"Comparing the Smith and Burnside Carbines" Topic

"Although I maintain my opinion that the Smith carbine was the best carbine of the Civil War, there is but little to choose between it and the Burnside. Actually, the Burnside does an even better job of preventing gas release than the Smith (which is one of the best for that), but it is a bit more "finicky" about loading cartridges and removing the spent cases. The Smith is simply easier to load, operate, and remove the spent case.
I am at a loss to explain the vertical stringing in ToF One. The first round fired is the highest hit on the paper, so we can ignore that and call it a fouling shot, maybe, but even so, half the shots went high and half went right into the black. Nor was that me adjusting the aim and working my way down: I aimed the same way every time, and the hits were random. I honestly don't know if I was doing something weird or if maybe the loads were off somehow (e.g., bullets not seated correctly). Still, that spread is only about 8 inches, with no horizontal deviation, so that's excellent. I really think that when I get this worked out, this carbine will be able to give my Smith a run for its money.

I absolutely love these new Burnside bullets. Not only are they the most historically correct of the various styles I have tried, but they shoot the best. As a result, I actually bought the SAECO mold for them from Buffalo Arms. It was hideously expensive, but worth it, I think…"

link

link

link

Armand

Better than the Spencer?

Debatable…

Armand

How would we resolve this? The Spencer used rimfire cartridges which to my knowledge have not been available for over 50 years. The only times I've seen Spencers fired these days the weapon has been converted to center fire, so it isn't quite the same thing. I don't think I've read near contemporary commentaries on the Spencer v. Burnside or the Spencer v. Smith. Have read ones on the Spencer v. Henry that argued the Henry was in fact the better weapon.

Next issue is how the men firing the Spencer are going to reload it. Fully reloading a Spencer's magazine took longer than reloading a single shot breech loading carbine. Under battlefield conditions I suspect once the initial magazine was emptied many Spencers were used as single shot weapons.

Thanks

Armand