U.S. Civil War Burnside Carbine

[Ralph A]

And now for something entirely different...

Picked this up in Fredericksburg today. .54 caliber 5th Model Burnside percussion breechloading carbine.

[Ralph A]

left side:

Pretty good shape. Blueing is about gone, but some of the case color remains. Inspector's cartouches are crisp, and the frame serial matches the block.

[Ralph A]

Invented by good old Ambrose P. Burnside.

One-time commander of the Army of the Potomac. A good soldier, but a little out of his depth past corps level. He sold the patent before the war. A classic "D'oh!"

He was defeated in front of Fredericksburg whilst commanding the Army of the Potomac in December 1862. Joseph Hooker replaced him shortly thereafter.

The Burnside carbine was the third-most used carbine by the Federals behind the Sharps and the Spencers. About 50,000 issued.

[Ralph A]

Block

Innovative design.

[Ralph A]

It had a very unusual cartridge.

Distinctive. Shaped like an ice-cream cone, one places it into the chamber bullet-up. The ring around the casing is the gas seal! A percussion cap set onto a nipple ignited the cartridge.

The troops either loved 'em or hated 'em - reviews were mixed. Mostly the complaints were of sticking cartridges.

[Ralph A]

Graduated rifling...

..or, "gain twist" as they say. The bore's rifling is progressive; it "tighten's up" the closer it gets to the muzzle - one of many ingenious innovations about these great, historical firearms.

The Burnside is generally considered to have been the most accurate of the Federal carbines (Skirmisher's who still fire them in competition say that with ball ammo the groups are much better). The fact that they CAN still be fired means that good Burnsides are becoming hard to find - many are stripped, and end up as replacement parts for shooters. More profit in that, apparently.

Well, this one is safe, and ree-tired from shootin' ! Dam' Yankee thang...

I have just the place for it, and when I get it mounted up I'll post a picture (Here you can see the nice crisp inspector's cartouches).

Enjoy the rest of the pics and thanks for looking!

[Ralph A]

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[Ralph A]

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[Ralph A]

Little rough round the nipple, darlin'

Been fired, no doubt. But the bore is absolutely clean. This weapon has been well-kept.

[Ralph A]

"Matching serials are always good."

Repeat after me.

[Ralph A]

Barrel marks.

You think it was forged?

[Ralph A]

Manufacturer's stamps.

... and a peek at the leaf-site.

[Ralph A]

A few more stamps.

Thanks for looking, gents. I plan to collect more carbines and also some rifles from the U.S. Civil War period, and as I do I will post them here.

[Dirk]

Nice

Ralph- As a Spencer owner I can say welcome to the club...nice piece and they are going up in value. Check out the Chantilly Va Civil War Show in April if you want to see more and what they are charging for these neat weapons....

[stogieman]

Well....

.... if you're going to go CW... maybe you'll give up the Imperial goodies?
Nice piece. Now, if you could just buy that church in town that still has the cannon balls stuck in the walls!