SURVEY: Number of Rounds?

Green Frog

Cadet
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Location
Lynchburg, VA
OK, I'm trying to get a feel for packing my shooting boxes. How many rounds do you feel comfortable with to start a team match for...
A) Musket
B) Carbine
C) Smoothbore
D) Repeater

I'd like to design a shooter's box that will carry enough ammo for individuals and a team match for each of the firearms I plan to shoot, so I need to figure out ammo volume required.

TIA ~ Froggie
 
Depends on how good you and your teammates are.

Let's run the numbers. At a Nationals, you are responsible for 4 pigeons on a backer, 2 hanging pigeons, 2 pots, 2 small tiles, and 2 large tiles. Twelve targets. IF you are a good shot, you can go 50% on these, for 24 rounds. For the average shooter, more like 36 rounds. Then figure if you are fast AND accurate, you might wing up picking up more targets - unless your teammates are as good. My father always claimed that a good shooter should be able to get by on 40 rounds.

In my case, I'd figure on 50 rounds for musket and carbine. I don't shoot repeater, but the principles should stay the same.
 
The box the men were issued was designed to carry 40 rds. I'm not a NSSA shooter so given the coice I would use paper instead of plastic and only allow what was carried; a purist so nuff said.
 
The box the men were issued was designed to carry 40 rds. I'm not a NSSA shooter so given the coice I would use paper instead of plastic and only allow what was carried; a purist so nuff said.

I'm not sure what box you are referring to, :confused: as I am more familiar with the cartridge box (repro) that I got for muskets... it only has 16 holes for a like number of rounds. I know I can't get through a match on that number, usually going to at least twice that in musket and carbine. That's just me, usually on a "B" team, so YMMV!

Froggie
 
No, Johan is right. The standard infantry cartridge box was set up for 40 paper cartridges.

A lot of Skirmishers. including myself, use carbine boxes with a wood insert - or make up a wood insert and spacer for a musket box. FWIW, I've been experimenting, trying to come up with a set of reasonably authentic leathers that would let me shoot a Nationals with minimum weight. I've got some ideas...which I'll be testing when Jarnagins delivers my order.
 
The rule of thumb that I use for Musket and Carbine because I shoot a Musketoon is as follows. 3 rounds a minute average per event, 5 minutes per event and 5 events in a shoot, (3x5x5=75 rounds) I manage a hit time with both under 30sec per hit and have had days were I was picked up with a team that I only needed around 25 rounds but then one time at Middletown I shot with a team that ran full time with six events and fired close to 90 rounds!
Pays to be safe go with your average rounds fired in a minute with full time as a factor.
Better safe then reaching into your buddies box!
 
http://www.missouribootandshoe.com/ has outstanding replicas of the originals, probably the best made. Ammo came in packs of 10 rds w/ a tube of 12 caps. You could easily place 4 of those packs in a typical cartridge box. I know that I can. The pattern 1857 box was likely the most common being supplanted by the pattern 61 box as they were produced.
 
I'm with Johan on this one. As a former N-SSA member I have fired skirmishes using only rounds loaded like the originals, and wrapped in paper, etc. My accouterments are accurate copies of originals, and only hold the proper amount of ammo. I have never seen a need for wooden inserts or the like, even when I use plastic capplugs. If the rims are trimmed from those modern tubes the box still holds 40 rounds like it should. I put an extra ten rounds or so in my haversack, and generally take 50 rounds to a match.

The N-SSA no longer allows rounds wrapped in the original manner, even if no paper enters the bore, which I find odd.

Unless there was a stake event involved, I cannot remember shooting more than 50 rounds in a match.
 
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