Camp Follower
Cadet
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2014
Any thoughts on these paper cartridges?
They're a minie ball, paper....with a cap, which is exposed, built into the rear.
When I bought a pack of them in second grade in 1972, I also bought into the idea that they were Sharps paper cartridges. But then the cap in the back. Then some folks thought them tightly manufactured, fully encapsulated, musket cartridges, where maybe you tore off the cap, etc. Then we went back to thinking they weren't caps on the back, but just some unusual foil backing for a Sharp's cartridge. But they were caps.
Over the centuries since, many pointed out that they were precision-manufactured European needle-fire. People suggested a German Dreyse, others a French Chassepot. With further research, though, it turned out the Dreyse cap was inside, between the ball and the powder, and these rounds are too big for the 1866 Chassepot. And now there's even a Wiki page on paper cartridges showing the Dreyse and Chassepot cartridges, and it's not them. The Italian Carcano needle-fire had a cartridge with a rubber stopper on the back, which these don't have. A guy I met at the Wheaton, IL Civil War show years ago suggested Steyr or Lorenz if memory serves, and Steyr did make parts for the Chassepot, but the Lorenz conversions to breech loader were metallic cartridge. And the Internet only mentions those three needle-fire rifles.
I've since sold them all. I was just cleaning out some files, saw the picture I'd taken of them, was curious so I started Googling, now I'm even more confused.
They're a minie ball, paper....with a cap, which is exposed, built into the rear.
When I bought a pack of them in second grade in 1972, I also bought into the idea that they were Sharps paper cartridges. But then the cap in the back. Then some folks thought them tightly manufactured, fully encapsulated, musket cartridges, where maybe you tore off the cap, etc. Then we went back to thinking they weren't caps on the back, but just some unusual foil backing for a Sharp's cartridge. But they were caps.
Over the centuries since, many pointed out that they were precision-manufactured European needle-fire. People suggested a German Dreyse, others a French Chassepot. With further research, though, it turned out the Dreyse cap was inside, between the ball and the powder, and these rounds are too big for the 1866 Chassepot. And now there's even a Wiki page on paper cartridges showing the Dreyse and Chassepot cartridges, and it's not them. The Italian Carcano needle-fire had a cartridge with a rubber stopper on the back, which these don't have. A guy I met at the Wheaton, IL Civil War show years ago suggested Steyr or Lorenz if memory serves, and Steyr did make parts for the Chassepot, but the Lorenz conversions to breech loader were metallic cartridge. And the Internet only mentions those three needle-fire rifles.
I've since sold them all. I was just cleaning out some files, saw the picture I'd taken of them, was curious so I started Googling, now I'm even more confused.