Well I wasn't entirely positive where to post this, so I'm going to give it a try here.
The question has more to do with shooting and firearm design then it does about the history of the civil war and Confederate produced brass frame revolvers. I fully admit I don't know very m uch about the topic. Please correct me on the background if I am wrong: The confederate states, lacking the necesary iron (and thus steel) to produce sidearms for their cavalry, came up with the idea to substitute a large percentage of the steel in a remington designed revolver with Brass. These brass framed guns were used rather extensively in the confederate army throughout the civil war to great effect. Beyond this, I'm afraid I don't know much more. My questions center around the firearm itself more then the historical context, but feel free to correct or add to any of my background information. Questions are:
1) Are/were brass framed revolvers actually weaker and more suceptable to accidents/breakage then a steel framed revolver? I say as/were because I"m interested in what went on in the Civil war, and if modern replicas have made improvements.
2) How did the weight of the brass framed revolver compare to the weight of the steel framed revolver? While I believe that Brass is a little bit lighter then steel, you would have most likely needed to build up more material to come up with even close to equal stregnth. Of course Brass is a fairly strong alloy (not as much as steel perhaps, but strong enough for the "napoleons" employed by both sides).
3) I can and probalby will look this up tomorrow now that I"m thinking of this topic, but what different model revolvers did the confederate armies carry through the civil war? Were they mostly brass, or mostly steel framed?
4) Starting into the world of cap and ball revolvers, would it be OK to start on a brass framed revolver, or do they not hold up as well as a steel framed revolver? This is more of a side note. At some point, I want to get into muzzleloading. Not sure if I want to steer more towards a side-lock pistol, or cap and ball revolver, but I'll probably buy some kind of muzzleloader within a year or so...
Any responses are appreciated. Thanks!
The question has more to do with shooting and firearm design then it does about the history of the civil war and Confederate produced brass frame revolvers. I fully admit I don't know very m uch about the topic. Please correct me on the background if I am wrong: The confederate states, lacking the necesary iron (and thus steel) to produce sidearms for their cavalry, came up with the idea to substitute a large percentage of the steel in a remington designed revolver with Brass. These brass framed guns were used rather extensively in the confederate army throughout the civil war to great effect. Beyond this, I'm afraid I don't know much more. My questions center around the firearm itself more then the historical context, but feel free to correct or add to any of my background information. Questions are:
1) Are/were brass framed revolvers actually weaker and more suceptable to accidents/breakage then a steel framed revolver? I say as/were because I"m interested in what went on in the Civil war, and if modern replicas have made improvements.
2) How did the weight of the brass framed revolver compare to the weight of the steel framed revolver? While I believe that Brass is a little bit lighter then steel, you would have most likely needed to build up more material to come up with even close to equal stregnth. Of course Brass is a fairly strong alloy (not as much as steel perhaps, but strong enough for the "napoleons" employed by both sides).
3) I can and probalby will look this up tomorrow now that I"m thinking of this topic, but what different model revolvers did the confederate armies carry through the civil war? Were they mostly brass, or mostly steel framed?
4) Starting into the world of cap and ball revolvers, would it be OK to start on a brass framed revolver, or do they not hold up as well as a steel framed revolver? This is more of a side note. At some point, I want to get into muzzleloading. Not sure if I want to steer more towards a side-lock pistol, or cap and ball revolver, but I'll probably buy some kind of muzzleloader within a year or so...
Any responses are appreciated. Thanks!