The Black Powder Cartridge Rifle

Here is an option from the late 1800s.

Guns used in the US prior to the civil war were almost all muzzle loaders . They used a Flint lock, match lock, or percussion cap for initiation. Some of the early breach loading rifles used a percussion cap to fire a load of black powder.

During the civil war, and especially after it, gun makers used the newly developed mercury primer to ignite a brass cartridge loaded with black powder. Note, I skipped over the rim fired Henry cartridge on purpose.

The best known black powder cartridge rifles are the Winchester 73, and the 1874 Sharpes. Two others were the Remington rolling block, and the Browning designed 1885 High Wall. These rifles were chambered in large rimmed brass cartridges, such as the 44-40, 45 Colt, and 45-70 Government.

There is a great scene the movie Quiggly Down Under, where after he looses his saddle bags containing his reloading tools, Mathew talks a small town Austrailian store owner how to reload his cartridges. The Sharpes in the movie was chambered in 45-110, and used a paper patch, bullet black powder load.

 

not a bad option

here's mine

 

Trap door Springfield???

Watcherchris

Not an Ishmaelite

 

yup, trapdoor in 45-70

 

I've fired 1873 rolling block Remingtons in .43 Spanish and .43 Egyptian. While watching a friend touch off some loads, I could watch the bullets sling off their grease while heading out to our targets we'd placed at 200 yard. Some of the brass my friend himself had manufactured, not being able to obtain save at a king's ransom.

These bullets may be going "slow", however they'll tear a man's leg off. Bullets weighing 300+ grains are sent out at 1200 to 1400 fps. Let me tell you, this makes for some fun shooting. I love these old rifles. I love the Springfield Trapdoor. Blackpowder loads can make for an accuracy that exceeds the shooter's ability to utilize. In war, God's Mercy was lost on the man who'd allow himself be the target of a marksman so armed. The trajectory of a mortar may not be in any way straight; rest assured however that it will get the job done.

This is the .43 Spanish.

This is the .43 Egyptian. Not so very different from the .43 Spanish in dimensions. I could detect no difference in recoil. Black powder loads "shove" you forcefully in recoil. Modern smokeless powders in heavy loads kick sharply.