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Burnside Carbine?

SP45
Looking for information on burnside ammo. I have a round clearly marked with "Colt" markings. It is made of copper and is seamed and has the Rampart Colt and a samll c inclosed in a box. The only problem is that no one seems to know if Colt made ammo for the Burnside. Very clearly this round dates to the 1800s and there is no reason for anyone to create a fake round at that time.
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  • captkirk3@dslextreme.com
    You need to talk to <iconoclast> who's a regular member of these forums...and a diligent Collector of Old Ammo....If anyone would know....He's the one.................!

    Captain Kirk, Tech Staff
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  • Iconoclast
    Tom, to the best of my (firmly asserted NOT "expert") knowledge, none of the Burnside ammunition was ever marked in any way. I've never seen or heard of such a thing in the flesh, any auctions, or otherwise. My guess is that this was some sort of commemorative / special loading of post 1900 origin, although I've never heard of such in this design, either. There are extremely limited production runs of various commemorative / promotional ammo. Lyman had specially headstamped rounds made to go with their Centennial .45-70 rifle, CCI makes special runs of ammo for employees who retire after long service, etc. There are also "vanity" loadings, especially of oddball things. George C. Nonte had Norma make him some .50-140 Sharps brass, for example.

    A *lot* of Burnside ammo was made during the Civil War, but the manufacturing expense of the the Burnside design (vs. RF & early CF types) coupled with the external priming doomed the system from ever making the transition to civilian use after the war . . . if someone wanted a breech loader which used a cartridge, they would opt for some of the more "standard" configurations rather than a holdover from the 1850s. The Burnside was obsolete almost as soon as it was introduced; if not for the pressing needs of the war, it's likely the ammo would be far more scarce than it is. I'd toss this question out on the IAA forum (http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/) or contact Dick Frasier (last name may be spelled wrong) who sells collector ammo as "rampant1" on "A"nother "A"uction site and specializes in Colt material.

    Capt - thanks for the sterling endorsement, but my expertise pales compared to the *real* cartridge experts among cartridge collectors. I just know more - and particularly have more references on this subject!! - than most folks on GB in this very narrow niche of a topic.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And liberals / DemoWipes" (me)
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  • SP45
    Thanks Teak. I posted it one the site you listed. I also showed Bill at a show in NH and he had never seen one but was going to look into it.
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