Has anyone heard of this bolt-action repeater or know where to find it?

B

Blazmo

Inactive
I came across a thread on this forum through google, and in it, one of the posters describes a bolt-action muzzle-loading repeating rifle dated to the civil war era known as a 'smith' gun. Apparently it's in a gun museum somewhere in the US but I was wondering if anyone on here had heard of it.

Here's the thread in question BTW:https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440707
 
Your post is confusing because you are talking about two things at the same time.

A harmonica rifle is not a cartridge weapon but a multiple shot black powder weapon. Then you throw in "smith" gun.

The link that you post is for harmonica rifles. If you do a web search for harmonica rifle you will probably find what you are looking for. A couple came up for auction in the last year.
 
Sorry, I probably should have been more specific. I meant to say 'has anyone heard of or know where to find the rifle mentioned by Rifleman1776 in this thread'.
 
About 30,000 .50 caliber Smith carbines were used by Federal forces in the Civil War. It was not a "harmonica" gun, but a break-open single shot that was loaded with a cartridge having a rubber case and fired by an exterior percussion cap on a conventional nipple.

There were no commercial sales and about zero interest in the post-war period.

They are fairly common, and often are found in very good condition at reasonable prices.

Jim
 
The OP was not asking about a Smith (carbine). Rather he was trying to get a
handle on a Civil War era magazine-fed bolt action.'

The only types I know of are described here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuSotikDzC8

All are single-shot -- which given the Spencer -- were anachronisms even then.
Click to expand...

Precisely. My apologies for not being clear enough.

Have you asked Rifleman1776?
Click to expand...

I thought about it, but his profile says his last activity was two years ago, so that seems to be a dead end.
 
My old friend and colleague who passed in 2004 had both a Palmer and a Greene in his U.S. military collection. Both were sold off after his death.
 
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The Greene rifle saw some use in the Civil War, with the Union army buying 900 rifles (at $33,266.43) and 173,760 cartridges (at $3869.82.) The company appears to have been the only source of the unique cartridges.* Because the cartridge has a deeply concave base, the rumor began that they were used by the Confederates and the cavity was filled with poison to kill Union troops. Neither story was true.

The Calisher and Terry is an English gun. Some were imported during the war by the C.S., but it was not regular issue, in part because the ammunition was not standard. Reportedly, "Jeb" Stuart and Jefferson Davis each owned one, but as private weapons, not official issue.

The Palmer carbine arrived on the scene too late to see any CW action, though the Army contracted for 1001 before hostilities ceased and accepted them after the war. Their disposition, AFAIK, has not been determined.

*Note that the Greene carbine is a single shot, with a turning barrel; it is not bolt action.

Jim
 
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