How prevalent was the pistol/rifle in same caliber combo?

[23 Blast]

Not sure if this fits here or in the C&R forum, but I was wondering just how common it was (or wasn't) for cowpokes and others who typically carried firearms in the Old West to have a pistol/rifle combo chambered in the same caliber? As far as I can tell, the most popular cartridge for this type of combo would have been the 44-40, since the .45LC was a proprietary cartridge and was never chambered for a lever action rifle until modern times. However, many back then who did use rifles used calibers more powerful than 44-40, and which would have been impractical to chamber in a revolver.

So I'm wondering if it was more of a marketing gimmick than reality.

[ojisan]

Seems like there was a lot of combos used in 38-40 (equal to today's 10mm) and 44-40 (almost today's .44 Mag) back then.
Both of these cartridges showed good performance increases in the carbine length barrels compared to the handgun and were capable of taking all but the largest game animals.
Only one kind ammo to stock, only one set of reloading dies, one kind of powder, etc.
Makes sense back then when supplies were a lot harder to get.

[23 Blast]

^On a related note; was reloading as common and popular back then as it is now?

[VegasND]

Actually, it was rather uncommon for cowpokes to carry firearms. If fired, they could stampede the cattle. There's a story I heard when I lived in Lakeview about an Eastern Oregon, Northern Nevada cattle baron who was killed in front of his men and none of them were armed and able to help him. The details, including name of the victim are lost to memory.

Not sure if this fits here or in the C&R forum, but I was wondering just how common it was (or wasn't) for cowpokes and others who typically carried firearms in the Old West to have a pistol/rifle combo chambered in the same caliber? As far as I can tell, the most popular cartridge for this type of combo would have been the 44-40, since the .45LC was a proprietary cartridge and was never chambered for a lever action rifle until modern times. However, many back then who did use rifles used calibers more powerful than 44-40, and which would have been impractical to chamber in a revolver.

So I'm wondering if it was more of a marketing gimmick than reality.

[23 Blast]

Actually, it was rather uncommon for cowpokes to carry firearms. If fired, they could stampede the cattle. There's a story I heard when I lived in Lakeview about an Eastern Oregon, Northern Nevada cattle baron who was killed in front of his men and none of them were armed and able to help him. The details, including name of the victim are lost to memory.

Really? I find that remarkable considering that the cowpokes were in charge of a valuable commodity (the cattle), that rustlers, rival ranchers, Indians, and others wouldn't hesitate to steal - not to mention that out in the wild, people then (as now) are pretty much on their own as far as basic self-defense, from bandits, Indians, animals, as well as the occassional roving zombie horde. The fact that loud noises could stampede the cattle would just be taken as one of the risks of packing a sidearm.

[VegasND]

That's why the story stuck in my mind years ago. I was raised on TV Westerns like everyone else and assumed all cowboys were armed. One of the older cattlemen relating the story explained that the hands' firearms were kept in the wagon and watched over by the cook (who, it turns out had other things to do too) so they were all unarmed when the altercation in the story turned deadly. Supposedly one of the cowhands rode for 3 days to get to a telegraph to notify the investors back East that the cattle baron was dead. I'm sorry I can't remember names and dates better than that, but I left Oregon in 1981.

Really? I find that remarkable considering that the cowpokes were in charge of a valuable commodity (the cattle), that rustlers, rival ranchers, Indians, and others wouldn't hesitate to steal - not to mention that out in the wild, people then (as now) are pretty much on their own as far as basic self-defense, from bandits, Indians, animals, as well as the occassional roving zombie horde. The fact that loud noises could stampede the cattle would just be taken as one of the risks of packing a sidearm.