Guard Ammunition?

[FiremarshalBill]

I was reading the translated version of the Imperial Royal Infantry Musket manual (M1854 Lorenz rifle musket) and came across a section that described "Guard Ammunition". It read: "Guard ammunition differs from the usual service ammunition in that you load a bare compression bullet, which is slightly smaller in diameter, onto the powder charge so you can unload the rifle by pointing its muzzle slightly downward without using the ball-screw or other implements". I take this to mean that if you were going on guard duty you loaded your rifle by pouring your cartridge powder down the barrel, and then the bullet was seated on top of the powder, but no paper wadding on top of the bullet, so when you came off guard duty you simply pointed the muzzle slightly downward and the bullet rattled down the barrel and fell out? Does this mean that "Guard Ammunition" was a different caliber (slightly smaller) than service ammunition or is this simply describing a loading procedure that makes it easier to unload the weapon when you come off guard duty?

This brings up another question. Except when actually going into battle, did soldiers normally keep their weapons unloaded at all other times? If so, was this because of safety concerns or were there other reasons why an army would keep their weapons unloaded?

 

[Don Dixon]

The Guard or Watch Cartridge for the Muster 1854 System Lorenz Rifle Musket:

Lorenz's compression bullet could be difficult to remove from the rifle if one wanted to clear it without firing, since jamming the ball screw on the end of a ramrod into the bullet could cause it to compress. Initially, guards used bullets removed from their paper cartridge wrapper. When loaded, the bullets were covered with a wad of paper or tow. With the wad removed with the worm, the windage permitted the bullet and powder to be easily removed. Improved guard cartridges were approved in 1860 and introduced in 1861. The bullet used in this cartridge had its nose flattened and pre-drilled with a female thread to match the male thread of the ball screw. The powder charge was fixed to the base of the bullet in a small cloth [net/tulle] sack which could be pierced by the flame from a percussion cap. This permitted the cartridge to be pulled intact from the barrel when unloading of the rifle, and made repeated use of the cartridge possible. Issue was one per soldier.

Unless a soldier was on watch or contact was expected, weapons in most [I suspect all] armies were kept unloaded. It was just too difficult to unload muzzleloaders without firing them.

Regards,
Don Dixon

 

[UCVRelics]

I didn't even think about guard ammo and you sure couldn't shoot it. I guess it wasn't like unloading all weapons in the tank when we came off the line and into the motor pool.

 

[FiremarshalBill]

The manual says:
"With the bullet removed, the rifle is tilted muzzle-down, and the gunpowder shaken out immediately, ensuring the crown never touches a stone or hard object." That makes sense. I can only imagine the racket from an army of 40 or 50 thousand soldiers (with over a thousand guys on guard duty on any given night) coming off the line and clearing their weapons by dropping the bullet out and then snapping off a round to make sure their rifle was unloaded!