Tell me more! Austrian M1849 "Kammerbushe"

[Kentucky Derby Cavalier.]

Hey folks, I got some questions about this rifle. The M1849 Kammerbusche always fascinated me, it stands out amongst the Springfields, Enfields, and Lorenzs of the War. What I like most about it is that is a bigger caliber, .71, and it's slightly shorter than the usual rifled muskets of the day. It's not exactly a carbine, but it's not that long either, does this serve a purpose? How many we're used? We're they liked? I've also seen an M1844 model "Kammerbushe," are these the same thing?

Austrian M1849 "Kammerbushe" Rifle | trans-mississippi

Offered here is a very nice example of the Austrian Muster 1849 Kammerbushe Rifle, also known as the "Garibaldi Rifle". This is a massive .71 caliber rifle with an impressive 12 groove rifling. The barrel measures about 32.5 inches, and the gun's total length is 48 inches. These rifles feature a...

www.trans-mississippirelics.com

 

[Grayrock Volunteer]

The Muster 1844 has the same general dimensions as the M1849, but it is easily differentiated by its use of three brass barrel bands to secure the barrel. Other differences are seen in the shape of the triggerguard, as well as the sights, and the presence of a Laukart bayonet clasp under the barrel. Some examples are found sliding wood covered patchboxes.

It seems no distinction was made by US ordnance officials in separating the guns based on model and that the M1844 and M1849 were both lumped together when inventoried. As with most European arms with bores larger than standard US calibers, their accuracy suffered from improperly sized ammunition.
Length wise, they are generally comparable with most other period "rifles" regardless of origin. The nominally 33 inch barrel length was pretty standard for use in short rifles intended to arm riflemen, or "Jaegers" as the Austrians might say. More well known rifles with similar lengths include the British Pattern 1856/58/60/61 Rifles, and the US Model 1841 and Model 1855 Rifles.

 

[Kentucky Derby Cavalier.]

The Muster 1844 has the same general dimensions as the M1849, but it is easily differentiated by its use of three brass barrel bands to secure the barrel. Other differences are seen in the shape of the triggerguard, as well as the sights, and the presence of a Laukart bayonet clasp under the barrel. Some examples are found sliding wood covered patchboxes.

It seems no distinction was made by US ordnance officials in separating the guns based on model and that the M1844 and M1849 were both lumped together when inventoried. As with most European arms with bores larger than standard US calibers, their accuracy suffered from improperly sized ammunition.
Length wise, they are generally comparable with most other period "rifles" regardless of origin. The nominally 33 inch barrel length was pretty standard for use in short rifles intended to arm riflemen, or "Jaegers" as the Austrians might say. More well known rifles with similar lengths include the British Pattern 1856/58/60/61 Rifles, and the US Model 1841 and Model 1855 Rifles.

"It seems no distinction was made by US ordnance officials in separating the guns based on model and that the M1844 and M1849 were both lumped together when inventoried. As with most European arms with bores larger than standard US calibers, their accuracy suffered from improperly sized ammunition."

Were they using the .58 cal Minnie from the Springfield? They weren't using the .71 cal bullet?

"Length wise, they are generally comparable with most other period "rifles" regardless of origin. The nominally 33 inch barrel length was pretty standard for use in short rifles intended to arm riflemen, or "Jaegers" as the Austrians might say. More well known rifles with similar lengths include the British Pattern 1856/58/60/61 Rifles, and the US Model 1841 and Model 1855 Rifles."

Yuh know it's interesting, I saw the M1849 held up against the 1853 Enfield and it just seemed so short.

 

[Kentucky Derby Cavalier.]

It reminds me of the British Brunswick.

Brunswick Rifle | Small Arms & Ammunition

Pretty neat Brunswick Rifle... about 2,000 of these were purchased by the Confederacy in the early stages of the war. There's a good write-up on the Confederate Brunswicks in the book The English Connection, pgs. 124-130...

civilwartalk.com

 

[tbuckley]

I suspect that Grayrock Volunteer is right about the use of the wrong ammunition and they were using .69 caliber in the .71 rifle.

 

[Kentucky Derby Cavalier.]

I suspect that Grayrock Volunteer is right about the use of the wrong ammunition and they were using .69 caliber in the .71 rifle.

I want to own a Kammerbushe some day. Lol.

 

[Baron deKalb]

I want to own a Kammerbushe some day. Lol.

I have two for sale.

 

[Yankeedave]

chamber shrub of course lol

 

[Don Dixon]

Hey folks, I got some questions about this rifle. The M1849 Kammerbusche always fascinated me, it stands out amongst the Springfields, Enfields, and Lorenzs of the War. What I like most about it is that is a bigger caliber, .71, and it's slightly shorter than the usual rifled muskets of the day. It's not exactly a carbine, but it's not that long either, does this serve a purpose? How many we're used? We're they liked? I've also seen an M1844 model "Kammerbushe," are these the same thing?

Were they using the .58 cal Minnie from the Springfield? They weren't using the .71 cal bullet?

The Muster 1844 Kammerbüchse was developed to provide rifled weapons to the second and third rank men in Austrian Jäger battalions, the elite units of the army. The first rank men used Jägerstutzen. The weapons were initially designed to fire a patched round ball cartridge using Delvigne's concept. This transitioned in 1847 to a conical bullet. The Muster 1849 Kammerbüchse was a product improved version designed from the ground up to use a conical. In 1853 a System Lorenz type compression bullet was adopted. Rather than importing the Austrian ammunition for which the weapons were designed, the Americans used their own ammunition. Although .71 caliber ammunition was manufactured by the Federals, I wouldn't be at all surprised if many of the troops were issued .69 caliber ammunition. The weapons are actually pretty good for their time. However. The sights were calibrated in Schritt rather than yards (a Schritt was a military pace of 29.5 inches). The sights were not calibrated for American ammunition, either .69 or .71 caliber. The Federals and Confederates never translated the Austrian instructional manuals for the weapons or wrote their own. And, it appears that they were generally issued either without Austrian cleaning equipment or that the tools were issued in inadequate quantities. That troops complained that they were inaccurate is unsurprising and reflects the incompetence of the Federal and Confederate ordnance establishments rather than the quality of the weapons. Much the same problem existed with most imported foreign weapons for similar reasons. All told, about 48,417 Muster 1844 and 1849 Kammerbüchse were imported for the Federal Army. I believe some were also brought in for the Confederates, but God only knows how many. And, the Confederates used captured Federal weapons.

Regards,
Don Dixon

 

[vmicraig]

For additional background on it, I posted a detailed history of the Kammerbuchse here….a lot of the details were obtained from Don, our resident expert on Austrian imports.

Thread 'Austrian Muster 1849 Kammerbucshe - an ACW Import'

Jan 26, 2025

The Kammerbucshe - Civil War Import - a consolidated history

The Muster 1849 (M1849) Augustin Kammerbüchse (Chamber rifle), often referred to as a "Garibaldi" Rifle in Federal Army correspondence during the American Civil War, was an Austrian .713 caliber rifle musket produced with the Augustine Console lock ignition system (also known as the "tube lock" or "pill lock"). It fired one of the first mass produced conical rounds called a Spitzkugel. Appropriately, its heavy steel ramrod had a conical cavity matching the tip of the bullet.

Although the M1849 was an improvement upon the...

• vmicraig
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Small Arms & Ammunition

• 

Love mine, managed to pick it up on the cheap and still need to give it a good cleaning. A great addition to my Kammerkarabiner.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Interesting post about a rifle I am unfamiliar with. A question? Is this the Austrian rifle that Grant quipped that had a recoil that did about as much harm to the shooter as to the target? What was the powder charge?

Has anyone live fired one of them? Curious to know what that is like.

 

[johan_steele]

Interesting post about a rifle I am unfamiliar with. A question? Is this the Austrian rifle that Grant quipped that had a recoil that did about as much harm to the shooter as to the target? What was the powder charge?

Has anyone live fired one of them? Curious to know what that is like.

Grant was complaining about Belgian and Germanic arms such as the Potsdam. Many were conversions from flint of dubious quality. Most were in .71 as well.

The assorted short Austrian rifles were of good quality and quite accurate with the correct ammo… which wasn't imported. Instead they were issued .54 ammo instead of .55 which would have had a serious accuracy issue. On top of that the rear sight on many was locked in place with a thumbscrew which in Cav use tended to work loose with the loss of the rear sight being the result.

Though properly maintained in infantry use there seemed to be few complaints towards the Austrian rifles and they gave good service. But most ended up with western Cav. In place of carbines.

 

[vmicraig]

Has anyone live fired one of them? Curious to know what that is like.

I haven't but the video from Brett at Paper Cartridges will give you a good idea what it's like