From: russell-watson@att.net
On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:40:01 -0500, Gerald Clough
wrote:
>Von Fource wrote:
>> How soon after the release of cartridges like the 44-40 Winchester and
>> 45 Colt cartridge did the black powder guns last? How long did it take for
>> the general public and particularly the people of the west to switch over
>> from the old cap and ball guns to the all in one cartridge? Was there still
>> a lot of use from 1865-1890 of those old cap and ball black powder guns?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>
> From the replies, I see that there's some confusion. Black powder
>wasn't limited to muzzle-loaders or cap-and-ball operation. Black
>powder was used in cartridges and was the standard military small arms
>powder until near the end of the 19th century, when the greater fouling
>made black powder a liability in rapid-fire weapons. The last US
>military use of black powder in small arms was the Spanish-American War,
>when National Guard units, to which the old black powder cartridge ammo
>had been relegated, were called up.
Yessir, you are absolutely right. I had mentioned in my original reply
that metallic cartridges contained black powder until around the end
of the 1800s, but cut it before posting to save space. As you can see
from my posts, I'm a wordy bastard myself, so much for my criticism of
Mr. Ralph Compton's western novels! You should only see what all I
type before I edit them so as to try not to bore folks too damned
badly! In this case, it seemed apparent that Von was asking
specifically about percussion revolvers, so I decided that part could
go, but it's nice that someone else brought it up, as it factored into
many western shootouts such as the OK Corral event. Unfortunately,
this is another area in which folks who wish for accuracy usually get
short-changed by Hollywood.
'97 FLSTF
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