A Civil War Bolt Action

[Sedalia Dave]

 

 

 

 

He gives the history of the rifle towards the end.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

Thanks for posting this video!  I have had a Greene rifle since 2015 and had read how it worked but this is the first time I have seen one loaded and fired.  Here are some photos of mine.

Bole open

Moving internal portion to seat a bullet

Bolt closed

The bayonet was unique to the Greene - standard 1855 bayonet on top Greene bayonet on bottom

Different mounting

The 1855 went on and then turned 90 degrees to slide over the front sight, the Greene just pushed on no turning

Once over the front sight they were both locked in place

 

The Greene Rifle was the first bolt action ordered by the US as he stated but the Krag was not the next.  Others were tested by the Ordnace Department after the Civil War during the breech loading Black Powder Metallic Cartridge evolution.  Springfield Armory made 1,000 model 1871 Ward Burton rifles and 300 carbines for field trails by the US Army.  They were tested along with an 1870 Trapdoor, 1870 Sharps and 1870 Rolling Block all single shot in 50-70 and all made a Springfield.  After field trials ended in 1872 the Trapdoor was chosen as the breech loading action and the 1873 Trapdoor in 45-70 became the offical US Army longarm.  Here is my 1871 Ward Burton rifle.

 

Then in 1878 an Ordnace Board did testing of magazine fed actions and chose the Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle and carbine for field trials.  But again after field trials that ended in 1881 the single shot trapdoor remained as the official US Army longarm.  The W-H had a tubular magazine in the butt stock that loaded from the action and pushed back into the magazine.  Here is my first model W-H rifle and first model carbine with 500 rifles and 500 carbines made in 1879 as a joint venture between Winchester and Springfield Armory.

Second model W-H Carbine made in 1880.  Changed the right side safety and magzine cut off twist knob to a lever on each side of the action because of cracks in stocks due to the hole for the twist mechanism.

The military carbines had slots in the front of the stock to hold the cleaning rods.  Civilian versions by Winchester of the carbine did not have this.

Not too long after the 1878 Ordnace Board chose to keep the single shot trapdoor there was another Ordnace Board tasked to test more magazine fed actions and they chose 3 bolt acton rifles with different magazine designs for field testing.  The 1882 Chaffee-Resse rifle, the 1883 Remington-Lee rifle and the 1883 (third model) Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle.  But again after the trials were completed the singe shot Trapdoor remained the US Army rifle and by 1886 all the bolt action trial rifles were out of service.

 

Chaffee-Reese rifle with tubular magazine in the butt stock that filled from a twist sliding cover in the butt similar to the way a Spencer loaded.  Except the magazine had a stepped belt that kept the bullet nose from direct contact with the center of the brass head and primer.   Although submitted by Colt, they wanted 10 times what Remington and Winchester wanted to produce the trial rifles so Springfield Armory made the 753 C-R trail rifles.

 

 

The Remington-Lee rifle with a detachable box magazine.  Remington made 750 of the R-L trail rifles.  This one has had the oringal rear sight changed to a Buffington sight.

 

Third Model Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle with a tubular magazine in the butt stock that filled from the action like 1st and 2nd models.  This model now has a two part wood stock and the two levers are on the side of the action.  Winchester was contracted to make 750 trail rifes but only 715 were delivered in late 1884 for field trails.  This rifle is marshal marked and thus was part of the trails but the Third Model was also made and sold on the civilian market so those without the marshal markings are not trial rifles.

 

The US Navy actually adopted 5 different bolt action 45-70 black powder rifles between 1879 and 1885 which were in service until replaced by the 1895 Winchester-Lee Navy which used the  6mm smokless cartridge.  I won't post photos of those rifles. 

 

Then finally an Ordnace Magazine Board was convened in December 1890 to find a suitable bolt action rifle for US Army use and it was to use .30 caliber smokless ammunition instead of .45 caliber black powder.  In 1892 after review of 53 submitted rifles, 24 of which were of foreign design, the Board chose the Danish designed Krag-Jorgensen Rifle for ue by the US Army. 

 

Sorry for the long post with lots of photos.  Hope some of you don't mind the history leason about some of the US Breech Loading Metallic Cartridge longarms.

 

Edited January 13 by Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said:

Sorry for the long post with lots of photos.  Hope some of you don't mind the history leason about some of the US Breech Loading Metallic Cartridge longarms.

 

THANKS for the history lesson. Much appreciated. 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

7 hours ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said:

Thanks for posting this video!  I have had a Greene rifle since 2015 and had read how it worked but this is the first time I have seen one loaded and fired.  Here are some photos of mine.

Bole open

Moving internal portion to seat a bullet

Bolt closed

The bayonet was unique to the Greene - standard 1855 bayonet on top Greene bayonet on bottom

Different mounting

The 1855 went on and then turned 90 degrees to slide over the front sight, the Greene just pushed on no turning

Once over the front sight they were both locked in place

 

The Greene Rifle was the first bolt action ordered by the US as he stated but the Krag was not the next.  Others were tested by the Ordnace Department after the Civil War during the breech loading Black Powder Metallic Cartridge evolution.  Springfield Armory made 1,000 model 1871 Ward Burton rifles and 300 carbines for field trails by the US Army.  They were tested along with an 1870 Trapdoor, 1870 Sharps and 1870 Rolling Block all single shot in 50-70 and all made a Springfield.  After field trials ended in 1872 the Trapdoor was chosen as the breech loading action and the 1873 Trapdoor in 45-70 became the offical US Army longarm.  Here is my 1871 Ward Burton rifle.

 

Then in 1878 an Ordnace Board did testing of magazine fed actions and chose the Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle and carbine for field trials.  But again after field trials that ended in 1881 the single shot trapdoor remained as the official US Army longarm.  The W-H had a tubular magazine in the butt stock that loaded from the action and pushed back into the magazine.  Here is my first model W-H rifle and first model carbine with 500 rifles and 500 carbines made in 1879 as a joint venture between Winchester and Springfield Armory.

Second model W-H Carbine made in 1880.  Changed the right side safety and magzine cut off twist knob to a lever on each side of the action because of cracks in stocks due to the hole for the twist mechanism.

The military carbines had slots in the front of the stock to hold the cleaning rods.  Civilian versions by Winchester of the carbine did not have this.

Not too long after the 1878 Ordnace Board chose to keep the single shot trapdoor there was another Ordnace Board tasked to test more magazine fed actions and they chose 3 bolt acton rifles with different magazine designs for field testing.  The 1882 Chaffee-Resse rifle, the 1883 Remington-Lee rifle and the 1883 (third model) Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle.  But again after the trials were completed the singe shot Trapdoor remained the US Army rifle and by 1886 all the bolt action trial rifles were out of service.

 

Chaffee-Reese rifle with tubular magazine in the butt stock that filled from a twist sliding cover in the butt similar to the way a Spencer loaded.  Except the magazine had a stepped belt that kept the bullet nose from direct contact with the center of the brass head and primer.   Although submitted by Colt, they wanted 10 times what Remington and Winchester wanted to produce the trial rifles so Springfield Armory made the 753 C-R trail rifles.

 

 

The Remington-Lee rifle with a detachable box magazine.  Remington made 750 of the R-L trail rifles.  This one has had the oringal rear sight changed to a Buffington sight.

 

Third Model Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle with a tubular magazine in the butt stock that filled from the action like 1st and 2nd models.  This model now has a two part wood stock and the two levers are on the side of the action.  Winchester was contracted to make 750 trail rifes but only 715 were delivered in late 1884 for field trails.  This rifle is marshal marked and thus was part of the trails but the Third Model was also made and sold on the civilian market so those without the marshal markings are not trial rifles.

 

The US Navy actually adopted 5 different bolt action 45-70 black powder rifles between 1879 and 1885 which were in service until replaced by the 1895 Winchester-Lee Navy which used the  6mm smokless cartridge.  I won't post photos of those rifles. 

 

Then finally an Ordnace Magazine Board was convened in December 1890 to find a suitable bolt action rifle for US Army use and it was to use .30 caliber smokless ammunition instead of .45 caliber black powder.  In 1892 after review of 53 submitted rifles, 24 of which were of foreign design, the Board chose the Danish designed Krag-Jorgensen Rifle for ue by the US Army. 

 

Sorry for the long post with lots of photos.  Hope some of you don't mind the history leason about some of the US Breech Loading Metallic Cartridge longarms.

 

Your post was fascinating. Thanks. 

[watab kid]

some interesting rifles yall have there , one i knew of the others id not heard of