Collection Cartridge Display

[Texas Johnny]

At the recent Franklin Civil War Show I picked up a couple of carbine cartridges. I decided to put what I bought in Franklin (a Sharps & an India Rubber Smith) together with some of my other cartridges in a Riker case, see photo.

 

[JOHN42768]

All very nice. Thanks for posting

 

[UCVRelics]

I love the rubber Smith, those are VERY hard to come by and bring a premium.

 

[Texas Johnny]

I love the rubber Smith, those are VERY hard to come by and bring a premium.

Yes, very pricey, but I got a "show special price" on it, but it was still way too much. I had been wanting one since I acquired a Smith carbine earlier this year. My wife's response was, "You paid how much for one bullet!"

 

[Rhea Cole]

That Smith rubber round must have dunked up the chamber something awful. I am not familiar with the performance of the Smith, did they have extractions jams? The unvulcanized rubber would have become sticky, especially in hot weather. I know that the gutta percha (rubber) insulation on Beardslee repeating telegraph spools did not work very well. Curious to find out what you know about it.

 

[Package4]

That Smith rubber round must have dunked up the chamber something awful. I am not familiar with the performance of the Smith, did they have extractions jams? The unvulcanized rubber would have become sticky, especially in hot weather. I know that the gutta percha (rubber) insulation on Beardslee repeating telegraph spools did not work very well. Curious to find out what you know about it.

There were extraction problems after several firings and as a result the cartridge was changed to one manufactured under the Poultney patent (Dec 1863) and were made of brass foil and paper with a perforation in the base.

 

[Rhea Cole]

There were extraction problems after several firings and as a result the cartridge was changed to one manufactured under the Poultney patent (Dec 1863) and were made of brass foil and paper with a perforation in the base.

Boy howdy, I bet that after the breech heated up it was just about impossible to reload the carbine.

 

[Kirk Womack]

That Smith rubber round must have dunked up the chamber something awful. I am not familiar with the performance of the Smith, did they have extractions jams? The unvulcanized rubber would have become sticky, especially in hot weather. I know that the gutta percha (rubber) insulation on Beardslee repeating telegraph spools did not work very well. Curious to find out what you know about it.

They did have problems with jamming. However, the rubber cartridge cases were vulcanized, so they wouldn't get sticky. Also, gutta percha was a fantastic insulator for telegraphy, they used it on the transatlantic telegraph cables with great success. I can't speak of its performance on the Beardslee spools however. But it wouldn't have gotten sticky.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

The Sharps and the Smith carbine captions have been reversed... You'll have to correct that. Note the metal foil and .40 cal. vs. the paper.
[Whoops! Not so! See correction below...]

Very cool carbine cartridge display! Thanks for sharing it and the presentation of it here.

 

[Texas Johnny]

Boy howdy, I bet that after the breech heated up it was just about impossible to reload the carbine.

Another problem with the India rubber was leakage out the hole in the bottom. Found a comment from a Union cavalry lieutenant who wrote from Sharpsburg in 1862, "the Smith's Carbine Cartridge is a failure. The powder, in riding, spills out of the hole in the rear end of the India rubber cartridge, so that a number of cartridges will be found in every cartridge box with little or no powder in them." U.S. Ordnance Department, by late 1863, replaced it with the Poultney made cartridge, made of metallic foil and sulfurized paper. Also, the newer cartridge saved the U.S. government money.

 

[Package4]

The Sharps and the Smith carbine captions have been reversed... You'll have to correct that. Note the metal foil and .40 cal. vs. the paper.

Very cool carbine cartridge display! Thanks for sharing it and the presentation of it here.

I believe that the Sharps is labeled correctly, in fact, it appears that the cartridge has the correct linen in lieu of paper...….

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Golly, yes, I think you are right. That is a linen Sharps cartridge... I guess the only thing that needs changing is the ".40 caliber" Smith? More like a .50 or larger maybe, yes? Thanks for catching my mistake. My apologies.

 

[Texas Johnny]

Golly, yes, I think you are right. That is a linen Sharps cartridge... I guess the only thing that needs changing is the ".40 caliber" Smith? More like a .50 or larger maybe, yes? Thanks for catching my mistake. My apologies.

You are correct the .40 should be .50, it was a typo. All the Smith carbines were .50 caliber. Thanks for the catch!

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Thank Package4 for the correction of my mistake!

Keep telling myself to go back to the eye doctor and see if I need new spectacles...

 

[Texas Johnny]

View attachment 338400

View attachment 338401
Thank Package4 for the correction of my mistake!

Keep telling myself to go back to the eye doctor and see if I need new spectacles...

Thanks for posting the charts!

 

[Virginia Dave]

At the recent Franklin Civil War Show I picked up a couple of carbine cartridges. I decided to put what I bought in Franklin (a Sharps & an India Rubber Smith) together with some of my other cartridges in a Riker case, see photo.

View attachment 338177

Nice collection. Thanks for sharing. Howdy from Central Virginia.

 

[Texas Johnny]

Nice collection. Thanks for sharing. Howdy from Central Virginia.

Thanks so much and greetings from the Lone Star State!