Smith Carbine from the Civil War
One of my family members has recovered from his attic a pristine Smith carbine dated 1863. He doesn't know much about it and actually neither do I other than what I have learned from the net. Can any of our GB experts tell us about it or experiences with it? As always, many thanks for any and all feedback.
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Seeing it's been over 140 years since the end of the Civil War, I didn't think that many of the Smith's were still to be found in pristine condition.
You sure it not one of the modern replicas? I believe some were made in both Germany and Italy during the last 30 years.
The Smith was one of the many breech loading capping carbines purchased by the Union during the Civil War. They were OK as long as you used the special cartridge, that was made for it. Just loading it with loose BP was a recipe for disaster as you got a face full of gas when you pulled the trigger.
The capping carbines became immediately obsolete after the end of the war with the event of one piece self contained ammo, i.e. .44 Henry, 50 Spencer, 50-70 etc. The only ones that survived the war were the Maynard and Sharps which were reworked for self contained ammo.0 -
quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
Seeing it's been over 140 years since the end of the Civil War, I didn't think that many of the Smith's were still to be found in pristine condition.
You sure it not one of the modern replicas? I believe some were made in both Germany and Italy during the last 30 years.
The Smith was one of the many breech loading capping carbines purchased by the Union during the Civil War. They were OK as long as you used the special cartridge, that was made for it. Just loading it with loose BP was a recipe for disaster as you got a face full of gas when you pulled the trigger.
The capping carbines became immediately obsolete after the end of the war with the event of one piece self contained ammo, i.e. .44 Henry, 50 Spencer, 50-70 etc. The only ones that survived the war were the Maynard and Sharps which were reworked for self contained ammo.
Rufe....thanks for the quick response. No, its the real deal and not one of the Italian knockoffs the the Civil War reenactors love to buy. It is every bit as good as the one on the present RIAuctions listed for $5-7k! My cousin's wife thinks it belonged to her GGrandfather who was from the Uniontown PA area and I know from research that two USA cavalry regiments from PA (7th and 17th) were supplied with them as well as the 3rd WV Cav. She is running down who he was with other family members and we are going to research that angle. It is a neat little gun, handy and all which is one reason why Navy Arms and others started making it for reenactors. I know that over 30k were purchased from the the plants in Springfield and over 1.8m rounds of the special .50 cal ammo that it used. From what I can find it seems the Rebs captured quite a few of them at the beginning of the War and tried to make up their own ammo with rather bad consequences. Thanks, as always, for your feedback.0 -
Lucky you found it before it went bad. Hope this helps get it shooting. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=smith+carbine&x=7&y=7 0 -
quote:Originally posted by charliemeyer007
Lucky you found it before it went bad. Hope this helps get it shooting. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=smith+carbine&x=7&y=7
Charliemeyer007....thanks for the reference. I hear that the reenactors use Dixie Gun Works "stuff" to make ammo for the Smith. There was a nice review in Guns and Ammo about shooting one of the Italian knockoffs with Dixie loads. The Smith is a neat little carbine that some Union cav guys like and others just threw away....evidently it was prone to lots of cap and ammo failure and some trouble with the nipple fouling quick. But the one I am looking at doesn't look like it was used much at all the the barrel shines inside....no evidence of pitting at all. Appreciate the feedback[:)]0
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