April 23, 2014, 07:11 PM | #51 |
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I have seen references to "washing their guns" during a lull in the action.
I don't think anybody meant to wet clean his musket with whatever aqueous fluid while under fire. |
April 23, 2014, 08:02 PM | #52 | |
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April 25, 2014, 08:33 AM | #53 |
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"From what I understand, in the early parts of the war, lying down was considerered cowardly"
Sounds reminiscent of the attitude of the British general orders issued to, IIRC, the First Battle of the Somme. Order came out that any man doing anything other than standing tall and walking straight ahead towards the German trenches would be court martialed.
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April 25, 2014, 08:49 AM | #54 | |
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April 25, 2014, 07:09 PM | #55 | |
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April 25, 2014, 07:39 PM | #56 | |
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April 26, 2014, 06:31 PM | #57 |
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And let's not forget the "Williams Cleaning Bullet" - the stubby mini with the zinc disc designed to scrape fouling out when fired. Each "Arsenal Pack" of 10 cartridges included three cartridges with the Williams bullet as well as 13 percussion caps rolled in paper. The Williams cartridges were a different colored paper. Many of the soldiers believed these "cleaning bullets" made the rifled musket kick harder so they were "accidentally dropped" or discarded.
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April 26, 2014, 08:09 PM | #58 |
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Cleaning round mentioned in post 7 and later posts.
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April 27, 2014, 12:38 AM | #59 | |
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April 27, 2014, 09:59 AM | #60 |
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Found this statement by Confederate soldier Jim Hall in 31st VA Infantry by John M. Ashcraft, Jr., page 86:
"I fired over fifty rounds during the engagement and my shoulder is very sore from the rebounding of the gun." |
April 27, 2014, 10:15 AM | #61 |
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And a friend has the journal of a "gentleman ranker" during the Napoleonic Wars when British issue was the .75 Brown Bess.
"Fired 70 rounds ball today. My shoulder is black." |
April 27, 2014, 10:28 AM | #62 |
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People back then were a lot smaller in stature.
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April 27, 2014, 11:22 AM | #63 |
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The most recoil tolerant shooter I knew was a little shrimp of a guy, by modern standards, maybe 5'7' at most and wiry in build. Probably normal or taller in the 18th century.
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April 27, 2014, 12:59 PM | #64 |
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I believe people of small stature tend to give with the recoil instead of fighting it and thus are less hurt by it.
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April 27, 2014, 01:55 PM | #65 |
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I've never been recoil sensitive so I really don't understand it. I was shooting 12 gauges and 30-06's both with steel or hard rubber butt plates when I was 11 and I was small for my age. To me a steel butted 30-06 or a .58 Enfield with 70 grains of powder and a 510 grain minie don't have enough kick to bother mentioning. I see guys come on here complaining about a .308 or a 30-30 and all I can say is WTH?
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April 27, 2014, 03:20 PM | #66 |
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Well, how you handle recoil has a lot to do with proper stance and hold of the rifle along with fit.
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April 27, 2014, 03:27 PM | #67 |
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Agree with Johnwilliam. Hold it loosely and the butt will slam into your shoulder. Hold it tightly and it pushes you back. I can shoot 65-70 grains all day without injury. I don't want to try that with 120 grains.
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April 27, 2014, 04:19 PM | #68 | |
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April 27, 2014, 05:37 PM | #69 |
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I dunno, but my muzzleloading shotgun seem to kick a lot more when I'm aiming at the patterning board and squeezing off a shot than it does when I'm shooting at a flying clay bird.
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April 27, 2014, 06:34 PM | #70 |
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B.L.E., get some .69 caliber round balls and tight patch them on top of 100 grains of powder. They make some awsum holes in stuff.
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April 27, 2014, 06:39 PM | #71 |
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I also wonder about urinating down the barrel. Between sweating in those wool uniforms and the 1 quart canteens of the period, any water a solider ingested would probably come out his pores first.
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April 27, 2014, 09:45 PM | #72 | |
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April 28, 2014, 04:19 AM | #73 |
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I'd try it.
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April 30, 2014, 12:34 AM | #74 | |
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April 30, 2014, 04:27 AM | #75 | |
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