44-77?

A friend of mine who is disposing of shooter's estates included 9 of the following cases as part of a purchase. He had no idea what they were for, so I got them. No, I don't have any idea where the firearm went. After looking through Donnelly's book on cartridge conversions I believe they are 44-77 cases that have been formed and loaded, but never fired in a chamber. Original case is 348 Winchester. Case was loaded with about 65 grains of black powder.
Attachment 321757
That is a loaded 45-70 on the left.

Attachment 321758

Attachment 321759

The case was reduced in diameter just ahead of the rim. Which is what Donnelly says need to be done to a 348 Winchester case when forming a 44-77 case.
Bill

Could also be the .43 Remington-Spanish. Same case with a slightly smaller diameter boolit.

That is how they are made, if you start with .348 shells.

Well the bullet diameter is .458 as best I can measure with the mix of black powder and lube on the outside. Plus the bullet weight is 416 grains. That diameter and weight point more toward 44-77.
Bill

.44-77 is bottleneck cartridge taking a .446 diameter bullet.

.43 Egyptian?

Looks a bit short to be a 44-77. The 45-70 is 2.100 the 44-77 is 2.25. These look to be the same case length or maybe even a tad shorter. Perhaps 45-75? I make mine out of .348 brass.

They might be 11 mm Mauser. They would appear to be about identical to 44-77 except the Mauser would have a thick Mauser "A" base as categorized by Barnes in CoW. With out the base they would headspace on the shoulder, not the rim. This works most of the time. .446-448 bullet works, whatever will chamber works. Generally you chamber a bullet big enough to fill groove diameter. 11mm was also common in drillings and rifle/shotgun combos. All black powder rounds which would obdurate on firing. The 11mm also was paper patched.
They might also be 43 Reformondo which is more straight with a bigger bullet, like 448 ish. If your looking to get rid of them you could post here. I bet they be gone quick.