What is this? No label on this long arm.

[major bill]

What was I looking at?

 

[Craig L Barry]

Looks like a Smith breech loading carbine.

 

[Old Soldier]

Yup! a 50 cal Smiths.

 

[scooter748driver]

Yep, as one who has Smith carbine I can say with certainty that's what it is.

 

[major bill]

Well now I know what it was. There were a couple other muskets in the glass case as well as a carbine. I was not familiar with the Smirh carbine and had no reference books with me so was not sure what I was seeing.

 

[RSMorris]

Not trying to be a smartalec, but the last pic has a frame on the glass telling what it is. is that an antique car in the background?

 

[scooter748driver]

Good eye!

 

[major bill]

Not trying to be a smartalec, but the last pic has a frame on the glass telling what it is. is that an antique car in the background?

I did not see the sign. In the background is a World War One ambulance. Between the glass case and the ambulance is a Confederate 6 pound cannon, you can just see the cannon wheel on the top left. The Confederate 6 pound cannon is complete and very well done, but of course all but the tube are replacements.

 

[RSMorris]

I did not see the sign. In the background is a World War One ambulance. Between the glass case and the ambulance is a Confederate 6 pound cannon, you can just see the cannon wheel on the top left. The Confederate 6 pound cannon is complete and very well done, but of course all but the tube are replacements.

tis cool was just joking' around. Thought I saw what looked like wood wheels in the background.

 

[major bill]

The Michigan Military Heritage Museum has a fair amount of long arms, but only two cannons.

 

[mofederal]

A Smith. It used those rubber casings, which had a downside, because they tended to expand in the chamber, which made them a problem to remove.

 

[Booner]

A Smith. It used those rubber casings, which had a downside, because they tended to expand in the chamber, which made them a problem to remove.

I don't think it was an expansion problem, but maybe more of a melting problem once the chamber got hot.

I have an original Smith carbine that I shot back in the 1980's in the NSSA. It was a very accurate gun, and I used the plastic cartridges in it. I don't know if they had the brass cartridges available back then, but I tried a few later on and went back to the plastic cases. For bullets I used off-the-shelf .50 cal. hollow points, and they shot so well that I never saw the need for casting my own.

I originally got the carbine because I thought my gg grandfather used one as he was in the 7th Ill. Vol. Cavalry. It turned out only a few companies of his regiment used Smiths, while most of the companies including his, used Sharps. I wonder what kind of supply problems that caused?

If there's a skirmisher out there that's looking for an original Smith, please send me a private PM. I'm looking to thin the herd a bit.

 

[Miker91]

The Smith used paper cartridges as well during the ACW. I have a couple originals.

 

[DixieRifles]

I have an original Smith carbine that I shot back in the 1980's in the NSSA. It was a very accurate gun, and I used the plastic cartridges in it. I don't know if they had the brass cartridges available back then, but I tried a few later on and went back to the plastic cases. For bullets I used off-the-shelf .50 cal. hollow points, and they shot so well that I never saw the need for casting my own.

I originally got the carbine because I thought my gg grandfather used one as he was in the 7th Ill. Vol. Cavalry. It turned out only a few companies of his regiment used Smiths, while most of the companies including his, used Sharps.

We have chatted about your ancestor's 7th Illinois Cavalry serving in the Memphis area and fighting at the battles of Collierville. When did they get the Smith rifles? Could they have had them at the October/November 1863 battles of Collierville?
Recently, a new owner of an industrial site found a Colt Rifle bullet on his land. I was wondering if I know someone who may have found a bullet from a Smith rifle.

 

[Booner]

We have chatted about your ancestor's 7th Illinois Cavalry serving in the Memphis area and fighting at the battles of Collierville. When did they get the Smith rifles? Could they have had them at the October/November 1863 battles of Collierville?
Recently, a new owner of an industrial site found a Colt Rifle bullet on his land. I was wondering if I know someone who may have found a bullet from a Smith rifle.

I don't know when they were issued Smith Carbines, and as I said, I found were only a few companies of the regiment had them.

Back in the pre-internet days of the 1980's, when I started shooting in the North-South Skirmish Association, I wanted to shoot a carbine. I don't know where I found that the 7th Il. Cavalry were issued Smiths, but if you google "what units were issued Smith Carbines." the 7th Il. Cav. is listed, so I assumed the whole regiment were issued the Smith's. It was years later that I came across a book that listed only company's x, y, & z were issued Smith's and the balance of the regiments received Sharps's carbines. I have a copy of this book in my library, but I can't locate it at present. If you saw my library, you'd understand why I can't locate it.

Over the years, since my gg grandfather was a member if the 7th, I've tried to collect anything written about the unit. The 7th Il. Cav. was one of the regiments that took part in Grierson's Raid, I have D. Brown's book "Grierson's Raid" and have read it many times, but I can't recall If there was any mention of the arms the 7th had at that time. I also have Timithy B. Smith's book "The Real Horse Soldiers" which looks to be a much more informative book on the subject of Grierson and the raid, but I haven't read it yet, but looking through the glossary I don't find anything mentioning armaments, although I'm sure something will be said about that subject buried in the book. Sgt. Richard Surby wrote a first-person account of the raid in his book "Grierson Raids" but I've only read part of the book as I find the writing style of the 19th century rather tedious to read. Lastly, Tom Lalicki's "Grierson's Raid" did mention a bit of the armaments of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry. The 2nd took part in the early stages of the raid, but Grierson had them return to LaGrange in an attempt to mask the real nature of the raid. One of the reasons Grierson sent the 2nd IO. back was that they were the best-armed regiment on the raid with a multitude of small arms, almost every type of carbine the army had, which among which was the Colt Revolving Rifle.

Perhaps the Colt Rifle bullet that you referred to is from one of the Colt revolving Rifles of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry?

 

[DixieRifles]

I also have Timithy B. Smith's book "The Real Horse Soldiers" which looks to be a much more informative book on the subject of Grierson and the raid, but I haven't read it yet, but looking through the glossary I don't find anything mentioning armaments, although I'm sure something will be said about that subject buried in the book.

Terrific book. I don't think it mentions any armament either.

I recently saw a re-post of a photo of the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry(US). It may have been on a FB Group. Someone said they could see three different types of carbines in this group photo including the Smith.
So, I can't say for sure if that Colt bullet was from the 2nd Iowa Cavalry left during the battle or one of the dozens of other cavalry units that passed through this town.