Lets Talk About Civil War Breechloading Carbines

R

Rachen

New member
Narrowed down to two specific ones:

Smith .52 Cavalry

and

Sharps 1859/63 Cavalry

Here are the questions:

1. What are your favorite loads?

2. Have you ever chronographed your shots? If so, how was the performance?

3. Do either have enough power for hunting at short/medium ranges? Game
animals in question would be deer, hog, elk, and antelope.

Lets discuss.
 
the trapdoor was not used in the civil war. 1861-65 . Trapdoor was made in the 1880s. They were obsolete even before production. I use 55-60 grains in my sharps and enfield rifle at the range and hunting, with what ever balls are available at the time i stock up. they were strong enough to take down hogs and deer.
 
The Springfield Trapdoor 50-70s were developed in 1866, not the 1880s. Not Civil War era but very close. Why were they obsolete before production?
 
The Trapdoor was obsolete in the sense that cartridge repeater rifles like the Spencer and the Henry proved their viability as a combat weapon. Not surprisingly, the post-war Army was concerned about needless waste of ammunition through rapid fire. It wasn't until the 30-40 Krag came along that the Army finally adopted a repeater. Even then, volunteer units like the Rough Riders were still carrying the Trapdoor Springfield in the Spanish-American War.
The concern about wasting ammunition was carried over to the 1903 and 1903A3 Springfield rifle which featured a magazine cut-off.
 
I just bought a Springfield 50-70 and the brass/ammo is pretty much obsolete now, even for reloading. But that's a different thread.
 
Online references indicate that the Smith was loaded with a 360-grain slug over 50 grains of powder, while the percussion Sharps was loaded with a 410-grain slug over 60 grains of powder.

Load data in the Lyman BP Handbook suggests that the Smith would have a muzzle velocity around 1000fps, while the Sharps would be around 800 fps. The Smith should have the edge as far as energy goes, but I doubt that a deer could feel the difference between the two.

I would be more concerned about the mechanical characteristics of the guns... I've owned a couple of Italian-made percussion Sharps repros, and they both had leaky breechblocks; after 5 or 6 shots they would be locked up with BP fouling. If I ever buy another percussion breechloader, it will probably be the Smith.
 
I am a member of the 2nd US Sharpshooters (Berdan). I shoot with my team in the North South Skirmish Association. I have two carbines that I shoot. A Maynard and a Smith. My first choice is the Maynard. It is the simplest gun to keep in order, shoots very well and is easy to clean. The Smith is an excellent gun but is a little of a pain to reload the way it brakes in the middle. The Maynard is fool proof. Both guns are .50 cal and for both I use 22 grains of FFG.

Hope that helps.
 
If you aren't careful with the Smith, it will pinch the fire out of you!
Don't ask me how I know. :( It shoots good though. I thought about using it during muzzleloading season, but the game warden around here doesn't count breechloading muzzleloaders to be...muzzleloaders. I'm sticking to my double blackpowder shotgun for deer.
 
Civil War Life - is there any historical support for a 2 USSS using a carbine? I've never read anything, but I'm open to new research. Thanks.
 
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