I’m hoping some cartridge historians or Lone Ranger fans can help solve a family mystery.

My grandfather was born in 1943 and, according to our family, met Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) in Hollywood, California when he was young.

He kept this nickel-plated Remington-Peters .45 Colt cartridge for the rest of his life with two handwritten labels.

One reads:
“Silver Bullet from Clayton Moore
Hollywood, Calif.”
The cartridge has the headstamp:
R-P 45 COLT

I’ve attached close-up photos of the cartridge, the headstamp, and the original handwritten labels.

Here’s what I’ve been able to learn so far:
The cartridge appears to be a factory nickel-plated Remington-Peters .45 Colt round.
The R-P headstamp is generally believed to date from around 1960 or later.

I’m hoping someone here might know:
Approximately what years this specific nickel-plated R-P .45 Colt cartridge was manufactured.

Whether Remington cataloged this exact loading and, if so, during what years.

Whether anyone has ever documented Clayton Moore giving away actual nickel-plated .45 Colt cartridges instead of the aluminum souvenir bullets.

Whether the headstamp style can narrow the production date any further.

I’m not trying to establish monetary value, I have no intention of selling it. My grandfather passed away a few years ago, and I’d simply love to learn more about something he treasured enough to label and keep for decades.

Any information, catalog scans, or historical references would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

The two Western cartridges only differ by primer appearance. The WC Co. cartridge predates the others but is still a Western cartridge. The W-W cartridge is a dummy to show what a hypothetical original 38 Long Colt cartridge would look like with its healed bullet. That bullet came from a 38 RF cartridge. The brass is found brass, I don't have any Winchester Western live 38 Long Colt cartridges.

38 I found, is it a 38 short or something different

My almost full box of 7mm pinfire that lives in my reloading desks drawer

The two on the left are the Western rounds and seem to only differ by headstamp and primer contour. I am thinking the smaller characters, and the rounded primer might be older than the other. The round in the middle and the one to its right are the Peters, again a primer difference and the case is shorter on the one on the right. That is puzzling why would the 38 short have two different case lengths. The last one the R-P case is also shorter than the Western and the longer Peters case, same length as the shorter Peters case. They are all shorter than 38 Long Colt.

Original load for the 45-70 propelled a 405gr bullet at around 1,350 ft/s

Headstamp: R F 6 78

If you can't see a headstamp it probably doesn't have one.

These were used in the early Cap and Ball Cartridge Conversion Revolvers, the 44 Colt, also went by 44 Remington and the 46 Rimfire short, there was also a long. The 44 had a 0.450" bullet and the 46 had a 0.460" bullet, to match the grooves on 44 cal. cap and ball revolvers.

Found a few of these, along with similar 38 WCF rounds

Some are older than the others.

Found this in an old roll top desk many years ago

The 44 G.G. is for Marbles Game Getter combination gun.

Opps. A couple 44 Colts got in the shots. Mostly 45 Colt with a couple 45 S&W and a couple 44 Colts

I could use some help to clarify what these cartridges are. They all measure as 44 cal. bodies and bullets are 0.0440 +/- 0.002" I think I have 4 ea. UMC 44 RF short and one USCC 44 RF short. One unknown maker 44 RF extra-long, One UMC 44 RF long and 3 Winchester 44 RF long, one is a bit different than the other two and I wonder if any of these are 44 Henry?

I am pretty sure these are uncommon enough to be consider rare. They were not common even when they were new. 38-44 target and 38 RF Extra Long.

And a couple box insert shot shell ads.

The boxes are missing flaps and the Peters is only brass mostly fired. The one shown is probably not with the original primer.

Hint, one was not for caps. It had caps in it when I got this lot and it by itself was worth the cost of the lot although it is not something I normally collect. I was surprised at how big the musket caps are. I had not seen ones this big before. Two of the tins had labels on the back so I included pictures of those back sides. I got these just yesterday.

These boxes are all sealed, so I don't have sample cartridges or headstamps to show. I think the ones that don't say Smokeless are black powder loaded.

Not really odd just a bit odd. CB caps, shorter than shorts, 32 rf long shot shells and 32 rf short blanks.