Question on Turner Rifles

[The Ninth Ohio]

Below are two links to Turner rifles that had been auctioned. The first is listed as a .45 cal, the second .56. The abstract states generally they were found in .42 to .45.

My question is this: is there any documented evidence that these types of rifles were ever actually used? Or even made it out of mustering camp? It seems to me that with a .42-.45 cal bore you would run into supply problems with the ordinance dept. I have seen multiple secondary sources claim some German units entered the war and even fought with them, but I have yet to find a primary source stating same.

The links:

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/t...turner-type-bayonet-plus-reference-book-79920

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/turner-percussion-rifle-with-bowie-bayonet-1596563

Thanks in advance.

 

[Package4]

The Turnverein or Turners were athletic gymnast clubs of Germanic descent, they developed fraternal and paramilitary societies to preserve their heritage and traditions. They were very active in Ohio, particularly in and around Cincinnati in the 1850s. The rifles were most likely for hunting and defending their beliefs through an informal militia, almost all of these rifles were made in Ohio, though some are found marked with Kentucky gunsmiths. Doubtful that they went to war, though there were the Turner Rifles, a militia formed to protect Cincinnati during the war.

The rifles are all over the map, due to personal preference and owner's finances. Most of the above from Flayderman's page 559

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

The Turnverein or Turners were athletic gymnast clubs of Germanic descent, they developed fraternal and paramilitary societies to preserve their heritage and traditions. They were very active in Ohio, particularly in and around Cincinnati in the 1850s. The rifles were most likely for hunting and defending their beliefs through an informal militia, almost all of these rifles were made in Ohio, though some are found marked with Kentucky gunsmiths. Doubtful that they went to war, though there was the Turner Rifles, a militia formed to protect Cincinnati during the war.

The rifles are all over the map, due to personal preference and owner's finances. Most of the above from Flayderman's page 559

Got it, thanks. That's kind of what I was thinking. The militias and the weapons they were armed with were an important part of German American communities protecting themselves from nativists (there were multiple prewar riots in Cincinnati alone) as well as hunting, competing and the like, but I have a really hard time believing any significant number of them ever saw action.

 

[Package4]

Please see the following link for more information:

http://pages.gunsightantiques.com/5052/PictPage/3923745751.html