Repeaters

The Winter issue is out of the Winchester Arms Collector Association Magazine. I am very please with the way my article turned out complete with pictures. That is part 1 of several parts of The Henry Rifle Use in the Civil War. I have already turned in part 2 and will be turning in part 3 in March.
 
The Winter issue is out of the Winchester Arms Collector Association Magazine. I am very please with the way my article turned out complete with pictures. That is part 1 of several parts of The Henry Rifle Use in the Civil War. I have already turned in part 2 and will be turning in part 3 in March.
Andrew, Got it the other day and just got to read it. As always great information. Love to find out anything new. Interesting take on the other gentleman's mismatched Henry. Sounded like he was quite happy knowing something about half his Henry. I will be looking forward to the next installment. If you need any info off mine let me know. John
 
Andrew, Got it the other day and just got to read it. As always great information. Love to find out anything new. Interesting take on the other gentleman's mismatched Henry. Sounded like he was quite happy knowing something about half his Henry. I will be looking forward to the next installment. If you need any info off mine let me know. John

John I would be interested in any information or pictures. Thanks
 
Part Two of my article will be out in the Spring of 2017 issue of the Winchester Collector Magazine. Part Three should be out in the Summer 2017 edition. so far very good feed back on it.
 
Part Two of my article will be out in the Spring of 2017 issue of the Winchester Collector Magazine. Part Three should be out in the Summer 2017 edition. so far very good feed back on it.

Considering the impact the Henry had on the immediate post-war expansion into the West, any plans to do an article on that period as well?
 
I believe the Northern government was afraid the ammo would be wasted. Besides the repeaters then were only good for close range firing. The Gatling Gun was also invented during the Civil War, but again how much of the ammo would have actually hit their intended targets?

I'd posted this in another thread, but Gatling guns were most useful against troops moving in formation in the open, whether in the defense or protecting flanks when moving forward (which should have turned on the leaderships' lightbulb of 'bounding forward, by gun/section').

Check out this target.
large_3307_Gatling_Gun_target_sheet.jpg


In this 1869 test, 100 troops with needle guns (breachloaders) fired 781 rounds and scored 196 hits in one minute at 800 paces.
Same distance, same time limit one Gatling fired 246 rounds and scored 216 hits.
https://books.google.com/books?id=bnVJAAAAYAAJ&pg=P***&lpg=P***&dq="gatling+gun"+"infantry+target"&source=bl&ots=2kwPYrszpP&sig=cauD9r-0EA-jeRI4yH3swNcINMc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj374Dwq-DRAhUMxWMKHXmSBw8Q6AEIKjAB#v=onepage&q="gatling gun" "infantry target"&f=false
 
While I have posted this before many times the issue of ammunition for repeating rifles comes up. Too many feel that a man armed with a repeated just blasted away. Many picked their targets of opportunity using deliberate fire but at times where the range was close rapid fire was used but that does not mean that they just blasted away. There are always exceptions where a unit did blast away all of their ammunition but that was not the norm.

Special Field Order No. 26 for the Fourth Division, Fifteenth Corps gives an idea of how much ammunition was necessary for troops armed with the Henry Repeating rifle. Dated December 7, 1864 near the Ogeechee River, Ga., the special field order list the order of march. “The Third Brigade will have the advance, followed by the pioneer corps, and then the battery; the Second Brigade will move in the center, followed by the trains hereafter designated; the First Brigade will bring up the rear. The battery will take three wagons loaded with canister, two wagons loaded with shell, and one wagon with shot. Each brigade will take five ordnance wagons loaded with caliber .58, and for each regiment armed with Henry rifles one wagon load of that kind of ammunition will be taken. By order of Brig. General John M. Crose” (69) It would be interesting to know how many cases of .44 caliber Henry ammunition a wagon load consisted of, at any rate, it had to be thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Many that knew the value of having repeating rifles knew that they were worthless unless you had the ammunition to shoot in them.
keeping with the thinking of the day that bullets/rounds were highly valuable and you did not men "wasting" projectiles unless well aimed. I think that is the main reason the period Gatling gun was not employed in significant numbers. Although I also think at the right place they would have made a world of difference



I think it was in
 
I'd posted this in another thread, but Gatling guns were most useful against troops moving in formation in the open, whether in the defense or protecting flanks when moving forward (which should have turned on the leaderships' lightbulb of 'bounding forward, by gun/section').

Check out this target.
large_3307_Gatling_Gun_target_sheet.jpg


In this 1869 test, 100 troops with needle guns (breachloaders) fired 781 rounds and scored 196 hits in one minute at 800 paces.
Same distance, same time limit one Gatling fired 246 rounds and scored 216 hits.
https://books.google.com/books?id=bnVJAAAAYAAJ&pg=P***&lpg=P***&dq="gatling+gun"+"infantry+target"&source=bl&ots=2kwPYrszpP&sig=cauD9r-0EA-jeRI4yH3swNcINMc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj374Dwq-DRAhUMxWMKHXmSBw8Q6AEIKjAB#v=onepage&q="gatling gun" "infantry target"&f=false

Amazing
 
I'd posted this in another thread, but Gatling guns were most useful against troops moving in formation in the open, whether in the defense or protecting flanks when moving forward (which should have turned on the leaderships' lightbulb of 'bounding forward, by gun/section').

Check out this target.
View attachment 260539

In this 1869 test, 100 troops with needle guns (breachloaders) fired 781 rounds and scored 196 hits in one minute at 800 paces.
Same distance, same time limit one Gatling fired 246 rounds and scored 216 hits.

https://books.google.com/books?id=bnVJAAAAYAAJ&pg=P***&lpg=P***&dq="gatling+gun"+"infantry+target"&source=bl&ots=2kwPYrszpP&sig=cauD9r-0EA-jeRI4yH3swNcINMc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj374Dwq-DRAhUMxWMKHXmSBw8Q6AEIKjAB#v=onepage&q="gatling gun" "infantry target"&f=false
I'd posted this in another thread, but Gatling guns were most useful against troops moving in formation in the open, whether in the defense or protecting flanks when moving forward (which should have turned on the leaderships' lightbulb of 'bounding forward, by gun/section').

Check out this target.
View attachment 260539

In this 1869 test, 100 troops with needle guns (breachloaders) fired 781 rounds and scored 196 hits in one minute at 800 paces.
Same distance, same time limit one Gatling fired 246 rounds and scored 216 hits.
https://books.google.com/books?id=bnVJAAAAYAAJ&pg=P***&lpg=P***&dq="gatling+gun"+"infantry+target"&source=bl&ots=2kwPYrszpP&sig=cauD9r-0EA-jeRI4yH3swNcINMc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj374Dwq-DRAhUMxWMKHXmSBw8Q6AEIKjAB#v=onepage&q="gatling gun" "infantry target"&f=false
At 800 paces, was the lateral scatter of the Gatling gun due to the gun being shifted left to right, or normal bullet scatter from a fixed aim at target center.
 
At 800 paces, was the lateral scatter of the Gatling gun due to the gun being shifted left to right, or normal bullet scatter from a fixed aim at target center.
From the link supplied, it appears the gun was traversed in the horizontal plane so as to give a spread of hits on the target.
 
Back
Top