My great great relatives were brothers fighting for the Confederacy in a Georgia unit... One was killed and the other suffered a leg wound and spent the rest of the war in a Union prison in Maryland. A newspaper article said Private Royal walked home from Maryland and sat on the front porch eating supper while his wife boiled his clothes...
It is crazy to think of how lucky most of us are to be alive as American's today. I have four USCT, 1 White union cavalryman, 6 confederates and 1 confederate congressman turned colonel in my family.All survived. Now I understand why they were such angry people after the war; angry, yet kind.
Many years ago several of us went to a range with our Springfields and Enfields. We tore up those targets and some of the wooden supports were splintered and clouds of dust erupting from the berm in back really impressed the guys firing modern weapons. I also think we had more fun. Thanks for the great channel!
Fabulous stuff! In the depressed area I live in, the shooting ranges will not allow Muzzle loading rifles at ranges over fifty yards. To shoot at longer ranges you need to spend a fortune and join a private range, if they'll have you. What Brett and company are doing, shooting original style ammunition and recreating the performance of these weapons, is something I've wanted to do since the mid seventies, when the only reference we had was a picture in the front of Claud Fullers' book. BRAVO, Boy's
In 1988 I was a member of a CW reenactor group and we used to pair up in teams of four and shoot our muzzle loading CW type muskets at a 2/4 placed sideways at 50 years. The team that shot the board in half first, won. I was the only one shooting an original antique musket and it shot as well as did the new ones. It was lots of fun. Those minie balls take out a chunk of wood! It would have been horrible to have been hit with one! It'd take out a chunk of meat!
@@thekillingduck I am 71. I am a late in life son of a late in life son. My Great Grandfather, just one great, James Elijah Easterling, 44th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, CSA also known as The Sally Radcliff Guards, no clue who Sally Radcliff might have been. James was born 07-04-1837 and passed 12-18-1890
@@frankeasterling3402my wifes family was the same way she had two great uncles who went to war but never came back her great grandfather was 12 at the end of the civil war and her grandfather was born in 1885. Her dad born in 1915 and was 50 when she was born so she is still only 59 years old birthday today. All of them were born and raised in the same house.
@@frankeasterling3402 I am 80 in three months. My great great uncle, John McCarty of the 6th Indiana Volunteer Infantry was captured at Chickamagua in Sept of 62 and died in Andersonville on 6 November 1864. I have seen his headstone there. He was probably the father of William Henry McCarty. John had a brother of the same name who joined the 6th with him on the same day.
40 years ago my gun club (in the UK) had a range day shooting rifles at 100 yards,we shared the range with a group shooting muzzle loaders,mainly Enfields. While doing my turn on target patching in the butts I was astonished at the sound produced as the Minies passed overhead,not a snap but more like an iron ball being rolled across a wooden floor. I've never forgotten it.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. Respect for the reenacting - and TOTAL respect for the dudes who lived the real thing; I can't imagine how unnerving that "zip" must have been coming at you! Also thinking of how many frozen hands there would have been at Fredericksburg and Murfreesboro...
The poor guy sighting in his rifle at the range had his fillings rattle out all because the black powder club HAD to fire volleys 😅😂. Great demo and awesome vid! 🎉
Excellent hits on the target...what brutal war it was!!!! Those poor boys who fought in it! Greetings from germany to our american re-enactor comrades.
@@shannonimmigrant3539I think “string-bag” means Canada. It was a ribbing that President Trump gave to PM Trudeau when the Prime Minister said that tariffs would hurt Canada’s already struggling economy. President Trump quickly quipped, perhaps Canada should be the 51st state.
Fun fact: despite the capability of the rifled musket, few/none of soldiers were trained in long range musketry and few engagements were fought at greater than 90 yards.
Correct. Most soldiers were city boys and had never even held a firearm. Soldiers from farms and the countryside were only familiar with shotguns. The army placed much more importance on formations and volley fire. Marksmanship was a far second priority.
I own and shoot an antique 1861 Springfield .58 caliber musket. It is rifled. It's rear sight can be flipped up to 500 yds. It shoots fine at 100 yds, but I've never popped off a round at a target 500 yds away, but apparently the soldiers might in the 1860s. I wonder how far apart the officers would place their regiments during the CW. A hundred seems pretty close to me. At that range a rifled musket is deadly and a smooth bore would be dangerous.
@@KaL_69_ Possibly, but 20% might be a bit high in aimed fire. 20% might be applicable to volley fire at a packed infantry line ay 300yds - which they never, or very rarely ever fired at. Frederick the Great was so disappointed that he devised a trial test of volley fire effectiveness at various ranges - not mentioned. He had a 100 meter long sheet of linen, 6 ft high, set up. Then a company of line infantry would be ordered to fire at it, with the hits counted and given priority as to height above the ground. Most shots hit the sheet, and most of the shots were at torso height. So, why not in battle? Two Reasons: 1) fear and nerves and 2) The men were reluctant to kill other men. People were very religious back them, and on into the American Civil War. On the subject of smoothbore accuracy: At 300yds, the chances of hitting a man anywhere on the body are very low. A .75 cal round ball will drop more then 3ft if the barrel is aimed at the torso. The head is not even visible enough to get a bead on it. Due to the round shape, the ball is just as likely to impact three feet one way or the other. It would be a random odd shot to be aimed at and hit at 300yds with a typical Brown Bess or Charleville musket.
Yes, but like the US’s modern doctrine, wounding an enemy is more impactful than killing them. Other troops will stop to help him, so shooting one guy could possibly take 2-3 enemies out of the fight almost instantly. I prefer the AK, even as an Infantry vet, but the half of the whole idea of adopting the M16 was the .223/5.56’s capability to wound instead of instantly killing. The wound soldier will cry in agony, lowering morale, and the 1-2/3 comrades that tend to him takes more enemies out of the fight.
@dylanhealy8126 To be honest my comment was a little tongue in cheek. I was British infantry for 27 ytrs and docterine was pretty much the same. When we transitioned from L1A1 (FN FAL) to 556 nato it felt like a toy and the 556 compared to 7.62 Nato left us underwhelmed. Do enjoy these videos though
That was wonderful, I could watch it all day. It was so nice of that man with the Enfield cartridges to wait for the bite and spit barbarians to catch up, but there's an important lesson there: Friends don't let friends bite cartridges. It was hard to see, but it seems as though the best accuracy was in file firing, not independent, which is not what I would have expected.
Imagine an entire regiment of 500 men firing and all the bullets from that…. Civil War battles must have been other worldly to experience in the moment
I am 10 seconds in and already know that this video will be wholly enlightening and FANTASTIC. Thank you so kindly Brett. Such helpful experimental archeology.
Now I get why the 2nd WI was so much more effective than the rest: We don't care if our little fingies are cold, we can still to intricate work. :) AWESOME video man.
Very cool. I shot LRML matches in the late 90s with a PH volunteer rifle. Very accurate at 300, not bad at 1000. Fun to be in the target pits as those big slugs come in.
Excellent video as always. Though I never understood why people struggle shooting with the Burton cartridges (although weather conditions were obviously not ideal in this video). I find if after you pour your powder, you simply strike the end of the cartridge against the muzzle, breaking the paper away and exposing the minie ball. Then you squeeze the ball down the barrel and ram it home. Though I do not know how historical that method is. Does anyone else do the same?
Very interesting. Multiply the number of men by hundreds and thousands ---- all firing at each other with the intent to kill --- and you get some idea of the total horror of war. Also I have been reading accounts of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and 7th Cavalry soldiers who survived and were separated from Custer and his men. At first they could hear their volley fire, but it soon ended.
I once attended a black powder cartridge shoot with my Martini-Henry, not knowing they were going to be shooting at 600 yards, quite a stretch for the old rifle, especially with those sights. I did manage to bounce one off the walking path at the 600 yard mark and into the target and my spotter just sort of paused for a moment and went "Ahh, I'm gonna give that one to ya..."
The guy in the light blue overcoat can fire exactly 2 rounds per minute. The rest are like 1 or 1.3 per minute. Firing 3 rounds per minute in any weather? Now that's soldiering!
In the CW GI's were admonished to shoot low. Therefore, many soldiers were wounded in the groin. OUCH! Talk about adding insult to injury! Among other important things invented by Thomas Jefferson was the flexible catheter. He had problems in that area too.
@00:18 Who taught you that it was okay to rest your hand over the muzzle when at rest? Two other guys put their thumb over their muzzels. I get that it's snowing but....I dunno, man. Brave souls, indeed.
During the CW soldiers were issued a wooden plug to push into the muzzle of their rifles. It was called a "tompon". You used to be able to buy originals from Dixie in the 50s/60s. No longer. Anyway the tompon keep stuff from getting into the muzzle.
@@stevemccarty6384 Right. You ARE correct. Still, these guys didn't have those. Putting your hands over your muzzle has gotten folks yelled at, at best; kicked off the field at worst, in my experience. I saw a dude get knocked the eff out by his Sgt. for taking his thumb off the primer hole on our cannon. Safety should ALWAYS be at the forefront of everything the we do. Minor mistakes like these can get someone seriously hurt or even killed.
Imagine fighting for the Union while the other side was fighting for Constitutional Rights. It’s almost as if people have started to realise their Rights have been infringed.....
Becuz of the high mid range trajectory the boys were instructed by competent line officers to aim at the knee especially at advancing troops beyond 100yds. Artillery bounced solid shot into on advancing ranks or large groups od static troops. Bowling for columbine?
Hello, I was one of the men firing in this line (2nd one on left with the frock coat and McDowell cap) I had my sights set to 300 yards and aiming the best I could in the cold at the chest.
In WWI battlesight zero was 400 yards. I think it is that today. Battlesight Zero means with iron sights set at zero you'll hit a man at up to 400 yards as long as your front sight is on him somewhere. Shoot lowish if he's close and hold higher if he is at max range.
Ram cartridge. ONE time, TWO motions. STOP BOUNCING THE RAMMER! The Springfield rear sight had no retaining spring, and when bought down to load would sometimes flip a leaf up, which if not caught, would result in high shots. ENFIELDS FOREVER! Deo Vindice! Carry on...
Bullets fired in the CW buzz when they go by. Modern bullets, which go much faster pop as they pass overhead (you hope). The reason is the two projectiles have a different shape and the CW rounds fly much slower. Modern bullets break the sound barrier. CW bullets do not. I have stood behind CW reenactors while they were firing at targets. The buzzing sound of the minie ball is noticeable and not hard to hear. In combat when they were flying close by it must have been very disconcerting. Many of us ponder what it must have been like to actually stand with your buddies and engage the enemy shooting a muzzle loader in combat. Soldiers did it for few centuries. Think Waterloo, Lexington, Gettysburg. I'd rather not know. I'd rather just think about it.
I used to have a 1870 Enflield carbine, 577, came from the Nepalese palace, all the markings etc , its on youtube, realy realy miss that one, but i sold her to pay the rent, believe that?
You're a bad influence. I just bought the Johnston & Dow mold from following a link on your website. The good news is that my old Euroarms 44 needs no modification. Had my scouts at Antietam years ago and the Park Ranger and I were talking about them standing in lines. He said the ones that had the most difficulty believing that they did this were modern soldiers. And fight for the honor of carrying the flag, (after the previous holder was shot down.)
I was under the impression a large part of the "aim low" call from sergeants was because men psychologically are unwilling to shoot at another living person, so most shots in battle go high, hence "aim low!"
I shoot a few antique CW era guns. I used to own a bunch of them, but I sold them recently. Let someone else love them for half a century. I shoot an original Navy Colt. It shoots high. I shoot an old Springfield 1861 musket. It shoots high too. Also a Sharps long rifle...tends to shoot high also. I read that Navy Colts were made to shoot on target at 125 yds. I don't know if this is true, but mine shoots high as a cat's back.
You guys got to put a little more powder in. Those rifles don't crack when fired. They just kinda puff. I shoot the 1863 Zouave 58 cal. Use the mini ball & 100 grains FFG black powder. Works fine.
The military service load was 60 grains, which is what we were using. If you add more (or take away) powder, it changes the velocity and the bullet won’t shoot to the sights. Doesn’t matter much at 100 yards but it’s the difference between hitting the target (or near it), or sending a bullet 5 feet over the top of falling 50 feet short.
"You're the one that showed up in stripes!" I've never heard something so relatable. Great vid sir!
My great great grandfather was a private in Army of Virginia ... shot below the knee and lost a leg but lived on to almost 100.
My great great relatives were brothers fighting for the Confederacy in a Georgia unit... One was killed and the other suffered a leg wound and spent the rest of the war in a Union prison in Maryland. A newspaper article said Private Royal walked home from Maryland and sat on the front porch eating supper while his wife boiled his clothes...
It is crazy to think of how lucky most of us are to be alive as American's today. I have four USCT, 1 White union cavalryman, 6 confederates and 1 confederate congressman turned colonel in my family.All survived. Now I understand why they were such angry people after the war; angry, yet kind.
Many years ago several of us went to a range with our Springfields and Enfields. We tore up those targets and some of the wooden supports were splintered and clouds of dust erupting from the berm in back really impressed the guys firing modern weapons. I also think we had more fun. Thanks for the great channel!
Fabulous stuff! In the depressed area I live in, the shooting ranges will not allow Muzzle loading rifles at ranges over fifty yards. To shoot at longer ranges you need to spend a fortune and join a private range, if they'll have you. What Brett and company are doing, shooting original style ammunition and recreating the performance of these weapons, is something I've wanted to do since the mid seventies, when the only reference we had was a picture in the front of Claud Fullers' book. BRAVO, Boy's
In 1988 I was a member of a CW reenactor group and we used to pair up in teams of four and shoot our muzzle loading CW type muskets at a 2/4 placed sideways at 50 years. The team that shot the board in half first, won. I was the only one shooting an original antique musket and it shot as well as did the new ones. It was lots of fun. Those minie balls take out a chunk of wood! It would have been horrible to have been hit with one! It'd take out a chunk of meat!
My father, born 1908, said some of the old C. W. veterans he knew growing up spoke of Blue Whistlers.
How old are you?
@@thekillingduck I am 71. I am a late in life son of a late in life son. My Great Grandfather, just one great, James Elijah Easterling, 44th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, CSA also known as The Sally Radcliff Guards, no clue who Sally Radcliff might have been. James was born 07-04-1837 and passed 12-18-1890
@@frankeasterling3402 Respect to you and your family.
@@frankeasterling3402my wifes family was the same way she had two great uncles who went to war but never came back her great grandfather was 12 at the end of the civil war and her grandfather was born in 1885. Her dad born in 1915 and was 50 when she was born so she is still only 59 years old birthday today. All of them were born and raised in the same house.
@@frankeasterling3402 I am 80 in three months. My great great uncle, John McCarty of the 6th Indiana Volunteer Infantry was captured at Chickamagua in Sept of 62 and died in Andersonville on 6 November 1864. I have seen his headstone there. He was probably the father of William Henry McCarty. John had a brother of the same name who joined the 6th with him on the same day.
40 years ago my gun club (in the UK) had a range day shooting rifles at 100 yards,we shared the range with a group shooting muzzle loaders,mainly Enfields.
While doing my turn on target patching in the butts I was astonished at the sound produced as the Minies passed overhead,not a snap but more like an iron ball being rolled across a wooden floor.
I've never forgotten it.
Excellent demonstration on why so many leg amputations during the civil war.
Judging from targets 2 and 3 looks like a bunch may have gone home without the family jewels as well! 😂
Celebrating christmas with the smell of black powder! Awesome video and a very Merry Christmas to you all.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. Respect for the reenacting - and TOTAL respect for the dudes who lived the real thing; I can't imagine how unnerving that "zip" must have been coming at you! Also thinking of how many frozen hands there would have been at Fredericksburg and Murfreesboro...
Good stuff! I find the long range firing very interesting, a fine Xmas present to us! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Kinda started out like F Troop, but y'all got it together pretty well. The video & sound of the rounds hitting was cool. 👍
"It's Christmas today,so we're just gonna shoot"
Sounds like something I do for some reason
Good show Best wishes from England home of the Enfield musket
I am a direct descendant of a king george prisoner. I’m Irish, my family fought for freedoms against the “union” communist. Change my mind.
Looks like the most fun you could legally have on Christmas to me.
The poor guy sighting in his rifle at the range had his fillings rattle out all because the black powder club HAD to fire volleys 😅😂. Great demo and awesome vid! 🎉
Excellent hits on the target...what brutal war it was!!!!
Those poor boys who fought in it!
Greetings from germany to our american re-enactor comrades.
Merry Christmas from the 51st state!
Well 50,000 of us DID fight for the Union in the civil war, so why not? :)
Ireland?
@@shannonimmigrant3539I think “string-bag” means Canada. It was a ribbing that President Trump gave to PM Trudeau when the Prime Minister said that tariffs would hurt Canada’s already struggling economy. President Trump quickly quipped, perhaps Canada should be the 51st state.
And Happy Hannukah to you!
Great fun! Thanks for the video.
Fun fact: despite the capability of the rifled musket, few/none of soldiers were trained in long range musketry and few engagements were fought at greater than 90 yards.
Correct. Most soldiers were city boys and had never even held a firearm. Soldiers from farms and the countryside were only familiar with shotguns. The army placed much more importance on formations and volley fire. Marksmanship was a far second priority.
@@2TrackMind-c6i Smoothbore muskets were about as accurate at 300 yards, with about 20% of shots hitting the target.
I own and shoot an antique 1861 Springfield .58 caliber musket. It is rifled. It's rear sight can be flipped up to 500 yds. It shoots fine at 100 yds, but I've never popped off a round at a target 500 yds away, but apparently the soldiers might in the 1860s. I wonder how far apart the officers would place their regiments during the CW. A hundred seems pretty close to me. At that range a rifled musket is deadly and a smooth bore would be dangerous.
@@KaL_69_ Possibly, but 20% might be a bit high in aimed fire. 20% might be applicable to volley fire at a packed infantry line ay 300yds - which they never, or very rarely ever fired at. Frederick the Great was so disappointed that he devised a trial test of volley fire effectiveness at various ranges - not mentioned. He had a 100 meter long sheet of linen, 6 ft high, set up. Then a company of line infantry would be ordered to fire at it, with the hits counted and given priority as to height above the ground.
Most shots hit the sheet, and most of the shots were at torso height. So, why not in battle?
Two Reasons: 1) fear and nerves and 2) The men were reluctant to kill other men. People were very religious back them, and on into the American Civil War.
On the subject of smoothbore accuracy: At 300yds, the chances of hitting a man anywhere on the body are very low. A .75 cal round ball will drop more then 3ft if the barrel is aimed at the torso. The head is not even visible enough to get a bead on it. Due to the round shape, the ball is just as likely to impact three feet one way or the other. It would be a random odd shot to be aimed at and hit at 300yds with a typical Brown Bess or Charleville musket.
@@stevemccarty6384 The average combat distance was about 100 yards.
Merry Christmas from Switzerland!
Good morning from Syracuse NY everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone
Same here from the Catskills
Incredibly interesting, and worthwhile effort. Might need to redo this at 600 yards, too!
Just need the land to do it on.
The cavalry just went right over the top of you. !
Excellent gents! Merry Christmas!
Holy holes of holes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those Pritchetts are like candy! MORE MORE
MORE MORE!!!!!!!!!!
A foot injury takes you off the battlefield as much as anything else after all 😉
Yes, but like the US’s modern doctrine, wounding an enemy is more impactful than killing them. Other troops will stop to help him, so shooting one guy could possibly take 2-3 enemies out of the fight almost instantly.
I prefer the AK, even as an Infantry vet, but the half of the whole idea of adopting the M16 was the .223/5.56’s capability to wound instead of instantly killing. The wound soldier will cry in agony, lowering morale, and the 1-2/3 comrades that tend to him takes more enemies out of the fight.
@dylanhealy8126 To be honest my comment was a little tongue in cheek.
I was British infantry for 27 ytrs and docterine was pretty much the same.
When we transitioned from L1A1 (FN FAL) to 556 nato it felt like a toy and the 556 compared to 7.62 Nato left us underwhelmed.
Do enjoy these videos though
Merry Christmas from the Mountain State!
That was wonderful, I could watch it all day. It was so nice of that man with the Enfield cartridges to wait for the bite and spit barbarians to catch up, but there's an important lesson there: Friends don't let friends bite cartridges. It was hard to see, but it seems as though the best accuracy was in file firing, not independent, which is not what I would have expected.
Reliving the past. It is a spiritual journey.
Imagine an entire regiment of 500 men firing and all the bullets from that…. Civil War battles must have been other worldly to experience in the moment
Excellent video! Great uniforms and gear.
Never forget that soldiers on boths were American soldiers. Family against family in many cases. The statues should stand.
I am 10 seconds in and already know that this video will be wholly enlightening and FANTASTIC. Thank you so kindly Brett. Such helpful experimental archeology.
Very Nice !
Thank You !
😎👍
Perfect weather
This is just awesome. Thanks for this video. So cool
@16:45 three of you fire at the exact same time. Awesome video!!!
Holy crap! $#!T! Those damn bullet launchers are down right accurate.
Oh my god! Were they allowed to shoot so noisily?!? ☝️☝️☝️☝️
Now I get why the 2nd WI was so much more effective than the rest: We don't care if our little fingies are cold, we can still to intricate work. :) AWESOME video man.
That sound is terrifying
I can't imagine taking a volley on open ground, that's wild.
This is a good historical demonstration on why the NRA was founded after the civil war :-)
Yes General Grant , Is supposed to have saId , with the NRA we will never be out shot again .
Respect to the overcoat guy for always being the fastest
He was shooting better cartridges as he brought the Enfield.
Very cool. I shot LRML matches in the late 90s with a PH volunteer rifle. Very accurate at 300, not bad at 1000. Fun to be in the target pits as those big slugs come in.
Excellent video as always. Though I never understood why people struggle shooting with the Burton cartridges (although weather conditions were obviously not ideal in this video). I find if after you pour your powder, you simply strike the end of the cartridge against the muzzle, breaking the paper away and exposing the minie ball. Then you squeeze the ball down the barrel and ram it home. Though I do not know how historical that method is. Does anyone else do the same?
Very interesting. Multiply the number of men by hundreds and thousands ---- all firing at each other with the intent to kill --- and you get some idea of the total horror of war. Also I have been reading accounts of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and 7th Cavalry soldiers who survived and were separated from Custer and his men. At first they could hear their volley fire, but it soon ended.
Merry Christmas
Great stuff Brett. Reminds me of our imperial valley live fire. Remember the number one rule - Don’t shoot Sam!!!
- Sam Jr. 👍
I miss those Imperial Valley shoots. Best thing for live Civil War fire anywhere in the country. And we managed to never shoot Sam!
Thanks Brett. We miss them too.
I once attended a black powder cartridge shoot with my Martini-Henry, not knowing they were going to be shooting at 600 yards, quite a stretch for the old rifle, especially with those sights. I did manage to bounce one off the walking path at the 600 yard mark and into the target and my spotter just sort of paused for a moment and went "Ahh, I'm gonna give that one to ya..."
Windage and Elevation laddys those guys ankles were murdered!!! 😂 👍
The guy in the light blue overcoat can fire exactly 2 rounds per minute. The rest are like 1 or 1.3 per minute.
Firing 3 rounds per minute in any weather? Now that's soldiering!
Merry Christmas, Brett!
+][+
There were civil war veterans that lived well into the 1950’s, long enough to witness jet aircraft, nuclear bombs and television….
4:01 sounds like one of those new fangled guns that shoot smokeless.
I thought they were taking return fire from a guy with a Spencer.
@Andrew-13579 one of those load Sunday shoot all week guns 😳
Do you know what makes a good soldier? The ability to fire off three rounds a minute in any weather!
This is probably the only thing more terrifying than the sound of an MG42 burst down range.
Very cool!
It would be cool to have to targets that show an orange circle when hit to make the hits more visible.
Johnny Reb was missing some legs with that fire!
In the CW GI's were admonished to shoot low. Therefore, many soldiers were wounded in the groin. OUCH! Talk about adding insult to injury! Among other important things invented by Thomas Jefferson was the flexible catheter. He had problems in that area too.
Merry Christmas!
@00:18 Who taught you that it was okay to rest your hand over the muzzle when at rest? Two other guys put their thumb over their muzzels. I get that it's snowing but....I dunno, man. Brave souls, indeed.
During the CW soldiers were issued a wooden plug to push into the muzzle of their rifles. It was called a "tompon". You used to be able to buy originals from Dixie in the 50s/60s. No longer. Anyway the tompon keep stuff from getting into the muzzle.
@@stevemccarty6384 Right. You ARE correct. Still, these guys didn't have those. Putting your hands over your muzzle has gotten folks yelled at, at best; kicked off the field at worst, in my experience. I saw a dude get knocked the eff out by his Sgt. for taking his thumb off the primer hole on our cannon. Safety should ALWAYS be at the forefront of everything the we do. Minor mistakes like these can get someone seriously hurt or even killed.
Reminds me of Fredicksburg!
Merry Line Infantry Christmas!
I can't hear the ball slicing through the air.
Turn your volume up?
The “hiss” sound right before impact is the sound of the bullet in the air.
YOU SURE CAN HEAR IT SLICING THE AIR
Imagine fighting for the Union while the other side was fighting for Constitutional Rights. It’s almost as if people have started to realise their Rights have been infringed.....
did cw reenacting for 17 years 49th NC and 21st Mass. Vol. Inf. what unit is this?
Would like to see these guys do the minutes drill.
Did we have a round/volley count vs. the hits on black?
Becuz of the high mid range trajectory the boys were instructed by competent line officers to aim at the knee especially at advancing troops beyond 100yds.
Artillery bounced solid shot into on advancing ranks or large groups od static troops.
Bowling for columbine?
Let me hop in with the Spencer!
How did they adjust their sights at that distance. Back then quality spoting scopes were nonexistant. 300 yds, thats 3 football fields.
A merry Christmas from the UK 🇬🇧
My 1853 was recovering from too much port to shoot today 😂
Did everyone have their sights set at 300?
Combat sights?
Hello, I was one of the men firing in this line (2nd one on left with the frock coat and McDowell cap)
I had my sights set to 300 yards and aiming the best I could in the cold at the chest.
In WWI battlesight zero was 400 yards. I think it is that today. Battlesight Zero means with iron sights set at zero you'll hit a man at up to 400 yards as long as your front sight is on him somewhere. Shoot lowish if he's close and hold higher if he is at max range.
What group is this?
I think you guys need more drill.
To forget is to repeat something no one should want MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Awesome Merry Christmas!
Lincoln:We will make slaves free!
Rebels: Really? Free slaves?!?, Count me in!
Even if they were free , how could you afford to feed them ?
Excellent demonstration of why the Enfield cartridge was superior.
I could do that all the live long day. As long as the flash channel is clear of fouling! 😎🇺🇸
Those sights are adjustable for elevation you know😂
You can literately hear Johny Reb return fire from distance in the background!
Went to army ranges for years then went to a known range once were had to put up the targets
Quite the experience
How many caps did the ordnance sergeant drop? 😂
I know what a Rifle is and I know what a Musket is. What is a Rifle Musket?
Long arms that are rifled are/were often called "Rifled Muskets".
It's a musket that has shallow rifling in it (ease of loading)
Are their sights even adjusted?
Ram cartridge.
ONE time, TWO motions. STOP BOUNCING THE RAMMER!
The Springfield rear sight had no retaining spring, and when bought down to load would sometimes flip a leaf up, which if not caught, would result in high shots.
ENFIELDS FOREVER!
Deo Vindice!
Carry on...
Are they aiming?
BECAUSE YOU CAN AIM AND HIT WITH THESE.
During the CW, earlier wars too, I think soldiers pretty much shot into the smoke. After a volley or two it was a very smokey battlefield.
@ that would suck.
in the "snow"
Bullets fired in the CW buzz when they go by. Modern bullets, which go much faster pop as they pass overhead (you hope). The reason is the two projectiles have a different shape and the CW rounds fly much slower. Modern bullets break the sound barrier. CW bullets do not. I have stood behind CW reenactors while they were firing at targets. The buzzing sound of the minie ball is noticeable and not hard to hear. In combat when they were flying close by it must have been very disconcerting. Many of us ponder what it must have been like to actually stand with your buddies and engage the enemy shooting a muzzle loader in combat. Soldiers did it for few centuries. Think Waterloo, Lexington, Gettysburg. I'd rather not know. I'd rather just think about it.
Tad wrong there they definitely broke sound barrier.
300 yards?!?! I struggle at 100.
Sgt I can’t feel my toes. Lt Dan you ain’t got no legs?
Interesting.
I used to have a 1870 Enflield carbine, 577, came from the Nepalese palace, all the markings etc , its on youtube, realy realy miss that one, but i sold her to pay the rent, believe that?
Great!
Merry Christmas! I now have the belt, cartridge box and cap box to try it myself!
Why is using the Enfield cartridge “cheating?”
It wasn’t used by the Union. Merry Christmas!
@ I enjoyed the ribbing about where the ammunition was sourced from.
You're a bad influence. I just bought the Johnston & Dow mold from following a link on your website. The good news is that my old Euroarms 44 needs no modification. Had my scouts at Antietam years ago and the Park Ranger and I were talking about them standing in lines. He said the ones that had the most difficulty believing that they did this were modern soldiers. And fight for the honor of carrying the flag, (after the previous holder was shot down.)
I have walked along "Bloody Lane" at Antietam. Talk about the ground trembling! It was choked with dead. Oh, the horror!
I was under the impression a large part of the "aim low" call from sergeants was because men psychologically are unwilling to shoot at another living person, so most shots in battle go high, hence "aim low!"
With original sites and loading charge, at 50-100 yards, the bullet will go about a foot higher than the aiming point. Hence, "aim low".
I shoot a few antique CW era guns. I used to own a bunch of them, but I sold them recently. Let someone else love them for half a century. I shoot an original Navy Colt. It shoots high. I shoot an old Springfield 1861 musket. It shoots high too. Also a Sharps long rifle...tends to shoot high also. I read that Navy Colts were made to shoot on target at 125 yds. I don't know if this is true, but mine shoots high as a cat's back.
You guys got to put a little more powder in. Those rifles don't crack when fired. They just kinda puff. I shoot the 1863 Zouave 58 cal. Use the mini ball & 100 grains FFG black powder. Works fine.
The military service load was 60 grains, which is what we were using. If you add more (or take away) powder, it changes the velocity and the bullet won’t shoot to the sights. Doesn’t matter much at 100 yards but it’s the difference between hitting the target (or near it), or sending a bullet 5 feet over the top of falling 50 feet short.
Hundred grains is a pretty hefty load. CW loads were 60 grns of Black powder. I usually load that in my old Springfield and it shoots okay.
you should edit the audio from this, overlay it to a company sized element firing