Big bore guns and the significance of muzzle control...(humorous anecdote)

[4v50 Gary]

It's been hammered into us through our training and you see it all the time here at The High Road. Never point the muzzle of a gun at anything unless you are willing to destroy it. Right? Nobody here disagrees? Correctomundo? You betcha.

But there's a more sinister aspect of muzzle control - especially with bigger bore guns. It's one I certainly would never have suspected or thought until I read it in a book and I now take pleasure of sharing it with you:

"Many were the tricks the boys worked to smuggle liquor into camp. Once whenI was talking to one of the camp sentries on duty a soldier carrying a pot of coffee came up on his way into camp. When the guard asked him what he had in the pot he said he had milk, at the same time tilting the pot enough to cause milk to flow from the spout. This satisfied the guard and the soldier passed on. Of course the pot was filled with whiskey. The owner had simply corked the lowe end of the spout and filled the spout itself with milk. At another time five men, fully equipped and apparently on duty, passed out of camp. Returning later, they were passed in. The guard did not know until several days had passed that each gun barrel was filled to the muzzle with liquor."

 

[Delmar]

no wonder some of them were moaning about going from the 45-70 down to 30 cal, and the 45ACP to the 9mm. If this were the argument, give me the blunderbuss

 

[Poodleshooter]

I hope those barrels were clean. Talk about firewater!

 

[sm]

Having read Ruark...maybe that's the real reason for his Title " Use Enough Gun"

 

[4v50 Gary]

More on muzzle control

In the above post, we learned why some soldiers marched with their muzzles pointed straight in the air. Now imbibing was a occupation which some troops took too zealously and the Civil War soldier would sneak past the guards (sometimes with the guards' cooperation) and go into town to eat, dance, buy food and of course, booze. One Colonel threw his transgressors into the guard house but his soldiers one-upped him by digging a tunnel out. In fact, "it afforded a most easy means of egress." The Col. then had a small log house with one very small passageway built inside the guard house. It became virtually impossible to escape from but the thirst for alcohol was satiated as we learn from this account of very good muzzle control:

"An 'officer of the day,' on one occasion, upon visiting the guard house, found the guard and one of the prisoners in a violent altercation, the guard with his musket between the logs trying to bayonet the prisoner. Complimenting the guard upon the zeal displayed, he was privately cautioned not to wound any of the prisoners, and advised to take no notice of the naughty names they called him. The officer afterwards was highly edified to learn that the guard having his musket barrel filled with whiskey, was engaged in treating the prisoner when surprised by him."

 

[280PLUS]

heck,,,

i hear a little gunpowder is good for ya,,,

 

[keyhole]

Great stories! A very quick thinking guard!

 

[MicroBalrog]

You know, when I'll be re-reading UC, I'll think of Henry's four-bore in an entirely new way.

 

[280PLUS]

i can't help thinking about,,,

the 1.01 and .98 caliber muskets i saw in sam colts collection

they were a gift to him and his wife from the japanese emperor

they had pistol grips but no shoulder stocks

musta been interesting to shoot...

but imagine the amount of whiskey you could fit into those!!

 

[4v50 Gary]

For the mathematically inclined, how much whiskey does a 39" .69 caliber smoothbore musket hold?

 

[Kharn]

4v50 Gary:
Its approximately 14.5 cubic inches, or 230ml.
Same length .45 barrel is 6.2 cubic inches, or 101ml
No wonder the guys were pissed about the caliber change.

Kharn