Why didn’t Winchester chamber any of its rifles in .45 Colt? Ralph BernklowStow, Massachusetts One of the regulars on the True West Forum, Texas author Charley Eckhardt, provided this information: “The .45 Colt cartridge, in the ‘balloon head’ period—before machined cartridges, when they were formed from brass tubes—had a very thin, narrow rim. Since it wasn’t solid but folded brass, it simply didn’t work with the Winchester extractor. The .44 Winchester Central Fire (.44-40


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