Five of the M1869 Sharps carbines were on hand there in addition to the M1873 Trapdoor Carbines that were the standard issue.Īt least one of the Sharps are known to exist, having been acquired by a young civilian teamster working there. 50-70 were utilized for target work and foraging (hunting to supplement the diet of the troops). To compensate for the small practice allowance in the 1870's, a number of the companies/troops retained a few of the Sharps cartridge conversions in. 45-70 ammo was authorized! It wasn't until the 1880's that target practice was given more importance. For a while only three rounds per man per month of. OTOH, except in some Indian Wars battles, there was very little practice done in the Army. As the stature of most cavalry troops was less than most modern men, it couldn't have been pleasant. I have not found any reports of the opinions of the troopers on the increased recoil of the hotter ammo. A change to the front sight was also requested to compensate for the differences in the trajectories between the rifle and carbine loads. It is an investment in fun.īack in the day, some cavalry company commanders requested rifle ammo be issued because it had greater range. It truly is one of my favorite rifles to shoot. It is very popular at the range too. I get lots of questions/attention, and lots of folks ask me if they can shoot it. I must say, some of the reproduction models, cost more than an original Springfield. Having said that.a pristine Springfield can be easily more expensive, than a reproduction. I have a reproduction, only because I found one on sale, and I sorta wanted one that was made with modern steels, and had a really great bore condition. Of course it was done that way because the carbine was lighter in weight, and would have had more pronounced felt recoil, if it had been loaded with 70 grains. From a book I have, it stated that the carbine was loaded to 55 grains of (black) powder, while the rifle was loaded to 70 grains of (black) powder. But that's a whole other discussion.īack in the day, the trapdoor firearm, in 45-70 government, came in the carbine, and rifle, variations. Don't have one of those, and while I have seen a few over the years, only one of them looked like it was still in shootable condition. The only other variation of potential difference is a pre-73 one in. The Trapdoor is fun to shoot, don't hesitate to get one. That prompted me to switch to a different powder, and now the gun is pleasant to shoot, just as accurate as it always was, and I have never regretted getting it. On the other hand, the exact same load that was just fine in the rifle was a nasty shoulder thumper in the carbine. The 73 carbine on the other hand is a sweet handling gun, just as accurate as the rifle, and it does not become fatiguing to shoot after just a few shots. After just a few shots it gets really heavy and all but impossible to hold steady offhand. When all is said and done, I don't think there is any significant difference between one model or another. It is an extremely versatile round that can be loaded from mild-to-wild with great success.I've got a 73 carbine and an 84 rifle. 1 in 475 Linebaugh is on my list, but if I was going to pick one over the other there is no question I would choose the 45-70. 458 Win Mag ballistics with the 45-70 loaded to its potential in a No. You can come within 2-300 hundred fps of duplicating. Trapdoor loads do not produce anywhere near the velocity or energy of the loads a No. They basically duplicate 45-70 ballistics when the 45-70 is loaded for use in a trap-door Springfield. 475 Linebaugh is a great cartridge from all that I have read, I have no personal experience with them. I personally have no use for 300 grain bullets in a 45-70 - if I want to shoot something in that range I'll use a. 400, 450, 485, 500, 550, 600 grain bullets can be pushed fast enough that it is very unpleasant to stand behind them. 3 if you are masochistic) it is pretty tough to beat the 45-70 in the 400 grain and up weight bullets.
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