forward observer
Member
I posted most of this in another thread on the main forum concerning oddball cartridges but since no one in that thread frequents this section of the forum, I thought I would do a "show and tell" here also.
I had decided I needed at least one ACW carbine. As you may or may not know most if not all rifles developed for the Union cavalry during the civil war were breechloading carbines. The South had to make do with whatever was available--usually carbine length muzzleloaders--many times shotguns, but also what they could pick up from the battlefield and/or from captured Union forces. The Union bought some 400,000 carbines during the war--comprised of 9 or 10 different designs. I chose to go with the Burnside since it was the second most issued single-shot breechloader just behind the Sharps. It was the 3rd most used if one includes the Spencer repeater. Altogether, the Federal Army purchased and issued almost 55,000 Burnsides. Unlike the Sharps which used paper cartridges throughout the war, the Burnside was developed to use a self-contained metallic cartridge. However, the cartridge did not have a primer but simply a vent hole in the base of the case. It still required a musket cap fired by an externally cocked hammer.
The one I got is a fifth model or essentially the last model manufactured in the greatest numbers.
Here's a close-up of the lock side, which still shows some of the original case colors on the lock, hammer, and frame. The bore is very shiny with well-defined twist gain rifling. I'd rate it at least an 8 out of 10. Notice the breech block lever is still showing some bluing with the edges turning to plum brown.
The ring bar side is just a mottled gray but then this side gets the most abuse from the sling ring and carabiner-style attachment of the sling.
This is a shot looking down at the closed breech block with the serial number. The top tang/strap is still showing most of its fire bluing while the block still shows its rust bluing with some minor rust speckling. The rear sight is a simple L shape with a short-range leaf shown in the up position. The longer leaf has an aperture in the middle for mid-range and the top a "V" for long-range.
Here's a shot of the butt stock wrist still showing the original cartouches. On the left is the ordnance acceptance stamp HDH for Henry D Hastings and on the right is GC or George Curtis as a sub-inspector.
Here is the breech opened with an unloaded case showing how the cartridge loads. I took this before I had any of the bullets on hand. The breech block has a cone-shaped chamber to hold the matching part of the cartridge plus the lower half of the gas seal ring. The rear of the barrel was machined to accept the front half of said gas seal ring plus the short neck. It's supposed to work quite well to prevent gas leaks but since I haven't been to the range yet, I can't testify to that aspect.
I should mention that this carbine was invented by, and named for, Ambrose Burnside who rose to the rank of Major General during the ACW. Burnside--a West Point graduate came up with the design of his carbine early in the 1850s and after having a prototype made resigned his commission to pursue its manufacture. The goal of his design was to help eliminate the gas leaks common with breechloaders such as the Hall's breechloading rifle and carbine, which used paper cartridges. Unfortunately, due to a long line of failed attempts to get manufacturing started, and a failure to get any real sizable government contracts--all complicated by the fact that his first factory burned to the ground, Burnside who was near personal bankruptcy--sold off the rights of his patent and all interest in the business to his partners. After working a few years in railroad management he eventually rejoined the US Army when the war started.
Burnside's former partners finally managed to get the business off the ground and eventually succeeded in securing several profitable contracts over the course of the war. However, since Burnside had sold all his interests, he never received any royalties or profits from the carbine that bore his name. His military career was nothing to write home about either with his failures more well-known than his successes. However, after the war, he fared much better--having served as director of a couple of railroads, then being elected to three one-year terms as the governor of Rhode Island, and finally two terms as a US senator from the state until his death in 1881. He was also the first president of the NRA.
Here's a shot of starting to load some cartridges after I obtained some cast conicals made specifically for the Burnside in .54 cal. I also got a Lee .562 two-cavity round ball mold which I've been told also shoots accurately. While Union troops were issued pre-loaded cartridges, they were also issued a simple resizing and crimping tool for reloading empty brass in the field.
For my purposes, a tool is not needed. The case has a shelf machined just inside the neck which sets the depth, and the conicals tend to fit snugly plus the beeswax and lanolin lube I'm using, adds enough adhesion to hold them in place. I'm using 40 grains of FFg with a dry felt wad over the powder. The grain size of the FFg is large enough that it doesn't leak from the vent hole. Many people think a loaded round resembles an ice cream cone--especially those loaded with round balls. The wooden block is from the reproduction carbine cartridge case shown next.
Lastly, here's a group shot of my carbine with some reproduction leather including the carbine cartridge box mentioned.
Thanks for reading and any comments or corrections welcomed
Cheers
P.S. The serial number on this carbine is between two of a group of known carbines issued to the 2nd volunteer Texas Union cavalry. In fact, it's only one number off of one. The info came from the Springfield Research Service that was compiled many years ago. However, it's no guarantee if it's not specifically listed.
There were also enough captured by the South that several Southern cavalry units were known to carry them in decent numbers. As long as they captured an initial supply of ammo and saved their fired cases they were good to go.
I had decided I needed at least one ACW carbine. As you may or may not know most if not all rifles developed for the Union cavalry during the civil war were breechloading carbines. The South had to make do with whatever was available--usually carbine length muzzleloaders--many times shotguns, but also what they could pick up from the battlefield and/or from captured Union forces. The Union bought some 400,000 carbines during the war--comprised of 9 or 10 different designs. I chose to go with the Burnside since it was the second most issued single-shot breechloader just behind the Sharps. It was the 3rd most used if one includes the Spencer repeater. Altogether, the Federal Army purchased and issued almost 55,000 Burnsides. Unlike the Sharps which used paper cartridges throughout the war, the Burnside was developed to use a self-contained metallic cartridge. However, the cartridge did not have a primer but simply a vent hole in the base of the case. It still required a musket cap fired by an externally cocked hammer.
The one I got is a fifth model or essentially the last model manufactured in the greatest numbers.
Here's a close-up of the lock side, which still shows some of the original case colors on the lock, hammer, and frame. The bore is very shiny with well-defined twist gain rifling. I'd rate it at least an 8 out of 10. Notice the breech block lever is still showing some bluing with the edges turning to plum brown.
The ring bar side is just a mottled gray but then this side gets the most abuse from the sling ring and carabiner-style attachment of the sling.
This is a shot looking down at the closed breech block with the serial number. The top tang/strap is still showing most of its fire bluing while the block still shows its rust bluing with some minor rust speckling. The rear sight is a simple L shape with a short-range leaf shown in the up position. The longer leaf has an aperture in the middle for mid-range and the top a "V" for long-range.
Here's a shot of the butt stock wrist still showing the original cartouches. On the left is the ordnance acceptance stamp HDH for Henry D Hastings and on the right is GC or George Curtis as a sub-inspector.
Here is the breech opened with an unloaded case showing how the cartridge loads. I took this before I had any of the bullets on hand. The breech block has a cone-shaped chamber to hold the matching part of the cartridge plus the lower half of the gas seal ring. The rear of the barrel was machined to accept the front half of said gas seal ring plus the short neck. It's supposed to work quite well to prevent gas leaks but since I haven't been to the range yet, I can't testify to that aspect.
I should mention that this carbine was invented by, and named for, Ambrose Burnside who rose to the rank of Major General during the ACW. Burnside--a West Point graduate came up with the design of his carbine early in the 1850s and after having a prototype made resigned his commission to pursue its manufacture. The goal of his design was to help eliminate the gas leaks common with breechloaders such as the Hall's breechloading rifle and carbine, which used paper cartridges. Unfortunately, due to a long line of failed attempts to get manufacturing started, and a failure to get any real sizable government contracts--all complicated by the fact that his first factory burned to the ground, Burnside who was near personal bankruptcy--sold off the rights of his patent and all interest in the business to his partners. After working a few years in railroad management he eventually rejoined the US Army when the war started.
Burnside's former partners finally managed to get the business off the ground and eventually succeeded in securing several profitable contracts over the course of the war. However, since Burnside had sold all his interests, he never received any royalties or profits from the carbine that bore his name. His military career was nothing to write home about either with his failures more well-known than his successes. However, after the war, he fared much better--having served as director of a couple of railroads, then being elected to three one-year terms as the governor of Rhode Island, and finally two terms as a US senator from the state until his death in 1881. He was also the first president of the NRA.
Here's a shot of starting to load some cartridges after I obtained some cast conicals made specifically for the Burnside in .54 cal. I also got a Lee .562 two-cavity round ball mold which I've been told also shoots accurately. While Union troops were issued pre-loaded cartridges, they were also issued a simple resizing and crimping tool for reloading empty brass in the field.
For my purposes, a tool is not needed. The case has a shelf machined just inside the neck which sets the depth, and the conicals tend to fit snugly plus the beeswax and lanolin lube I'm using, adds enough adhesion to hold them in place. I'm using 40 grains of FFg with a dry felt wad over the powder. The grain size of the FFg is large enough that it doesn't leak from the vent hole. Many people think a loaded round resembles an ice cream cone--especially those loaded with round balls. The wooden block is from the reproduction carbine cartridge case shown next.
Lastly, here's a group shot of my carbine with some reproduction leather including the carbine cartridge box mentioned.
Thanks for reading and any comments or corrections welcomed
Cheers
P.S. The serial number on this carbine is between two of a group of known carbines issued to the 2nd volunteer Texas Union cavalry. In fact, it's only one number off of one. The info came from the Springfield Research Service that was compiled many years ago. However, it's no guarantee if it's not specifically listed.
There were also enough captured by the South that several Southern cavalry units were known to carry them in decent numbers. As long as they captured an initial supply of ammo and saved their fired cases they were good to go.
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