45/70 at the Little Big Horn
Has anybody looked into this? The soldiers of Custer's outfit were armed with 1873 Springfield 45/70 carbines? furnished with copper cased ammo. The casings were softer than the preferred brass but for some reason, penny pinching probably, the troops were issued copper cartridges. I seem to remember Custer had a Remington with brass ctgs, purchased at his own expense. It just occured to me that controversy as to the Gomit's choice of a weapon to arm its troops did not start with the M16 in 1966...
Has anybody looked into this? The soldiers of Custer's outfit were armed with 1873 Springfield 45/70 carbines? furnished with copper cased ammo. The casings were softer than the preferred brass but for some reason, penny pinching probably, the troops were issued copper cartridges. I seem to remember Custer had a Remington with brass ctgs, purchased at his own expense. It just occured to me that controversy as to the Gomit's choice of a weapon to arm its troops did not start with the M16 in 1966...