Friday, October 11, 2019

Cool rifle

I was out on the range today, and met a man who had brought a Burnside rifle to shoot - an original, Civil War era rifle. Invented by the future Union General Ambrose Burnside, this rifle was purchased in large quantities by the U.S. Army and was the first U.S. military firearm that took a self-contained metallic cartridge. The shape of the cartridge is unique, and looks something like an ice cream cone. Of course, the cartridge is not the sort of thing you'll find down at Walmart or Bass Pro, so he loads his own. The rifle sounds like a small canon, and generates lots of smoke, so, yes, I loved it.

Here's a video from the invaluable YouTube site, Forgotten Firearms, if you're interested in learning more about this rifle.



Incidentally, I was shooting a replica of the Colt Lightning rifle, manufactured by Italian gun-maker Uberti. It is a pump-action rifle; mine is chambered in .45 Colt and holds 14 rounds in a tubular magazine. After I purchased the gun, I began reading online that some people were having trouble with the action - specifically, that cartridges were sometimes getting jammed under the feeding rail. Although I've had the rifle for several years, this is the first time I've shot it. No problems, fortunately. Very fun to shoot, and extremely accurate. Also, beautiful wood stock and checkered wood foregrip.

3 comments:

JeffS said...

Fascinating! I didn’t realize that some form of brass cartridge was used that early in the Civil War.

Paco said...

Yeah, it was news to me, too. They really are strange looking little things (the cartridges).

ck said...

Yeah, the cartridges are cool and that's a pretty sophisticated and nicely designed rifle. Even with the hole in the cartridge it must have been pretty reliable in foul weather.