Civil War rifles

There were many kinds of "'Civil War Rifles". During the American Civil War the rifle was the most common weapon found on the front lines. Most of the rifles during that time were loaded with a small lead ball or with a minnie ball (or Minié ball) and black powder. Most rifles of this era were muzzle loaded rifle muskets. These rifles were used by both the United States of America also known as "The Union" and the Confederate States of America also known as "The Confederacy".

Background

When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, neither the North nor the South had enough arms to fight a major war. Stockpiles of rifles and handguns carried by individual soldiers were limited. As the war escalated those arms stockpiles were quickly diminished ("Civil War Small Arms")

The Union and Confederacy bought every European rifle available and shipped them back to American ports. Accordingly, during the first two years of the war soldiers from both sides used a wide variety of rifles, including weapons fifty years old. At the same time, American rifle and gun manufacturers--Sharps, Colt, Remington, and the United States armory at Springfield--quickly increased their production of rifles. The 1855 invention of the rifled barrel, with grooves running down the barrel that caused the bullet to spin as it fired out of the end, rendered all smoothbore rifles obsolete ("Civil War Small Arms").

The way most of the rifles of this time fired was a external hammer that fired a percussion cap. Once the cap was struck it created a flame that passed through a small hole at the base of the cartridge case which ignited the powder charge (gun powder).

Kinds of Rifles

pringfield Rifle Musket

The most frequently used rifle of the Civil War was the American-made Springfield rifle musket (above)--a single-shot, muzzle-loading gun detonated with a percussion cap. Not only did it have the rifled barrel, which dramatically increased accuracy over a smoothbore musket, but it also was the first rifle to fire the famous .58 cal. Minié ball--an inch-long, bullet-shaped projectile, rather than a round ball as used in older muskets. The 39-inch-long rifled barrel made it possible to hit a target with a Minié ball as far away as 500 yards. By the end of the war, approximately 1.5 million Springfield rifle muskets had been produced by the Springfield Armory and 20 subcontractors. Since the South lacked sufficient manufacturing capability, most of the Springfields in Southern hands were captured on the battlefields during the early part of the war ("Civil War Small Arms").

Enfield Rifle Musket

The second most widely used weapon of the Civil War was the British Enfield three-band, single-shot, muzzle-loading musket (above). It was also the standard weapon for the British army between 1853-1867. American soldiers liked it because its .577 cal. barrel allowed the use of .58 cal. ammunition used by both Union and Confederate armies. Originally produced at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, England, approximately 900,000 of these muskets were imported during 1861-1865. Many officers, however, preferred the Springfield muskets over the Enfield muskets--largely due to the interchangeability of parts that the machine-made Springfields offered ("Civil War Small Arms").

Other Rifles Used

Other rifles used during the Civil War were the British P-1841-Bored Brunswick Rifle, Burnside Carbine, Henry Rifle, Spencer Rifle, and the U.S. Model 1861 Rifle Musket. These rifles ranged from (need to find out) inches to inches. The rifles differed from each other in many ways. Some rifles were made from metal while others were made from a metal mixture. While these guns were made to kill, each one was unique in its own way. The British P-1841 Bored Brunswick Rifle has a barrel that is 36 inches long and was adopted in 1837.

The Burnside carbine is unique because it had a unique cone shaped cartridge. Another thing that made this gun unique was the way it was loaded; a tapered cartridge was loaded backwards into the tilting breech block cavity. That is where the guns unique cartridge was placed. Once the lever was closed it rotated the breech block to tightly place the sealing ring located at the front of the cartridge case to the back of the barrel to effectively close and seal the breech. Five very similar models of the Burnside rifle progressed thought mostly through inside improvements ("Weapon: Burnside Carbine").

The Henry rifle had a copper or brass cartridge that effectively sealed the breech of the gun so that the hot propellant gases would be held inside of the gun. The ignition source was a folded rim on the inside of the gun. The inventor of the gun was able to mass produce a cartridge that had a powerful powder charge. The power of a Henry Rifle was comparable in power to military pistols, but that wasn't enough to be used as a shoulder fired rifle for the military. While most shoulder fired rifles during the time fired a bullet between 350 and 500 grains propelled by 40 to 60 grains of powder the Henry rifle shot a bullet of only 200 grains and 26 to 28 grains of black powder. While the Henry was carried and used by men in the Civil War it was not widely accepted or popular by the military.

Works Cited

#"Civil War Small Arms." "National Parks Service". 25 July 2006. Accessed 14 July 2008. http://www.nps.gov/archive/anti/rifles.htm
#"Weapon: Burnside Carbine." "Antietam on the web". Accessed 15 July 2008. .
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#http://www.a2armory.com/images/RevolutionaryWarRifles/CharlevilleCarbineTB.jpg(gun)

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