I forgot what the lands were. By today's measurements it's a .45 caliber and the conversion cylinders for these .44 cal replicas shoot .45 Colt ammo.

The bore used to be measured by the lands and is why they are called a .44.

I'm not certain of the order of the pics on my phone but these are what I had taken then (began as a .457" ball):

 

[44 Dave]

The original 1860 .44 Army uses a .456-7 , if your not confused enough already.
And if this is not enough try the variations in the .44-40 and the .38-40 is the same size as a .41 Colt.
I believe early barrel measurement are to the lands not the groves .

 

[Oohrah!]

Well, that explains a lot.

 

[swathdiver]

In the old days the land measurement was used to determine the caliber. Then the salesman started using the groove measurement during the cartridge era as those numbers are bigger!

So that guy is wrong, a .44 is a .44 when speaking in terms of cap and ball revolvers.