Curious thing, about a "smith carbine"

[Parzifal]

In a book I was reading they wrote about confederates sometimes being armed with captured "smith" carbines...
And I am curious, until I read this I thought the only successful breach loading pattern was the sharps..
So if its true.. And this "smith" pattern was used aswell how did it measure up to field use compared to the sharp pattern.

 

[George Holton]

:hmm: I think it would kill someone,as dead as the sharps .thats what it was for like enfield

 

[F.G. Ford]

There were several breach loaders used in the Civil War between the States from 1860 to 1865.
Some were sucessful, some not so. But the Sharps evolved into a fine cartridge rifle that was much more powerful than Maynards, Greene, Smith, Cosmopolitan, Burnside,or Gallaghers, to name a few.
Most were unsucessful, and short on power, especially at longer ranges, but more than adequate, to wound or kill.
And for battle use, the shooter was not as exposed as when loading a muzzleloader, and a little bit quicker to reload, ( quicker to reload is up for challange )
A great book to further your knowledge on breach loading rifles of the Civil War, is CIVIL WAR GUNS by William B. Edwards
I hope this helps.
Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Burnside, Spencer, and Henry rifles & carbines come to mind as the more successful ones. There were also ones less so, such as the Ballard, Hall, Starr, Gibbs, and Joslyn.

 

[George Holton]

:v Ever shoot any of the above? I have, and it is not for the timid,but for the crazy youth of the time that did not know any better. Breech leakage was the biggert problem causing low power.

 

[Bountyhunter]

This is my grandfathers-grandfathers buffalo rifle. The old man used it for two years (1870 and 1871) to shoot buffalo for Fort Wallace and the Union Pacific Railroad in the area that is now Sharon Springs, Kansas and Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. This is a Smith Carbine reciever that has had a .50-70 barrel fitted to it. It weighs in at a petite 13 pounds. It has had a plains rifle style of stock and forearm added to replace the military wood.

 

[bob308]

the smith is more populer with the nssa shooters then the sharps. navy arms makes or made a repo of the smith. i have truned a lot of brass cartages for the smith.

 

[Zonie]

bessbattlesystem: The "cartridges" bob308 is refering to were either brass or rubber and they contained the powder and slug.
The rear of the cartridge had a hole in it which was covered by thin paper.
When the Musket Cap fired, it would blow a hole thru the paper to fire the gun.

The Henry lever action rifle was described as a gun that "You load on Sunday and shoot all week."
Its magazine held 17 .44 rimfire cartridges.

zonie

 

[TANSTAAFL]

:v Ever shoot any of the above? I have, and it is not for the timid,but for the crazy youth of the time that did not know any better. Breech leakage was the biggert problem causing low power.

Shot some of the repros, ignited a few rags draped over the actions.

I converted this percussion Sharps to .45-70, built the breech block, worked over the hammer & sleeved in a Ruger #3 bbl.

 

[jeepwj992002]

TANSTAAFL That is a nice Sharps you got there. :hatsoff:

 

[Jdzara]

I've shot both an original smith with rubber cartridges and an original gsllager with brass cartridges and had no problems. What problems are they prone to? It seems ignorance is indeed bliss.
Jerry

 

[graybeard]

I shot a real Sharps cavalry carbine at a reenactment in Maryland about two years ago. No gas leaks at all. Was substantially faster to reload than the Springfield rifled musket, but the long infantry weapon was much easier to shoot than i expected. It looks so long and awkward. graybeard

 

[TANSTAAFL]

TANSTAAFL That is a nice Sharps you got there. :hatsoff:

I built it up back about 1980, gave it to the son-in-law in Cody Wyoming a couple of years ago, he sure enjoys shooting it.