Could More Repeaters Have Won the War for the Union?

Could mass production of repeaters have helped the Union achieve victory much earlier?


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I learned something new. I've always assumed that the loaded tubes went into the gun. I've never had the opportunity to actually shoot one. Thanks for the video.
 
Tks. This has been the point I have trying to make. I too am a Spencer fan....for the Cav! But it came late and brass was needed and the dam infranty Spencer (a relative of mine has one, original ) was very heavy and it took a clip and that meant taking care of a rather fragile clip in the field for its day....kinda a delicate clip as ya know. And so and so forth. I can and have put 10 rounds of paper rounds thru a Sharps in under 1 minute. For its day it was perfectly feasible to have all Union infranatry armed with the breech loading Sharps at least by 1863....many sooner. It was NOT new technolgy. Been around for a decade. Hmmmm, think Berdan! That is what he wanted and got. Yup. I understand this thread advocating repeaters....may have been a tad too early for that in the 1860's for infranty with all the training and ammo, and all the other etc's.....but to my mind the infrantry Sharps would have fit into the niche of the war perfectly....and been an early war winner for the North unless you Southerners can figure a counter....which is perfectly fair on here. Yes....bring it.
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Now I would really like to see someone shoot 10 rounds in less than a minute using a Sharps (1859 or 1863) and hit a 2 foot square target at just 50 yards away. My hat would be off to that person as that would be some mighty fine shooting. A video on You Tube would be great, I will look forward to seeing one. As to production of Sharps rifles M1859 there were 6,989 produced and the M1863 there were 7,000 rifles produced.

A Spencer rifle was lucky to fire 14 shots per minute. At this rate of fire shooting at a 2 foot square target would be fairly easy. Keep in mind a Blakeslee box was not used until 1865 and most troops never had them for most of the war. Wilder's Brigade did not have these at Chickamauga thats for sure. It takes a little time to reload a Spencer inserting one round at a time in the magazine, not the clip. No fragile clips were ever used with the Spencer. Close to 11,000 Spencer rifles were manufactured. Not much training needed to learn how to fire a Spencer.

The Henry rifle could fire close to 30 rounds per minute. At this rate of fire shooting at a 2 foot square target would be fairly easy. The magazine held 15 to 16 rounds depending on which ammunition was used. The first 16 shots could be fired in less than 15 seconds. The reload would take close to 30 seconds and another 15 seconds to fire the reloaded magazine. Close to 9 to 10,000 Henry were used in the war. Not much training needed to learn how to fire a Henry.

Ranges of most Civil War battles varied but under 200 yards was common. That is well within the capability of all three rifles. I have all three types of rifles and like them all. I would much rather having a fast follow up shot if needed so a Spencer or a Henry rifle would be a great choice.
 
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