Ammunition

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Gunpowder, projectiles, history of the cartridge from paper tube to solid-drawn case. Contemporary information on loading.

  • Drams or Drachms? – Problems in the measurement of gun powder charges resulting from the use of different terminologies.
  • Joshua Shaw, Artist And Inventor – This biography of Joshua Shaw also features the early history of the copper percussion cap. [1869]
  • Eley’s Patent Wire Cartridge – The term ‘Cartridge’ in the context of the muzzle loading era did not always mean ‘a complete round with powder’. In shotgun terms, it meant a package containing the shot charge and possibly the wadding which could be loaded intact onto the powder charge already in the barrel.

for British Military Longarms

  • Manufacture of The Copper Percussion Cap – A short description. [1858]
  • Military Percussion Caps – In 1858 British military percussion caps were issued in packs of 75 along with 60 cartridges. That year an additional 20 Eley waterproof caps were also issued. Percussion cap gauges were also made to determine cap size to fit a particular nipple or gun.
  • Enfield Paper Cartridges – This article draws from Hawes’ work on Rifle Ammunition (1859) and other contemporary sources.
  • Rifle Musket /53 .568 Cartridges – A short article illustrating an original pack of .568 diameter cartridges by Ludlow Brothers dated 1864, and for the Pattern 1853 Rifle Musket.
  • Snider Cartridge Creaser – A James Dixon & Sons ball cartridge creaser model 1182, for .577 cartridges.

Contemporary reports and notices concerning problems with .303 inch Mark IV. Ammunition in 1899, its use and change to Mark V. are published in Research Press Digest 2023.

for Target Shooting

  • Metford & Bullet Alloys – W.E. Metford’s correspondence with Sir H. Halford provide a fascinating insight into the experimentation conducted by these gentlemen in the pursuit of accuracy.
  • Rigby, Quicksilver & Bullet Alloys – Contemporary comment from the 1870s on bullet alloys and in particular the use of quicksilver (mercury) as a bullet-hardener.
  • Report of Experiments – In the Annual Report of the National Rifle Association for 1875, General Alexander Shaler (President 1875-1877) reported on experiments with powder charges for long range shooting.
  • The Perils of Hand Loading and How to Wrap Bullets – Observations from the 1880s on hand loading and paper patched bullets.
  • The Science of Long Range Shooting – Edwin Perry shares in his Modern Observations on Rifle Shooting (1880), some of the major changes / advancements at Creedmoor, in particular regarding bullet alloys.
  • The Record Long Range Score – Contemporary insight into long range rifle shooting in the US during the 1880s, and a rich resource for detail on practices of the time.
  • Sharps Long Range Bullets – Pictorial feature of boxed sets of long range bullets for the Sharps rifle, manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
  • Paper Patching: A Pictorial Guide – A quick tutorial on paper patching bullets.

Related Posts

The Science of Long Range Shooting

It’s 1879, and since the 1874 International Match at Creedmoor there have been a lot of changes. Edwin Perry shares, in his Third Edition of Modern Observations on Rifle Shooting (1880), some of the major changes / advancements at Creedmoor in just a short 5 years. When it comes to bullet alloys, much of what has been passed around on the internet as fact about the advent of harder alloy bullets is, frankly, nothing but conjecture. And what has been passed off as fact is in effect WRONG. Very hard alloy bullets, were in vogue by 1879 for long range competition and were sold by Sharps and Remington. Factory ammo was no longer used by any of the big name shooters. Most had, after careful study, found that their own reloads had much better performance on the long range targets. Make no mistake about it, rapid advances in long range shooting were going on, and much of it we knew little about, until now.

Military Percussion Caps

Arthur B. Hawes in his ‘Rifle Ammunition’ (1859) describes the manufacture of the military percussion cap, his notes also including information on packing the finished caps. In 1858 British military percussion caps were issued in packs of 75 along with 60 cartridges. That year an additional 20 Eley waterproof caps were also issued.

The Perils of Hand Loading and How to Wrap Bullets

D. & J. Fraser of Edinburgh introduced their falling block match rifle in 1881. The rifle was tried by several Scottish riflemen in the selection shoots for the Scottish Eight to compete for the Elcho Shield. The rifle gained popularity and six of the Scottish Eight eventually competed using the Fraser rifle that year. Management of the breech loading match rifle was still new to some at the time, the muzzle loader long being favoured despite the success of the American Teams using breech loaders in long range international competition since 1874. The perils of hand loading were still being discovered.