Lard over/on revolver bullet?

[nkbj]

Yep, people on horse back don't stay and reload.

 

[Eras Gone]

I think Stantherman is right. I've read of no protracted revolver shootouts during the War. Most cavalrymen relied on their carbines. Revolvers were for when the fight got very close and personally decisive, which did not happen as often as we might think.

 

[Stantheman86]

Yes exactly......everyone I let shoot my cap and ballers over the years is usually like "I can't imagine reloading that thing in a battle " I'm like , you would be more interested in reloading your carbine/rifle/musket or shotgun.

I'm also really interested in the use of the percussion revolvers on the Frontier during the early Indian Wars.....since the 1860 Army was issued up into the early 1870's, right alongside the early Breechloaders. When you have a belt or box full of metallic cartridges for your rifle I don't think re-stuffing your 1860 with combustible cartridges was as much of a concern, it would have been more of a defensive weapon at that point.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Sabres and bayonets have been used long after breechloaders were developed. I'll leave it at that as I have no experience in battle.

 

[Stantheman86]

The pistol was worn on the right hip , butt forward so the Sabre could be used with the right hand and the pistol (revolver) in the left. This doctrine continued , according to the Ordnance Manuals, into the 1900s.

The Army (or Navy or Marines) didn't care if you were right or left handed .

It kinda feels like the manuals are worded like you weren't supposed to really aim the revolver it was for point shooting at close range and the Sabre was the primary close quarters weapon.

I don't think revolvers even received any official mention in an Ordnance Manual until the 1860s, the single shot pistol was still the "norm" in the doctrine through the 1850s with revolvers kinda being a special item I guess.

This is why the cap cutout is on the right side of the gun.

 

[beardedhorse]

Quantrills Raiders would carry more than one loaded revolver. A Confederate cavalry unit made good use of double barrel shotguns. Pre loaded, capped revolver cylinders in belt holsters appear to be more Hollywood (Clint's metallic cartridge Remington conversion in Pale Rider) than historic. Ceran St. Vrain had a pair of underhammer pepperboxes made in New York in a pommel holster in the 1840's or later.

 

[sourdough]

Quantrills Raiders would carry more than one loaded revolver.

Little Archie Clement, a one-time lieutenant under Quantrill, was reputed at one time to have carried on horseback 14 revolvers, both on his person and in saddle pommel holsters. While that may be a stretch, many Missouri guerillas carried a half dozen or more, mostly captured from Union troops.

Insofar as carrying loaded spare cylinders, I believe that to be pure 20th century fantasy. The axiom that the fastest reload is another gun holds as true today as it did 150+ years ago. In the active days of Quantrill, Anderson, Clement, Todd, Thrailkill, et al, the 1863 Remington NMA would have been the best candidate for a cylinder change like that, but fairly scarce. Most of their revolvers would have been the Colt 1851 Navy, the 1848 Dragoon (1st, 2nd, or 3rd Model), or the 1860 Army because they would have been much more available in numbers, and all would have required the wedge and barrel to be removed prior to the cylinder removal and keeping track of those parts would have entailed a bit of foresight, and that was most likely not going to happen on horseback.

Regards,

Jim

 

[Stantheman86]

Nobody was swapping cylinders because also , those parts were somewhat hand fitted and there's no guarantee that cylinders from other guns are going to work in yours. Also there was no easy way to obtain extra cylinders unless you had a cased set with an extra cylinder like some Colts were sold with.

Like was said, just easier to carry extra guns.

That's some Clint Eastwood , Hollywood stuff there.

 

[atllaw]

I used to have a picture, from an auction site I believe, of a Texas (location not type...) pistol rig supposedly to be from the War of Northern Aggression. It looked and was billed as authentic and had a double carrier for spare cylinders. I can't find the pic but it was the only evidence I have seen that such an item may have existed.

Just sayin'

 

[nkbj]

Somebody did. Somebody didn't. People do what works, what they can, what appeals to them at the moment. Then they change their minds or do something because their buddies did it.

 

[Stantheman86]

My theory on "did it happen historically" concerning firearms is Yes....I believe at one point , somewhere in the past, at least one man has done (insert event/activity here)

Soldiers back then were no different than soldiers now. A Cavalrymen or three with some ingenuity got a hold of a couple cylinders for his 1858 and carried them as reloads at some point in the war.

Like was said earlier Skeeter Skelton writes that old Civil War vets taught him to use felt wads in percussion revolvers in the 1930's. Did they do this during the war or was this done much later? We'll never know. At some point a guy likely used felt wads to load his revolver during the ACW. Or not.

Did guys use stuff over the bullet? Sources say the Texas Rangers used Lard. Did they really? We're never going to know. Was this a later development in the 1950s and we assume it was done?

If it could have happened, it probably did happen at least once.