Category: Arms & Armament
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Bilby’s Small Arms at Gettysburg Review
Joseph Bilby’s Small Arms at Gettysburg is much more than just a look at the hardware used in America’s greatest battle. Bilby is unusual in having not only the hands-on skills as a long-time black powder shooter (as well as being a columnist for Civil War News) but the eye of a tactical historian as […]
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Muskets, rifles, and rifling
I found several emails from Bill Adams, who is kind enough to provide me with a lot of information about black powder period arms. As for the higher muzzle velocity for the smoothbore musket, he points out three factors: Many musket cartridges came with a paper patch, which helped sealing somewhat The round ball upset […]
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Rifles and rifling
The 19th Century saw the most rapid improvement in the rifle of any comparable period in history. At the beginning of the century the exemplar of the standard arm was the smooth bore .75 cal. Brown Bess musket, and by the end we have the modern .30 cal. bolt action, box magazine repeater using smokeless […]
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Death of a Relic Hunter
The AP has an article on the recent death of relic hunter and Civil War ordnance expert Sam White this February in Richmond. Experts suspect White was killed while trying to disarm a 9-inch, 75-pound naval cannonball, a particularly potent explosive with a more complex fuse and many times the destructive power of those used […]
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A Very Fine Whitworth (and much more)
I always enjoy window shopping on the Damon Mills web site, wishing I had the money to buy some of the old guns there. Just sold (for a mere $18,500) is a very fine sporting Whitworth with case and full kit. The decorative work on this rifle is impressive, and is obviously something that only […]
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.577
On my desk in front of me, is a relic. If you are knowledgeable about the ACW, you will now what the title means. Its the caliber size of the minie ball or bullet that was used during the war. I did not obtain it from the National Park at Gettysburg, nor Antietam, nor Bull […]