Nessler Bullets

[Jobe Holiday]

Your Mississippi Rifle should actually have the Colt Revolving Carbine rear sight, rather than the Rifle sight.
J.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

How different were the two? Also, what type of front sight did they use?

As for the Nessler bullet smooth bore project, everything is slowly falling into place for my initial casting.
Researching the cartridge goes slowly.
I did get a copy of the U.S. Ordnance tests with smooth bore .69 muskets in the Claud Fuller book, which I'll try to tabulate in a table form like the French primary source on the original Foster slug-lookalike Nessler bullets.

My understanding is that all smooth bore .69s, regardless of single ball or buck and ball cartridge loads were classed as "3rd rate" arms in Federal usage. The lackluster performance in comparison to rifled muskets, rifles and rifle muskets led to a stated preference to continue the project of rifling the .69 caliber muskets while vastly increasing the scope of .58 rifle production and importation. The received story has it that some inventor managed to demonstrate a conical smooth bore slug or bullet to Abraham Lincoln, merely showing the increase in range by shooting out over the Potomac River. Lincoln encouraged the inventor to submit his invention to Ripley at Ordnance who promptly "lost" the document... In his view, a sound decision given the aforementioned emphases in the Fuller book on rifled muskets.

Thus far, I have no idea how or why the Type I and Type II were demonstrated to North Carolina officials, or were adopted for service by that state. I'd like to think there is a report someplace in the state library or archives, particularly given the decision to use state resources and buildings, but as stated up post in this thread, nothing should surprise us, including the prospect that someone simply "sold them something" without appraisal or thorough testing! Time will tell...

 

[Tin cup]

I have my "Nessler" mold in hand now, but casting is problematic because I use a ladle I made, and fear I can't pour fast enough to fill that giant cavity in time to stop wrinkled bullets! (That's with a VERY hot mold!) I ended up getting a few good "pours" using a form of pressure molding by putting a full ladle against the sprue hole, and turning it upwards with the mold, dumping the lead quickly! I almost wonder if I need to make the sprue hole bigger? I had the same issue with a friend's Lyman .685" Minnie Ball Mold, too!

Then the next thing I need to look at is figuring out how to make the diameter of the bullet smaller, so when I wrap it up in lubed paper, it's diameter is just small enough to properly fit the bore.

Kevin Dally

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Thank you very much for the first-hand experience with your mould!

I'm waiting on a better work surface to put some tiles down under the furnace and an actual beeswax candle to flux the brand new mold. I guess I'll have to make sure the mold is good and hot, and that I put the ladle right up on the sprue aperture, and then turn it to dump in the molten lead quick...

I just rolled up some Enfield type cartridges with Pritchett bullets for use in my .58 when I can get the knocked off front sight replaced, and I hope that that practice will help in the reversed-bullet style of cartridge that people assert must have been used, even though there don't exist diagrams of the cartridges or actual surviving cartridges? I'll try my hand at both.

Incidentally, to lube the exterior paper on the Enfield-type cartridges I used 6 parts mutton tallow to 1 part bees wax. My poor dog thought it smelled mighty good!

Very respectfully, &c.

 

[yulzari]

FWIW the 'reverse' bullet paper cartridge of the Pritchett type was introduced by the French first of all. A version still is given as a guide to production in my 1888 French Naval manual which includes detailed instruction on making Chassepot paper cartridges with all materials, dimensions and tools..

The Enfield version was a sophisticated version of the original and it made my Enfield totally fouling free in use no matter what the weather or number of rounds fired. I used 50/50 wax/tallow.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Thank you for that. I'll see if I can find that reference. I had seen French reversed bullet paper cartridges for Minie bullet cartridges, but I'm not sure how they were made. With the North Carolina Type II so-called "Nessler" with its flat base I suppose I'll have to judiciously fold over the paper and glue it, albeit not so that it adheres to the projectile.

I had read about several wax and tallow mixes, including an outright cessation of tallow after the war in India where the Muslim haraam swine grease rumor and Hindu prohibition on beef were popularized as a "spark" for the anti colonial revolt. The version I made used 6:1 but I may add more wax to a closer 50/50 approximation. While I concede the greased paper patch was better for controlling fouling, I would question your "totally fouling free" claim? Really?

Personally, I like to make threadless/ twineless model 1863 paper cartridges because these are so simple. But fouling is left behind in abundance! For Texas I had started with a late Civil War lube recipe of 1 part tallow to 8 parts wax, but this is entirely too thick, even in the triple-digit heat. I'll probably make up a batch of the prewar recipe and use that on these different iterations of smooth bore cartridges.

Very respectfully, &c.

 

[yulzari]

'Totally fouling free' 'in use' in that the first shot with a cold barrel will deposit some fouling but that level of fouling remains constant with a well made and greased Pritchett cartridge. I once made 50 rounds and the 50th went down as easily as the 2nd. Just the weight of the rod plus the lightest of finger and thumb grips on the rod. The greasing controls the fouling coating on the way down as well as out. Naked Burton balls for me always seem to need cleaning out after just a few as the effort to seat them grows larger.

 

[FedericoFCavada]

Golly Tin cup, you were not kidding! I finally had some nice "casting weather" here in Central Texas, free of rain (I'm doing this out of doors...). I've got a skirmish coming up in late May at LaCoste, Medina County, TX. I'm going to use a rifled and sighted .69 cal. Model 1842 that I had re-lined by Hoyt. I got my lead really, really hot. I made about 75 or so wadcutter Minié/Burton balls made, then switched to about 40 or so .670 round balls. Then I tried to make some of these here Nessler NC state-issued balls. I'd think about 3/4 or so had to go back in the pot. It is challenging to make these, even with really hot lead. I'd let the molten metal "pool" on top like normal so as the bullet cooled it would have a bit extra, but in the Nessler's case, it would just slurp all the metal on the top down into the mould and still come out wrinkled! Thus far I've only got about 7 of the so-called Nessler's made.

I've also been researching Civil War ammunition and weapons, and I did find a case of Iowa volunteers who were given .69 smooth-bores, but then got the full-house 730-grain Minié/Burton backed by 70 or so grains of powder, even though it was for rifled muskets. So when I get to testing these--after making many, many more of course--I will try them in both smooth-bored and rifled .69 arms, if I can get them sized.