The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Dave McCracken Memorial Shotgun Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old July 4, 2012, 10:45 AM   #26
SHR970
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 24, 2011
Posts: 1,427
Quote:
The history of the buck and ball load is really interesting. I've read that George Washington was a huge fan of it and that it was used widely by General Meagher's "Irish Brigade" during the civil war with deadly effect, especially during the Battle Of Bloody Lane at Antietam.
There are a couple of reasons that B&B was used so prolifically during that period of time. If you have ever fired a Brown Bess, Enfield musket, or Springfield musket with the standard ball you would understand.

A Brown Bess is an 11 gauge gun (incorrectly called a 75 cal.) and is fed a .735" paper patched ball. You can hear the ball rattle down the barrel when you shoot it. Broad side of a barn accuracy is about all you can realistically expect from one at 50 yards. Pretty much the same for the smooth bores of the civil war era. The .mil crowd favored the smooth bore musket over the rifle for ease of loading and rate of fire.

The second issue that came into play was the dense cloud of smoke that would obscure the vision of the shooters after a couple or three volleys of fire. After the lines on both sides had fired a few volleys they were effectively firing blind. At that point it was bayonet charge time.

The buck part of the load was to simply give a gunner a chance to hit somebody with something; this was to make up for poor accuracy of a patch & ball as well as obscured vision due to smoke.

A 12 ga. shotgun shell with a round .690 ball in a standard wad is going to be more accurate than a smooth bore musket loaded with a patch and ball simply because the fit of projectile to bore is better. You do better still with a Foster or Brenneke slug.
SHR970 is offline  
Old July 4, 2012, 02:29 PM   #27
Al Den
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 28, 2012
Posts: 150
Of course the Brown Bess was an inaccurate gun -- it was a true military smoothbore meant for reliable and massed fire from shoulder-to-shouldered ranks into the same in a time when the bayonet was actually the main weapon. Remember that even a pellet-wounded enemy was as good if not better than a dead one -- they required aid and care off the field of batttle and behind the lines, and would likely die of their wounds eventually anyway.



Just to be clear, neither the CW Enfield (Pattern '58) nor the Springfield RIFLE muskets ('55, '61 and '63) were smoothbores. Furthermore, though they were rifled they used type of minie-balls which were a slightly undersized conical bullet for easy loading in a blackpowder rifle and the skirt would expand upon firing into the rifling to impart spin, hence accuracy.
Al Den is offline  
Old July 4, 2012, 03:35 PM   #28
SHR970
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 24, 2011
Posts: 1,427
Al,

You are correct on the 58 Enfield and the models of Springfield you cited.

I should have said Harper's Ferry was a smooth bore and quite in use (many had not been converted to rifled barrels). The 42 Springfield was very much in inventory in both the North and the South. Same as the Harper's Ferry, not all were converted to rifled barrels.
SHR970 is offline  
Old July 4, 2012, 08:30 PM   #29
Al Den
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 28, 2012
Posts: 150
Well, Harper's Ferry was an armory like Springfield. They MADE Springfield models (which are really "U.S." models) there although not generally quite as well as at Springfield Armory for reasons I won't go into now, only they'd be marked Harpers Ferry. Yes, there were many older weapons including many 1842 smoothbores (first general issue caplocks issued in the field during The War with Mexico -- the troops hated 'em) and more modern rifle muskets made and captured at Harper's Ferry by the Confederates, as well as equipment. Harpers Ferry actually did particularly produce a coupla rifles (the 1803 and 1841 or "Mississippi").

Both sites have great museums today.

Last edited by Al Den; July 4, 2012 at 08:45 PM.
Al Den is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:45 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.06523 seconds with 7 queries