Common Ol' West Weapons and Cartridges

[Thumper]

So, I took a stab at putting together a list of common weapons and bullets available in 1873 (all of these are cartridge/metal-cased rounds...no cap and balls):

Common Ol’ West Weapon Calibers and Ammo Types 1873

Lever Rifles:
Winchester 1873: .44-40 (15-shot)
Winchester 1866: .44 (15-shot)
Spencer Carbine 1860: .52 (7-shot)
Henry Rifle 1860: .44 (15-shot)

Most of the single-shot buffalo rifles were .50

Breech Load Single Shot Rifles:
Springfield 1865: .58
Springfield 1866: .50
Springfield 1873: .45
Sharps 1859 Rifle and 1863 Rifle and Carbine: .52 then .50 (paper cartridges...guns converted to .50 caliber metallic cartridges after the war)
Sharps 1869 Rifle and Carbine: .50 (metal cartridges) Rifle was a favorite Buffalo Gun. Carbine most prolific cavalry weapon.



Single Action Revolvers:
Colt Peacemaker (1873): .45 (Brand new gun)
Colt Army (1873): .44 (it quickly became very prolific due to conversion of older cap-and-ball Colts to cartridge chambers at factory and by gunsmiths)
Smith and Wesson Model 3 (1870): .44
Smith and Wesson Model 2 (1860): .32
Smith and Wesson Model 1 (1857): .22
Colt Open Top Pocket Revolver (1871): .22 (7-shot)
Colt House Revolver (1872): .38 & .41 (5-shot) FD
Colt New Line Revolver (1873): .22 and .32 (5-shot) FD (1874, calibers were expanded to .38 and .41 for stopping power).


Double Action Revolver:
The only DA revolvers before 1875 were percussion/cap-and-ball

Derringers: (.41, .32, .22) (4-barreled "Pepperboxes" were all .22)

A lot of double action revolvers as well as lower-caliber lighter and shorter-barreled (fast-draw revolvers) came around in 1875. After 1875, many more sizes/calibers of weapons were manufactured...many weapons came chambered in differing sizes. But for 1860-1873 all metal-case rounds were those listed above.

A .44 is not compatible with a .44-40 as the latter's casing is different.

There were sometimes small differences in the compatibility of weapons and cartridges based on the the cartridge's casing lengths, but I figured this would be too complicated for our game. The older cap-and-ball/percussion types of weapons get really convoluted with ammo...good thing everybody likes the new-fangled metal cased rounds and weapons. Many cap-and-ball revolvers were converted to be compatible with .44 caliber cartridge.

[Rex]

Very nice. A couple of comments.

The 44-40 was initially and is still technically called the 44 WCF (Winchester center fire), although ammunition is commonly stamped 44-40 now. The 40 comes from its black powder charge of 40 grains and was added later (same as the 30 WCF became the 30-30). This started appearing first on Colt revolvers in 1889 and UMC ammunition right off (they refused to stamp Winchester on anything they manufactured).

The 44-40 will become available in a revolver in 1877. Colt came out with the Colt Frontier (sometimes called the Frontier Six-Shooter) chambered in 44 WCF to pair up with the Winchester 1873 lever action rifles and carbines. Its actual designation was the Colt Model P. There are actual examples of conversions that gunsmiths were making (or attempting to make anyways) in the west from the 45 Colts to the 44 WCF at the request of Frontiersmen (thus the name) which is where the idea came from.

[jemmus]

Thanks much, Thumper and Rex. Some questions and comments. We'll assume for now that any firearm not available in 1873 is out of play and not available.

a) Single shot breech loading rifles
I've been throwing around the Sharps rifle as a long range single shot breech loader. (BH gives its "Breech-loading Rifle" an Extreme of 500 yards vs. its "Lever-action Rifle 400 yds). I believe the Sharps was issued to U.S. Army troops in large numbers, so the rifles should be around in the game as surplus. Where do Springfields fit in? And would cartridges for one rifle be usable with the other?

b) Lever action rifles and carbines
We all know Winchesters, but there were also Henrys and Spencers. Any others? What do we need to know about each, since we're differentiating?

c) Revolvers
In game, DARs seem to offer little advantage over SARs. They're speed Average compared to Fast, but $2 cheaper. Fast draw revolvers are Very Fast, but their ranges are 6-15-50 yards, compared to the DAR's and SAR's 10-20-60 yards. (Price $40, compared to $28 for the DAR and $30 for the SAR). BH decided that cocking a gun happens automatically during the course of either kind of turn. And thus the squeeze the trigger and fire another quick shot of the old Westerns, and the advantages of the double-action were (maybe counter-intuitively) lost.

Then there's the game Long Barrel Revolver. Slow, but better ranges of12-30-90 yards ($35). We haven't seen one of them in this game yet. Hmm....

(From what I've seen, reloading a cap and ball pistol is about like reloading a muzzle loading rifle. Pour power into a chamber, drop in a lead ball, put in a percussive cap, and seal the chamber with beeswax. Repeat five times. Was effective for the Texas Rangers against the bow and arrow, lance and warclub armed Comanches in the 1840s. (The Rangers generally carried two loaded long-barreled Navy Colt cap and barrel revolvers for 12 shots, a muzzle-loading rifle, and a fighting knife (such as a Bowie knife. But that was 30 - 40 years before 1873, of course, and the development of firearms has been quick over the years).

d) Scopes
Another question: What year did barrel-mounted optical telescopes enter the market? I suppose they would have crosshairs and range bars (reticles?) But it would have to be completely up to the shooter himself to gauge the range in 100s of yards. And estimate to precision fractions thereof?

[Thumper]

I'll take a stab at answering some of these questions. Rex, I'd appreciate a cross check of this info.

Thanks much, Thumper and Rex. Some questions and comments. We'll assume for now that any firearm not available in 1873 is out of play and not available.

a) Single shot breech loading rifles
I've been throwing around the Sharps rifle as a long range single shot breech loader. (BH gives its "Breech-loading Rifle" an Extreme of 500 yards vs. its "Lever-action Rifle 400 yds). I believe the Sharps was issued to U.S. Army troops in large numbers, so the rifles should be around in the game as surplus. Where do Springfields fit in? And would cartridges for one rifle be usable with the other?

I forgot to include the Sharps data. I added that to the above original post. Springfields and Sharps rifles and carbines were both mass-produced during the war. Carbines were mostly cavalry and Rifles mostly sharpshooter weapons. Muskets were far cheaper and quicker to manufacture, so many times more of them for the infantry. Henry's and Spencer repeating rifles were in smaller numbers during the Civil War than the single-shot breech loaders, as they were even more expensive. Spencers were almost all federal government purchased while Henry's were mostly personal weapons of officers and soldiers, or they were supplied by the state from which the unit hailed. Several hundred Henry's were federally purchased to outfit Cavalry units in the Western theater...hence they were surplussed to the Frontier after the war.

Springfields had metal cartridges...Sharps were only paper cartridges initially (keep your powder dry), but most were converted (both at a factory and by gun smiths) to metal cartridges later. Both Springfields and Sharps were standard infantry rifles and cavalry carbines well into the 1880s. Both were very prolific in 1873.

Range for Buffalo Guns (Shaprs and Springfields) was truly 500 meters. I think the ranges given in BH for lever-actions is a bit generous.

In real world, I think the Sharps and Springfields could fire each other's rounds.

b) Lever action rifles and carbines
We all know Winchesters, but there were also Henrys and Spencers. Any others? What do we need to know about each, since we're differentiating?

Henry was the first mass-produced repeating rifle followed by Spencer. Henry's lever-action patent and company was bought by Winchester just after the war and became the basis of the Winchester 1866 and beyond series of lever actions. Spencer carbines were adopted by the Union cavalry in the middle of the war...1863 I believe. Lots produced. By 1869, a series of mergers/acquisitions brought Spencer into the Winchester company.

Smith and Wesson had a repeating rifle that was extremely unreliable due to a funky "Rocket Ball" ammo. It never had commercial success.

Several other 1850s and 1860s attempts by Europeans to build repeating rifles never amounted to commercial success.

Colt made a percussion "Revolver Rifle" (6-shooter rifle) that was a moderate commercial success from 1855 until around 1875. Likely to see a few of these around Texas in 1873. It also made several, attempts at revolving shotguns. There might be a rare one or two in Texas in 1873.

Marlin Firearms began a successful line of lever-action repeaters beginning 1875. Winchester began making their Model 1873 in various calibers beginning in 1875. But for now, all Winchesters are .44 or .44-40.

About 10 years later, pump-action rifles began to be mass produced. Pump action shotguns were invented by John Browning late 1880s...his fingerprints are all over the Springfield and Winchester iterations as well. He and his son were fascinating people and designers.



c) Revolvers
In game, DARs seem to offer little advantage over SARs. They're speed Average compared to Fast, but $2 cheaper. Fast draw revolvers are Very Fast, but their ranges are 6-15-50 yards, compared to the DAR's and SAR's 10-20-60 yards. (Price $40, compared to $28 for the DAR and $30 for the SAR). BH decided that cocking a gun happens automatically during the course of either kind of turn. And thus the squeeze the trigger and fire another quick shot of the old Westerns, and the advantages of the double-action were (maybe counter-intuitively) lost.

Then there's the game Long Barrel Revolver. Slow, but better ranges of12-30-90 yards ($35). We haven't seen one of them in this game yet. Hmm....

(From what I've seen, reloading a cap and ball pistol is about like reloading a muzzle loading rifle. Pour power into a chamber, drop in a lead ball, put in a percussive cap, and seal the chamber with beeswax. Repeat five times. Was effective for the Texas Rangers against the bow and arrow, lance and warclub armed Comanches in the 1840s. (The Rangers generally carried two loaded long-barreled Navy Colt cap and barrel revolvers for 12 shots, a muzzle-loading rifle, and a fighting knife (such as a Bowie knife. But that was 30 - 40 years before 1873, of course, and the development of firearms has been quick over the years).

The Colt Navy and Colt Walker gave a huge technological advantage to the Rangers. They were game changing. It wasn't until then that the Rangers were able to effectively challenge the Comanches. But, "ya gotta keep the powder dry". Colt had a patent on revolving cylinders that expired in around 1850. A few manufacturers made percussion revolvers of various calibers after that. But Colt really held the lion's portion of the market share.

Smith and Wesson had a license on a patent for the type of "through bore" cylinder that made it's revolver capable of metal cartridges. That patent expired in 1870. Therefore, S&W had a monopoly on metal-cartridge revolvers for a while. That's why there were so many Colt percussion/cap-n-ball weapons, including the only double-action-revolvers 1873.

The S&W and Colt .22 and .32 would have been the closest to a "Fast Draw" weapon prior to Colt’s New Line. The New Line was effectively the first Fast Draw. They had very little knock-down power as they were short cartridges. "Fast Draws" were later designed specifically for that role...I believe they were .38 snub nosed revolvers. The snub nose and small bullet/powder ratio account for the shorter effective range.

d) Scopes
Another question: What year did barrel-mounted optical telescopes enter the market? I suppose they would have crosshairs and range bars (reticles?) But it would have to be completely up to the shooter himself to gauge the range in 100s of yards. And estimate to precision fractions thereof?

Scopes were first regularly used around 1830s or 40s, and they were used by snipers in the Civil War. But they were in very small numbers and expensive, as they were hand-made by jewelers, optometrists, and telescope makers. Not very rugged. There was one shop in Vermont that had assembly line production for the Civil War. I'm not certain, but but other than that, I think they were not mass produced until the 20th Century.

[Rex]

For long range ladder sights were much more common and versatile than optics of the time. You are correct that the first mass assembled optics in the Americas was in Vermont for the civil war.

BH is sort of wrong and sort of right with how it is treating ranges. If it is based on velocity it is wrong. The difference in velocity for different barrel lengths was and is pretty small, certainly not enough to make a difference in range. The often sited 25 fps per inch assumes a starting velocity of about 2700 fps and a bullet weight of around 180 grains. In the 1800's we are usually talking about much heavier bullets and slower velocities, that means even less velocity loss per inch. But where barrel length really maters is in 2 places. On horseback (ie mounted) longer barrels are difficult to use as you can hit the horses head swinging the firearm around and any forward arced firing places the barrel very close to the horses ears and eyes, very bad and why carbines (short barreled rifles) were preferred by those who used horses a lot (and those who traveled in brushy/thick terrain). And probably more importantly for long range shooting, long barrels have a longer sight radius, and the longer the sight radius the more precise you can shoot. This maters even more for pistols since they have very short sight radius, but for fast draw it doesn't mater if the barrel is shorter for 2 reasons. Shorter is faster, much faster in fact and you don't use the sights anyways on the first shot, it often came before the pistol was even to full extension. In fact many examples of fast draw pistols didn't even have real sights on them at all, just a bead in many cases, this was less to snag on stuff. Particularly important for any gun you were going to not use a holster with.

If Thumper doesn't get to before me I will try to cover some of your other questions after work today.

[Thumper]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co ... volver.jpg

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_House_Revolver

[Thumper]

Colt cap and ball revolver converted to cartridge revolver.

[Thumper]

The Winchester 1866 Rifle (15-shot): the same rifle as the Henry only modified with a wood forearm and tube magazine is a separate tube of metal (Henry was barrel and tube magazine were one piece of metal).

[Thumper]

S&W 1876 Model 2 (.38 Caliber)

After S&W/Starr cartridge bore patent expired in 1872, Colt pistols became far more popular than S&W because of the trigger guard, six shots, and other reasons. But S&W remained a “quick-draw” due to smaller size, quicker trigger, and shorter barrel. But it had only 5-shots and a .22, .32, or .38 caliber round (much smaller than Colt’s .45, .44, or .44-40 rounds). But Colt’s “New Line” were the most popular “Quck-draw” due to shortest barrel on the market.

[jemmus]

We specifically made the year 1873 in the game so that the Winchesters are available. I originally planned on 1867 for more of a gritty Outlaw Josie Wales post-War setting.