The Booth Deringer pistol

[loetar44]

(12-18-2016 04:53 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Kees, regarding question 2...Tony Pitch (They Have Killed Papa Dead) writes that Kent returned to the box because he had mislaid his rooming house key, found Booth's pistol when his foot brushed against it, gave it to Gobright, and Gobright turned it in to the police. I believe Tony Pitch's account is the one I am most familiar with.

Thank you Roger, I think this is the most accurate story. Never heard before that Gobright lost his watch in the state box.

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(12-18-2016 05:10 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  Question # 1 - while the pistol itself may be small, .44 cal is a very large round.

Thank you. Do you mean by saying “.44 cal is a very large round”, that a .44 cal has a slug with a diameter (the diameter of the bullet) of fourty-four hundredths (44/100’s) of an inch, or 0.44 * 25.4 = 11.176 milimeters or 1.12 cm. Yes, that’s pretty BIG !

   

and is it right to think that the slugs (bullets) were in 1860's not perfect spheres, and that's why the slug was .41 cal and not exactly .44, because that has a risk to jam.