I have a small library of books on cartridges but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a book on the 45/70 cartridge.

I have decided to specialize in this cartridge and was wondering where the best information was.

As a side note: At the last gunshow I picked up a couple of Swiss rimfire cases. The funny thing about these two cases is that one only has one strike (only one indentation not two) and the other has four indentations.

It looks like the one case was fired in something other than the standard dual firing pin rimfire revolvers and the other was hammered twice by the same gun like it didn't go off the first time.

How unusual is this? What type of gun would only have one firing pin? Perhaps broken?

rev

Collecting the 45-70 will be a lifetime endeavor. There are hundreds of variations and if you count different headstamps, thousands. As a first step you should join the International Ammunition Association. They publish a JOURNAL every two months that is full of collecting info. Most of it may not pertain to the 45-70 but there several members who specialize in the 45-70 and you can contact them through the organization. Go here and find out more:

http://cartridgecollectors.org/

Multiple indentations on rimfire cases is very common. I have seen 44 Henry cases that had 5 or 6 strikes before the round finally went off. And it's not uncommon for firearms with dual firing-pins to have one broken off making it appear that the round was fired in a completely different gun.

Ray