Posted: 6/1/2004 11:44:07 PM EDT
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I went to a Civil War battlefield over the weekend and I was wondering when the South first started issued rifles and handgun with regular ammunition like we have today and not the muzzleloading types. Also, what kind of guns were they? Did the Union ever issue them as well? Thanks for sharing your historic knowledge! |
Yep, & the ammo was rim fire. The reason the federals in charge of buying guns wouldn't get the Henry's for the troops is they thought they would waste to much ammo. The plts that did buy their own pretty much owned the field as the could hold 14 or more rounds I believe.The south called them them damn yankee guns that could be loaded on sunday & fired all week long. When they captured one it was only good for them till it ran out of ammo. Kinda like if you brought a GAP .45 to battle with you. 
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The Spencer was another ctg. gun that was used during the War of Northern Aggression. Most guns used combustible ctgs.(paper wrapped around the bullet with the powder inside) to speed up the loading process. Here's a web site to ask your question on that may get you more responses. Talk to ya' later.  www.n-ssa.org/bb/index.php |
Not to hijack, but where do you guys get off accusing US of attacking the south, when your side fired first? |
And away we go!
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Here we go. 
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You guys should have left Ft. Sumter when we seceeded. 
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WE only fired first because "You guys" were trying to tell us what to do.  sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.html |
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I think some Union officers also bought rimfire S&W .22's as a backup gun. I don't remember any Southern examples of cartridge firing firearms being produced but I think it would happen. I do remember JEB Stuart stealing wagonloads of Spencer carbines on his 'recon' raids behind enemy lines. |
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Define cartridge rifle. There were plenty of different ones. Most were used by the more industrialized north. Most were separately primed. i.e. Insert the cartridge in the chamber then place a percusion cap on a separate nipple which when struck by the hammer would pass the flash of the primer in to the case via a small hole in the base. There were about a dozen different types of externally primed rifle systems in use by the north during the civil war. The Maynard carbine cartridge is a prime example of a standard looking cartridge with a flash hole in the base. The Sharps rifle of the civil war era used a cumbustable cartridge made of paper or linen. The base of the cartridge was sheared off as the breach block was raised to expose the powder to the primer flash. The paper or linen cartridge was nitrated to promote complete cumbustion. Then of course there were the rimfire rifles, the Henry and the Spencer. As far as I know the south did not field a cartridge rifle during the civil war. However, they did use captured Yankee arms. Kent |
Yep! Them DamnedYankees were trespassing again! Just like Gen. W. Tecumseh Sherman trespassing through Georgia! And then Gen. Grant trespassing around Vicksburg. I think the War Between the States should have been fought in Small Claims Court! But then....I'm an attorney! Eric The(AmbulanceChasing)Hun 
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Some of the weapons that were used during the Civil War that used metallic cartridges were the Maynard .50 cal, the .54 cal Burnside, which used a metallic cartridge that used a percussion cap to fire, the 56/52 Spencer, the Smith and Wesson No. 2 Army revolver, used the 32 cal. remfire cartridge, the Henry Rifle that used the .44 cal. Henry cartridge, the imported French Lefaucheux revolver that use a 12mm pin-fire cartridge, the French Perrin 12mm center-fire cartridge and the Remington carbine that used a .46 cal remfire cartridge. |
J F'in K! Thread stealing |
The Spencer rifle was by far the most widly used repeating rifle of the War of Northern Aggression and was adopted by the Union Army with total production of over 100,000 rifles and carbines. The Spencer rifle saw a lot of action and had a real effect on the outcome of the war. The Henry rifle on the other hand was not adopted by the Union Army and only purchsed by some company-size Union State militia units at their own expense. About 14,000 Henry rifles were produced during the war some saw action most did not, the Henry had little to no effect on the outcome of the war. |
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In answer to the original question, Oh the Southern probably did just in time for the Guard/Militia units to use them in the Spanish-American. Expect they were earlier Trap-Doors and various "obsolete" 45 caliber pistols. If you mean in the Civil War, they didn't. |