On the eve of the war, the postmen of the famous Pony Express mail service were armed with Colt rifles, including eight people who operated on the most dangerous section between Missouri and Santa Fe. When doubts were expressed in the press as to whether only eight people could be responsible for delivering mail on this route, the Missouri government stated that “these eight people, if attacked, could fire 136 rounds without the need to reload. Therefore, we have no concerns about the security of the mail. And yes, indeed, the postage on this route was delivered on time. In total, the US government, on the eve of the war between the North and the South, purchased 765 of Colt's carbines and rifles of this type from the Colt. Moreover, many of them were sent to the southern regions and ultimately used by the Confederation. The Berdan revolving rifles were used by the Berdan riflemen and proved to be quite good overall. Equipped with a sniper scope in the form of a long tube, they made it possible to confidently hit targets at a distance of 500 m. And besides, fire without lifting the butt off the shoulder! In the army of the northerners, Colonel Hiram Berdan created the first sniper regiment in June 1861. In battles, he proved himself from the best side, so the command of the northerners soon created several more sniper units, which conducted reconnaissance and destroyed enemy officers with accurate fire. True, Berdan himself already in 1862 changed the Colt rifles to Sharps rifles. Revolver rifles loaded with gunpowder and bullets have shown themselves to be very traumatic in battle.
Colt M1855 sniper rifle
The sight of a Colt sniper rifle and its mount on the neck of the box.
Selective shooters of Berdan. The soldier (4) is just armed with a Colt rifle with a five-round M1855 drum of.56 caliber (14, 22 mm) - the main weapon of Berdan's corps. Rice. L. and F. Funkenov.
After the outbreak of war, the Union army acquired many more Colt rifles and carbines. Sources report about 4,400 - 4,800 copies acquired in total throughout the war. The effectiveness of this weapon was demonstrated, for example, by the actions of the 21st Volunteer Infantry Regiment of Ohio on the slope of Snodgrass during the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment fired at such an intensity that the Confederate forces were convinced that they were attacking an entire division, not just one regiment. True, then the northerners ran out of ammunition, and they surrendered. Nevertheless, the shortcomings of the rifle were also obvious, and after the end of the war, all remaining copies were sold to private hands at a price of 42 cents each, with an initial cost of 44 dollars.
A. Hall's revolving gun.
Original revolver rifles were produced at that time by other designers. So, in 1855, Alexander Hall in New York released this rifle with a drum magazine designed for 15 charges! The rifle, as you can clearly see, is inlaid with various figures and, apparently, is a piece of work.
As always, there were people who wanted to do everything differently from others, and they were looking for their own ways. However, many inventors just wanted to bypass other people's patents and, moreover, they hoped, "what if it works out ?!" This is how rifles and revolvers appeared with a horizontal or even vertical magazine, which had the shape of … a disk!
Capsule shotgun with Cochran and Danielson disc magazine.
Thus, in September 1856, a certain Edmund H. Graham of Biddeford, Maine, received several patents for an original.60 caliber revolver rifle with a five-round horizontal magazine-disk. Aware of the susceptibility of such systems to spontaneous combustion, Graham positioned his magazine inside a protective metal ring designed to block an accidental shot, and in addition turned all chambers 72 degrees from each other.
Graham's disc drum. View from above.
Since such a device did not allow charging the chambers from the end, he figured out how to charge them from above, through special holes. The capsules were respectively placed on the "nipples" located around the base of the store. The chambers were charged alternately. As soon as one chamber was loaded, the shooter moved the next chamber into its place by pulling on the lever mounted on the right side of the frame. This action also blocked the hidden trigger located in front of the magazine base. The design was unique in its own way, but … it didn't work.
Graham's rifle.
Henry North and Chauncey Skinner's rifle was patented in June 1852 (US patent No. 8982), and the first samples were made in metal from 1856 to 1859 by Savage and North (led by Henry North and Edward Savage, not Arthur Savage, who developed " Savage 99 "). In total, about 600 of these rifles were made, with about 20% having a.60 caliber, and the rest were.44 carbines. Unlike many revolving rifle designs, North and Skinner functioned through the operation of a lever, with the trigger guard serving as the lever, as in the Winchester rifle.
North and Skinner revolving rifle devices. The "zapzhivatel" is clearly visible for tight coring of the bullet into the chambers and the device of the lever-staple.
To protect the shooter from the explosion of the drum (which, as we know, was a serious problem for all revolver rifles), the designers had a locking wedge that pressed the magazine against the barrel, similar to the way it was done in the Nagant M1895 revolver. How well it worked, now hard to say.
However, perhaps the most unusual rifle of this time and outwardly very similar to a revolver (although in fact it was not one!) Was the magazine rifle of Sylvester Howard Roper (1823 - 1896), who received a patent for it in April 1866. The cartridges in it were located in a fixed drum with a lid on top, but in fact it was a rotary magazine, similar to the one that was used twenty years later in the Mannlicher-Schonauer rifle.
Diagram of the Roper rifle device according to the 1866 patent.
The magazine was turned by a ratchet at the rear end of its axis - with each cocking of the hammer, the next cartridge turned out to be opposite the chamber. A bolt was pivotally connected to the trigger, sliding longitudinally in the receiver. After pressing the trigger, the trigger pushed the bolt forward, and the latter pushed the cartridge out of the magazine slot into the chamber, and the trigger, resting on the bolt, ensured reliable locking, and at the same time the drummer worked, hitting the primer and igniting the charge in the cartridge. When the bolt was cocked again, the bolt ejector was pulled back into the magazine, which was turned with a ratchet and again fed the next cartridge to the discharging line. After that, it was necessary to open the door and … remove all the spent cartridges, which, by the way, could be reloaded after that!
Rifle S. Roper.
Since the store was located inside the receiver, even with a prolonged shot, the shooter did not risk anything. By the way, the design of Roper's rifle cartridges was no less unique than itself. The fact is that at first his rifle used the usual.38 rimfire cartridges with a developed rim. This rim was the reason for frequent delays in sending the cartridge into the chamber, so the designer developed his own cartridge, devoid of the lack of welded cartridges. For the gun, sleeves were invented with an unusual-shaped bottom - its edge was much smaller than the diameter of the sleeve itself, and a groove was made in front of it, which made the Roper's cartridge somewhat similar to a weight for scales or modern.41 Action Express ammunition. Another feature was a bullet completely recessed in the sleeve (like the cartridges for the Nagant M1895 revolver). In addition to smoothbore weapons, the factory also produced.41 caliber rifles with a magazine for six or five rounds of Roper's design.
Roper rifle magazine exterior. The lid of the store is clearly visible.
The bullet of the.41 cartridge with a standard charge left the barrel at a speed of 335 m / s. In the period 1872 - 1876. about 500 of these rifles were manufactured, most of which had a six-round magazine. However, Roper's rifles were not in great demand, although strong casings, with primers, allowed dozens of reloads, which was beneficial to residents of remote villages.
