Gentlemen, I have an interesting problem. To properly explain it, we need to go all the way back to a warm June day in 1888, at a spring a few miles northeast of Tularosa, New Mexico. A young cowboy from Texas, George McDonald, who was engaged to the niece of his dear friend Oliver Lee, had checked on his cattle and then went up to the spring to check on the water. There, he laid down with his head against a rock, and fell asleep while working on braiding a quirt. A mortal enemy associated with a big rancher who was trying to bully the small guys off the range happened upon poor George and shot him between the eyes where he lay. The body was discovered by another rancher looking for his stock, and when the corpse was removed for burial, the fatal bullet lay flattened against the rock -- and Oliver Lee took it and had it attached by a silver chain to his pocket watch, to always remember his friend and the way he was murdered.
This watch and the bullet are in the archives of New Mexico State Parks. I had access a few days ago, and weighed the bullet as best I could on my RCBS powder scale. It was almost exactly 200 grains, and I believe it was very likely fired from a Winchester Model 1873 in .44 WCF.
An archaeologist friend is urging me to do an informal paper on this sad artifact, and as part of the "research," I am thinking of trying to duplicate the shot with a '73, using blackpowder handloads and a bullet cast from the alloy Winchester used in those days. Here's where the "don't be alarmed" comes in.
The archaeologist suggests I attempt to simulate a human cranium to fire the bullet through. I am kind of at a loss as to how to proceed. Sheep or hog skulls from a slaughterhouse come to mind ...
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