WEAPON ADVANCES IN 1800

During the early 1800's most guns were muzzle loaders. In 1848, Christian Sharps invented a rifle that loaded from the breech, or back end, of the barrel. He was, however, not the first to create rifles that loaded in this manner. In his rifle the breech block moved down when the trigger guard was moved down. A paper or linen cartridge with powder and bullet was placed into the receiver. The bullets used were of .54 caliber. Then the breech block was moved back up it tore off the paper exposing the powder. It fired using a percussion cap (Williamson 6). During the Civil War about 100,000 of these rifles were supplied to the Union army. Between 1836 and 1873 over 540 patents for breech loading rifles were issued. Many of these were guns were manufactured and sold to the U.S. government during the Civil War. The best known model was the 1863 Sharps Carbine. Alan Sumrall attributes their popularity to their ability to convert easily to metallic cartridges. It was the most popular carbine of the U.S. Cavalry in the first three years of the war. The rifles first became famous as "Breechers Bibles" in the fighting in Kansas and Missouri. It was replaced, however, by the Spencer carbine rifle, which held seven metallic cartridges. The Confederates used captured Sharps and made 5,000 copies themselves in Richmond (Sumrall). In 1860 alone fifteen patents were issued for breech loading rifles
Winchester Rifle


Overall, the most standard weapon used by both the North and the South was the 1861 Springfield rifle. This muzzle-loader was fired by a percussion cap and shot a .58 caliber bullet. Its rifled barrel gave it better accuracy and penetration. It fired a Minie ball, which was a lead bullet with a hollow tail. What it fired the pressure caused the lead to expand into the grooves. In addition to keeping the bullet on a straighter course this expansion minimized the escape of gas, which increased its range.
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