Category: Arms & Armament
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Union Brigade Sharpshooters
One of the most interesting but at the same time frustrating parts of researching sharpshooters is finding new sharpshooter units. Of course if you find one there are probably more, but the information on them if often maddeningly vague and incomplete. I’ve recently come across evidence of Federal brigade sharpshooters. We’ve know about the Confederate […]
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Minie vs. Buck and Ball
I found this from a couple of years ago by Cap and Ball, who compares the relative effectiveness of the Minie ball against a single smoothbore ball and the buck and ball cartridge. No question that the rifle is more accurate but OTOH a brigade firing off a volley of buck & ball puts a […]
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Did the Hunley’s Own Torpedo Kill Its Crew?
Intriguing article by a biomedical researcher at Duke University, whose research suggests that the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley died from the effects of their own torpedo. … after an exhaustive three-year Duke study that involved repeatedly setting blasts near a scale model, shooting authentic weapons at historically accurate iron plate and doing […]
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The Volcanic Pistol
Ian at Forgotten Weapons takes an in-depth look at the Volcanic pistol, or rather several of them. In the mid-1850s the company manufactured a ten shot pistol that was not a revolver (and thus had no patent worries from Colt). It also brought together three men who would become giants in the firearms field, whose […]
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Protecting Streets in Brooklyn, Shooting Cap & Ball Pistols
The latest outrage is that are streets in Brooklyn, NY, named for Confederate generals. Actually they are on a small Army post there, Fort Hamilton. A local politico says “These monuments are deeply offensive to the hundreds of thousands of Brooklyn residents and members of the armed forces stationed at Fort Hamilton whose ancestors Robert […]
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Loading the Enfield
Excellent short video on the steps to load and fire the Enfield muzzle loading rifle with the issue British cartridge. Not only that, the video presenter is in full period kit. I was going to use a series of photos I took of a friend doing it the range recently, but this is better. Please […]