Favored ACW weapons

johan_steele

Regimental Armorer
Retired Moderator
Joined
Feb 20, 2005
Location
South of the North 40
In the spirit of the new forum I'd like to get a bit of conversation going. What are your favored weapons and loads?

I'm a fan of the M1841, particularly the Colt version which took existing arms bored them out to .58, put on a clamping bayonet band and installed a Colt Revolving Rifle rear site. My own Euroarms repop has been converted to this standard and it is capable of excellent accuracy. In fact the fist rounds down range by two different shooters garnered a 7" group @ 50 yards. I shoot a traditional 540 grain Minnie pushed by 60 grains 2F. I do so because I want to see how I would do with the same load used on the field.

At shoots I've had very good luck at 100 yards but considerably less at 50. Mostly me IMO.

If I get the coin I wouldn't mind putting together a Whitney "Good & Serviceable" M1841... ie no patchbox & a M1859 Sharps carbine rear sight.

Though if I had unlimited resources I'd also get my paws on an original M1817 Common Rifle percussion conversion... but who's asking about pipe dreams.

So my firends, fellow shooters and just plain firearms nuts what is your favored arm?
 
I'd like to have an 1873 Springfield trap-door. So that kinda leaves me out of the discussion, doesn't it?

But there might be something salvagable here. Given that the CW gave birth to repeating arms, why did the department of war revert to single shots for the Indian Wars and then have to scramble for that abortion, the Krag-Jorgensen?

Ole
 
The 1873 was a direct descendent of the ACW M1861, in fact many parts were interchangeable. It is ironic that the .45-70 round had nearly identical ballistics to the .450 bullet fired by the Whitworth.

The govt saved millions by adopting the trapdoor Springfield system, it allowed the use of existing machinery in the Springfield Arsenal instead of having to purchase new. It also allowed easy modification of large stocks of M1861 series arms. The Trapdoor series arms were pretty good for their day; accurate, hard hitting and most importantly fairly inexpensive to manufacture. There was still the wide belief that repeaters encouraged the waste of ammunition... mobody has ever accused the govt of being all that bright.

They didn't really scramble that much for the Krag, there had been a long line of testing w/ various bolt action arms... none had equaled the Krag in reliability or performance. The Mauser in the hands of Spanish troops in the San Am War was a rude shock which led to the M1903 shortly after.
 
I’m not a skirmisher…

But I get to occasionally shoot original WBTS Muskets, Rifles, and Carbines. I have also live fired my repro Rifled Muskets.

My favorite Rifled Musket will have to be a 3-Band Enfield. It’s use was so wide spread in the WBTS, and elsewhere. My second Favorite is the 1863/64 Springfield. I would follow these with the 1842 Smoothbore Musket. A forth favorite is the 61 Special Model, with the 61 Springfield being a fifth favorite.

I like making .69 round ball, and buck-n-ball ammo to load and shoot in my repro 1842. 110 grains of FFg black powder makes it a real “blaster”! If I feel like going thru the trouble, I will make original style Enfield cartridges to shoot in my repro Enfield.

I got to shoot an original 1863 Rifled Musket recently, extremely accurate, must have been owed by a Skirmisher, because of the re-worked extra light trigger pull! It was dead on at 100yrd. Like my original 1861 springfield, (parts gun) it is much lighter than the reproductions.

I’d say I shoot my 1842 repro more than the others because it can really ring a metal gong target. The ammo is fun for me to make, no muss or fuss, no sizing, lubing, form the paper case with the round ball(s), load and fire. The picture is my 18 year old son shooting buck-n-ball ammo at 50yds. Note the smoke obscuring the target!

Kevin Dally
 

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Alot of the 1861 and 1863 Springfields were modified thru the Allin Conversion that added a Trap Door system and I believe a barrel liner brazed in.

Back to the subject:

I'm partial to the Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon and the 1858 Remington Army Revolver.
 
A large number of P53's also ended up w/ the Allin conversion. The M1866 didn't need a liner, they just pulled the breach plug cut off a few inches and installed the new breach as it was in .58 rimfire.
 
Favorite Shooter

My favorite cw shooter is 63 Snwt for Mass. Walked by at a gun show and saw rifling in the muzzle of about as tough a looking musket you will ever see.bought it right , took it home and took it apart, arsnal bright, under the wood, pulled the breech plug, pushed a wad of seelwool through it a few times, toolmarks in the rifling. On the outside it looks like my GG U carried it from Chattanuga to the Grand March. Haven"t shot it that much, and need and need to work on the sights to realy see what it will do. Sixty grains ffg regular mini and at 50 yds will keep on the palm of your hand,if you do your part.:smile:
 
Given the choice, I would probably go for an original, but the Romano 1st Model Maynard I shoot these days has to rank as my current favorite. 22.5 gr FFg behind an Ideal 515139 bullet lit by a Remington #10 cap, and I'm in business! :D

Froggie
 
I have always wanted a spencer carbine, not sure why but I have.
I do like my Euroarms P53 alot, and I plan on doing some work with it this summer to get a good long range load worked out. A good friend of my family is opening up his own black powder silhouette range out to 1000yrd, best part is he lives 15min away. So ill be busy working on that and geting a load built for my Gew 88 Commission rifle this summer.

Jonathan
 
Better late than never, but thanks General Steele. Never thought about the '73 as an inexpensive upgrade. Larn somthin' new ever day.

Ole
 
In addition to the aforementioned Romano Maynard, I am shooting a Pietta copy of a Remington New Army Revolver (.44 cal of course) with about 21.5 gr of FFFg behind a COW filler and a .454 round ball (Lyman mould) and when the event demands a musket I use an old Euroarms Zouave with the Hodgdon Minie and 44 gr FFFg.

I hope to get the currently box-stock Pietta tuned and accurized by Charlie Hahn one of these days and will do something about the musket if and when my interest for that event grows. It never seems to end, does it??

Froggie

PS I inherited and original S&W 1st Model, 2nd Issue (.22 short) for when the Yankees make it all the way into my camper, but I haven't had to use it much yet!! :laugh1::laugh2:
 
I´m not really sure if my all time favorite weapon was used during he Civil War but it probably was. I always wanted a .50 Cal Hawken. I love the design of it and and it had a pretty powerful punch at a good distance. Like reaching out and touching your enemy with a sledgehammer.
Well, maybe someday...........
 

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A few places on the web I like to drewl at...


Some caveats about the links mentioned below...

http://www.romanorifle.com/ Expensive, very expensive but you get what you pay for. Their Spencer has been noted as being of higher quality than the originals.

http://www.lodgewood.com/ Nirvana, if they have what you want BUT in the last two yaesr their service has been a bit spotty as they have some issues getting things out the door ina timely manner. What you get is worth the wait IMO & in my experiance. But I've always dealt w/ them face to face.

http://www.edsmart.com/jz/ Mr Zimmerman has a reputation, not all of it good. Some of his work is increadible, some isn't. Handle it before you buy it.

http://www.customizedcwguns.com/ What I've seen of Blair taylors work has been superb, others have had less than complimentary things to say about his work.

http://fulmersantiqueguns.com/index.asp drool, drool, drool! These are antique arms, he's no gunsmith but he comes up w/ some real gems often enough that I'm a regular on his site.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/SubList.aspx?catID=12Sometimes overpriced, way over priced, other times very under priced. As an example: Used M1859 Pedersoli Sharps Rifle that might as well have been NIB for well under $300 less than MSRP for a used one... Other nice items in their catalog & on their site... I WANT that M1817 for an oh so affordable $7k or so. And we won't talk about the Hall...

There are others, James River Armory, Todd Watts etc. But as alwasy it is the buyer beware.
 
:smile: In March 1960, I was lucky enough handle .450 Whitworth military rifle cased with all the trimings, looked brand new. As I rember it was a commercal,one for match shooting. only $175 which was $30 more than I made the first year out of high school, I got my room board and ammo. I can still see it, same rifle as CS imported only dolled up a little more. He also had a Whitworth double barrel rifle in the same condition, Probably one of the half dozen finest firearms that I have seen in the last50 years, to fine to shoot.Drool:
 
I'm currently shooting a Zoli zouave I picked up on gunbroker.com with 42grns of 3fg and a Hotchkins mini. My carbine is a mostly original Richmond with a Jennesco barrel. I would love some day to build either an 1841 or a 3rd model "S" hammer. I've always wanted a shiloh sharps but it going to have to wait a while longer.
 
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