1870's Surplus - Spencer Carbine and Schofield Revolver
Vložit
- čas přidán 19. 07. 2022
- InRange is entirely viewer supported:
/ inrangetv
In this video I discuss two bits of 1870's military suplus - the Spencer Carbine and the Schofield revolver. Both of them were excellent weapons in their day but for their own unique reasons became military surplus, meaning they saw extensive use on the frontier as a result.
Reminds me of 1992's Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. The Schofield Kid armed with his-you guessed it-Schofield revolver and Ned with his Spencer Carbine. Great movie.
100% one of the best "modern " western movies and one of Eastwoods best performances too!
in 2010 i was visiting friends in Bayonne France. while wandering the streets i found a small gun shop. it was mostly double barrel shotguns, muzzle loaders and cap& ball pistols but there were a few antique rifles. the only one i recognized was a Spencer carbine. which im certain was original. when i examined it i saw that it had not been converted to center fire. i asked if they had ammo for it and they did. the box said 56-50 but i wasn't allowed to open it to examine a round. with my toddler level French and the shop keeps frenglish i gathered that it was rim fire ammo and currently(at that time) in production in France. if you're looking for rim fire 56-50 it might be worth checking to see if its available from France. i have not been able to determine if it is.
Hell of an interesting story there! Thanks for sharing :)
I remember having read, that the french got a load of rolling blocks and spencers in 1870
@@mikehoare6093 They bought Spencers and rolling blocks for the war with Prussia.
@@mikehoare6093 We bought 5000 spencer New model carbines and 1000 rifles. I'm currently in a the making of a documentary regarding that topic. And I have one of those 5000 carbine. What a cool story
@@thefrenchgunsmith6488 I´m looking forward, mate !
Man, my bank account gets really nervous every time you pull out these beautiful reproductions for practical demonstrations... Thanks for sharing more of the Old West with us!
That scofield reload is still a hell of a lot faster than a colt single action
faster than modern swing-out-cylinder revolvers too IMO.
I don’t know why we regressed back to swing-outs from break-action revolvers, but we did...
@@crazysilly2914 From what I've been told, break action revolvers are an inherently structurally weaker design because the frame isn't solid. The fact that they leave a gap to allow the revolver to break open means they're subject to warping from pressure and heat.
@@crazysilly2914 Autoloading pistols reload even faster. The reason why revolvers still stick around today (besides hobbyists and Fudds) is that they work better for firing magnum pistol cartridges than semi-autos. As break-action revolvers have weaker frames than swing-out cylinders, you can see why they fell by the wayside since the whole appeal of revolvers was the ability to fire magnum cartridges.
As for faster reloads, semi-auto pistols already have that covered. And since your average semi-auto pistol has much higher capacity than your typical revolver, the break-action design offers little utility compared to a stronger swing-out cylinder. The strongest frame, of course, are fixed-cylinder revolvers with a loading gate. This of course comes at the expense of extremely slow reload speeds, but those types of revolvers nowadays are firing some very powerful cartridges that you probably won't be banging off in rapid fire due to recoil and the cost per round!
The only break-action revolver I know if chambered in a magnum caliber was the MP-412 Rex, but it was apparently never produced since Slick Willy made a gentleman's agreement with Boris Yeltsin to ban importation of Russian firearms into the U.S.... because we can't have nice things. So I have no idea of how well the MP-412 actually worked, or whether it was an unsafe piece of junk that risked a catastrophic failure with some spicier .357 Mag loads.
That said, I could see break-action revolvers making a comeback in places where semi-auto pistols are heavily regulated or impossible to get. I personally hope to never live in a place like that, though, since I have little experience with revolvers, and I definitely wouldn't want to take a five or six-shot revolver against a criminal assailant armed with a Glock 19 or even a Hi-Point Yeet Cannon :P
@@Schwarzvogel1 With modern metallurgy and manufacturing techniques and tighter tolerances, I bet you could make a break-action revolver that is just as strong as a swing-out. (might have to be a pepperbox design though with the six cylinders each having their own separate barrel)
You'd appreciate that loading gate if you have to reload on a moving horse and a slight jolt puts all your rounds in the dirt
Forget the 1890s, check out a mid-1920s Bannerman catalog. You could outfit an entire Union regiment from all of the uniforms, guns and equipment they were offering surplus....not even mentioning the tons of grey gear.😥
I personally love how you want to learn the history of the weapons as to how they functioned in life.
It’s so interesting, when you got yo that end part about what your preferences would be I felt exactly the same! I think the Schofield has a LOT coming to the table that makes it a premiere sidearm for the era. The lack of revolver loading gate is a big deal in my opinion. Anyways fantastic video and thanks for showing those Spencer tubes- it’s rare to see those working in a modern setting!
Another one is it’s rear sight is actually visible on the gun, rather than a set of 2 nubs that could be mistaken for the sides of a screw. The One thing no one talks about is how nice a good set of iron sights can be. This is especially true on revolvers where often it’s still a set of black on black irons with the most generous often being competition style rather than tactical.
A 3rd cousin of mine posed with his gang (yep), and he's holding a Schofield. No NOT Jesse James BTW. Pretty sure he's trying to show he's as bad-ass as James, but also he has the money to get a nickel-plated one. Schofield's were more expensive than the Colt series, partly why they did not catch on the other being availability of ammo...
This has nothing to do with these guns, but I just thought I'd share that I just bought some glasses from the Historic Eyewear Company (where Karl got what he is currently wearing) because of this channel.
The owner is a very nice guy, and the frames themselves are well made.
You know. Just in case anyone else was both half-blind and interested in antique looking glasses.
That is kind of neat. Modern styles are a bit flimsy or weird.
@@tamlandipper29 Not to mention too big.
Still cool what you can do with those firearms nowadays.
I'm always thankful for this historical content.
The Schofield has always been a favorite of mine, an amazing revolver. Would it have been more popular if it had been chambered in .45 colt instead i wonder?
Probably. There is almost no denying that the Schofield was the superior pistol particularly for cavalry use; it could be reloaded in half the time and with less hassle. If it had been chambered in .45 Colt, or if the .45 Schofield had been the longer cartridge, the Smith & Wesson Model 3 probably would have risen to prominence while the Peacemaker was left in the dust.
But that's just what _I_ think, and I don't know anything.
I don't believe the original Schofield could handle the pressures of 45 colt.
The cylinder would have to be made longer & wider and being a break-open action other modifications maybe needed.
I own an Uberti copy with about a 3-3 1/2" barrel chambered in. 45 Colt, positively one of my favorite guns to shoot
@@jeffturnbull9661 Did you pay over $1k for the pistol? I've been doing searches and the demand appears to far out weigh the supply.
Thats the content i love InRange for!
This looks like it'd be pretty fun. There's nothing like running the action of old guns.
And winner of the 'You Must Be Nuts To Compete With These Guns' category is... ...Karl!
Great video! I find you takes on 'Old West' firearms and history to be fascinating. Please keep it up.
Best part is when the scores are done, and someone else scored lower while having modern technology. It's happened in plenty of previous matches with video.
My original spencer was purchased from Bannermans in the early 1930’s ( a family heirloom )
That's the stuff dreams are made of I read a story about Bannermans in a Dixie gun works catalog that has to the greatest surplus dealer ever
Hi from the UK. Love the videos with weapons from this period. Interesting that at the battle of Beecher Island in 1868, Forsyth's scouts were all armed with Spencer carbines. Contemporary accounts talk of the quick firing Spencers holding back the waves of attackers. Be interesting to consider what might have happened if the scouts had been issued with Henrys or the Winchester Model 1866?
Someone once told me that Jesse James preferred the Smith & Wesson Model 3 "Schofield" revolver to anything else available at the time. Perhaps that's true given the rapidity of reloads. Or maybe he carried one because it was military surplus and therefore cheap to buy. (It's difficult to think of that outlaw buying anything, but the James brothers stayed free by appearing to be exemplary citizens when not actually raiding trains and banks.) I wonder if Karl has ever found a bill of sale or advertisement showing what a surplus U.S. Army Schofield sold for around 1880. The gun is prominent in the 2007 film, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". Jesse gives Bob a nickel-plated Schofield as a birthday present, the gun Ford will later use to murder his benefactor. (Brad Pitt is brilliant in that movie. He does one of the best portrayals of psychopathy I've ever seen.)
Thanks for another interesting video.
The main reason why the SAA was way more popular than a S&W Model 3 was on horseback. The reason why colt made the pistol to be held in the left hand and the loading gate on the right is because you hold the reigns with your left, shooting (or slashing) with the right.
There is a video of a guy shooting both, the horse hits a dip or bump and loses all the rounds in the Model 3.
Also speedloaders, speed strips, and moon clips didn't come until post 1900. You also have the issue that the Model 3 was the only one of its type. Even Remington and French pinfire pistols used a loading gate
As always, unique and entertaining content. Keep up the good work Karl
yes agree, its almost boring to say this again and again about your content Karl,....but heh yawn. However are there figures as to the cost of these surplus weapons in comparison to more modern alternatives?
could the choice to use military surplus weapons be based on the experience of having been in the civil war so very comfortable with the usage? Rather than simply cost?
cheers, jj
I'm loving all the old west content! Keep it up
Oh man, my favourite cartridge rifle and revolver of the era run together in a military surplus context, what a fun video!
This is some of the best content!! Thank you Karl!
The vibe I'm getting here, is that the Spenser is sufficient but not efficient.
It's durable(ish), it is capable of taking medium(ish) game and could be an effective enough weapon in a fight. It was also cheap(ish) surplus. All handy things to be on the frontier(s).
However it's awkwardness (via it's poor ergonomics), clunky repeating mechanism and ammunition sensitivity issues prevent it from being the better option.
In other words, it's a tiny Mosin.
Remember, even in the late 1800’s, most frontier men had muzzle loaders, a muzzle loader double barreled shotgun if they were lucky. Henry’s/Winchester’s were INSANELY expensive as well. Something CHEAP military surplus like the Spencer that is MULTI-SHOT would be a GODSEND. We speak from a very privileged viewpoint...
@@crazysilly2914
That is true. Heck, if I remember my Horace Khepart correctly, he mentioned a LOT of folks were still using caplocks in to the early 20th century when he was writing.
Not that muzzel loaders are "bad" or "wrong" mind you. I quite like them myself (I'm into minimalism), but a breach loader like a Sinder, Springfield or even a breach loading repeater like the Spencer just bring up the convenience factor to the level where it's hard to ignore.
@@dwi2921 Waaaay quicker reload times. Which could save your life when you are up against a charging longhorn, Indian raid, or bandit gunslingers...
@@crazysilly2914
Indeed. Though I wonder if we some times play up the value of repeating firepower to something that it isn't. Still I'd rather have it than not have it.
@@dwi2921 Obviously, a Henry, or even a single-shot breech loader might be a little better, but those were very expensive, at least in the early days of the Wild West 1866-1875. Later on the became cheaper though. But since the Spencer’s were surplus, they were comparatively cheap.
Terrific idea for a video!! Thanks for keeping things fresh!!!
Thanks, always love your historical content.
My wife has been reading the Outlander books, which feature all sorts of Revolutionary War-era firearms and InRange has been invaluable as a resource for her to learn about what exactly they were using back then. Keep up the great work.
Got my WWSD2020 rifle shipped to the FFL today. It is so light! You guys did a great job with that gun
Great video and information, as always. Keep it up 👍🏼
Excellent video, as always.
Nicely done! A cogent and informative demonstration.
Love the old west content, especially schofield content! Excellent video as always.
I have a suggestion for a mud/sand/dirt test:
Test guns with and without lubrication, because some people say that we should not use oil in a desert environment because the sand will stick to the gun. But I remember that in a podcast with Larry Vickers (Delta 1911-youtube 17:30 ), he said that they have done a sand test with a custom 1911, an USGI 1911, a Glock 21 and a USP 45, with and without oil, and all the guns worked better with oil, and between the delta 1911 and the usgi 1911, the delta pistol worked better because of the tighest tollerances. I think the reason being that the sand really sticks to the oil, but if there's an empty space in the gun, the sand will enter and lock the mechanism, but if there's oil in that space, the oil will prevent the sand from entering, because two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, and also i think that the oil will help to take the sand off the gun, like if you try to take sand off your hands without anything VS using water and soap, and water also stick to things like oil, but there are other reasons why the pistols worked better, not just the oil. Inrangetv already did a sand test with rifles without oil and they worked, but I never saw someone(in the channels that I usually watch) doing a test especifically about oil VS no oil, which will fail faster?
Great video today!
That was really fun to watch.
Thank You For Sharing This Video!
Great video as always sir
Thank you for sharing these with us. Love the historical reviews!
Have to say if i had or got to choose any of the options back then I would go with the Merwin Hulbert revolver with the Schofield being a close secondplace. But I agree with your choice in long arms for sure.
Thank you again for bringing us these videos. It is greatly appreciated
I inherit an Springfield M1873 Trapdoor Rifle in .45-70 caliber, it was sold as surplus, and my ancestors used it again the Yaqui indians in the Yaqui Wars (1870-1890); I found it in one of the barns in my family's ranch, It´s still in pretty good shape and 100% funtional, old soldiers never die.
These 150 year old guns are just gorgeous! Nice work as ever 👏
AHH the smell blackpowder shooting love this type of content as a reenactor memories of shooting came flooding back
Thanks @inrange bestest from Scotland keep up with the excellent informative quality content Karl
Great video! Would like to see that concept 1880s squad proposed ages ago. Keep up the smashing work!
Thanks to Karl I discovered that I in fact posses I spencer carabine cartridge , quite a wonderful surprise
Beautiful replicas. Its extremely fascinating that you use guns in matches. Truly gives you a perspective Of the firearms capabilities and shortcomings
Nice to see the 2 gun match again on the channel. I used to really like the videos where Karl and Ian would run through the match either show casing different firearms and/or going against each other for fun. Hopefully Ian will have time again sometime to do it again and or join Karl for a Q&A
Those Blakley tubes seem to work decently, I'd imagine that they simply didn't last in the field.
Honestly, they remind me of the speed loaders for 22 rimfire tube feds.
Dents to the tube would block cartridges from sliding out. Given how thin the metal the tube is made of... they work fine for someone who leaves the tubes in a drawer by the front door of their house. For field use it was simply not a good idea to put your life on the line using the tubes. There is a reason that it is incredibly difficult to find original examples. Nobody liked them.
Classy load out. Great shooting.
Loved the video
Oh man I would love to see more videos like this, talking about milsurps during the olden days.
Neat. I love these old guns.
Cheers!
This is the stuff I Absolutely Love!
I once owned both of those. Sold the Spencer because I was trying to reduce reloading over head. Plus it was picky on ammo. Still have the Schofield.
Another incredible pair to shoot ! Would really enjoy shooting those old timers in matches. Thanks again Carl.
Best bit of inrange
I saw this video in my recommended feed and went like "A spencer at the range?! Nice"
I love these load outs man
Thanks Karl
I love these old west match runs!
Weren’t 50-70 trapdoors available as surplus? I thought you looked at Geronimo’s 50-70 trapdoor a while back and stated that they were not uncommon as surplus rifles
He said that they were not yet available as surplus, as they were still military arms at the time.
The 50-70 "trapdoor" Allin conversion rifles were not a robust, reliable design in Civil War-era Springfield rifle muskets, rebarreled from .58 caliber.
I know some may consider it dumb, but I've been watching Gophers playthrough of RDR2 and it has given me a much greater appreciation for all of the black powder/civil war era content you do. Keep it up!
Would love to get my hands on some 1870s surplus!
Forgot how good you are with those lever actions!!
beautiful guns
Nice work Karl, that Schofield is pretty. The strange thing about Spencer is the balance and recoil ever so slightly changes with each shot.
Cheap surplus weapons from the Civil War found their way to the Pacific islands and Australia in the late 1860s-70s.
I love your channel 😍
Thank you so much!!
Thank you.
I know there's going to be a lot of people arguing this but knowing what I know about firearms and having been around them for a very long time I will emphatically say from a ease of reload point of view and probably from an accuracy point of view I think it's very hard to beat the Scofield when pitting it up against The Single Action Army colt. I think the Single Action Army cult would have lost hands down to the Schofield if the Schofield had of only been in the same caliber however the 44 caliber it was in was no slouch whatsoever.
The Schofield was also more expensive, and a little more complex. But the primary reason was its cost.
I really like this InRangeTV. These guys are very knowledgeable and their expertise helps all gun enthusiasts. I always wanted an old west 6 shooter. I like Colt type pistols best but the Schofield runs a close second. I wonder if you can file down the front sight on the Schofield? Definitely quicker loading than the SAA Colt revolvers. Nice job on the video
Hey! The rifle from Unforgiven! (Right?) And those tubes should be stacked like a hexagon, the bestagon.
yes, also 3:10 to Yuma
@@colinfinnell2673 I need to rewatch that one. CZcams keeps telling me to. :P
It played once while I was having beers with friends but I think it's time to really watch it. And now there's a Hollywood drought anyway. I wanna compare the kid in it to the obnoxious kid in Old Henry.
fantastic
What an interesting take on Military surplus , this channel is a rarity and as such deserves all the support it can muster , whilst My sentiments are true , regretfully My finances are severally stretched , fuel costs have rocketed , Almost £9 a Gallon (approx $10.80 US ) which after income tax deduction is more than an hours wage . There are Many around the World in the same boat at the moment , but the very least I can do is Click the Like button and make a simple comment , even a simple Thank You ! will go a long way to helping this channel survive the pressure & the struggle small channels have satisfying The YT algorithm and make it more visible on recommended lists .
Thanks too Karl and all those involved with making this & all episodes of InRange . Shoot Straight , Stay Safe & Stay Well .
I also think that in very short ranges and in fast acquisition contexts, pistol sights are very seldom used, that's why presentation practice is very important. If you can automatically align the sights with what you are seeing without having adjust you save a lot of time and you can take much faster shots. Also in very short distances and very fast scenarios, half of the time you don't have time to bring the weapon up, so you have to have very good body mechanics training to be able to shoot accurately from the hip or the chest (considering that a lot of times a more compact form has to be used in tight quarters for weapon security and easier movement)
Very nice upload. Interesting take on what was possibly available and when. Brief mention of originals converted to centerfire, when and by whom was this done?
Wish Hunt: Showdown had a single-player campaign. They show a lot of love to this era of firearms.
I wonder where one would find an expert on Spencer rifles & carbines. I inherited one that seems to defy common identification. Anyway, great video, and those reproductions are very nice!
Cool guns n video
The drip in this video is spectacular 😎
Know it would not be accurate but perhaps the use of speedloaders for that gorgeous schofield could be fun
The more late 1800s content the better!
nice, would love a pair of Schofields.
Knew it! He's totally a Bannerman schill!
To be fair I'd be willing to accept the Spencer company's sponsorship of your channel, all you need is a time machine.
With regards to pistol sights, in "Instructions in Rifle and Carbine Firing for the United States Army" by Captain Stanhope Blunt in 1889, the author gave detailed instructions for "snap shooting" which presaged the :point shooting" taught by Fairbairn and his colleagues in WWII. Basically, he said to extend your hand as if throwing a ball and to simply look over the barrel with both eyes open to shoot: "The best results will then be obtained by following the method of snap shooting; for which the pistol should be held raised and then quickly projected at the mark and fired without pause or any effort to align it upon the object, the action being somewhat similar to that employed in throwing a missile from the hand and from the same raised position of the arm." (page 309).
I wonder if that method improves or gets worse if you actually practice throwing things at targets?
@@tamlandipper29 No clue. I only just started testing it. I put an 18" circle at 15 yards and count anything in the circle as a hit, without regard to grouping or hit location. I figure if anything is truly intended to be "minute of man," this is it.
Interesting demo! The Schofield does look so much more advanced than the Colt 1873.
It isn't always about the best weapons, newest or most popular, it is more about the man holding them that determines the outcome of the fight. Those two will be more than sufficient.
Honestly i wish smith and wesso would come out with a modern schofield, in .357, 8 shot, amd moon clips. That would ne the stuff right there. I think webley should do the same.
@@randymagnum143 true, but I think the metallurgy of today could certainly handle it. Also any original would be well over 100 years old and who knows what kind of life it lead.
Keep it up
Did you slick up the Spencer's action? With both of mine, I have to have gravity help me when I cycle a new round in the chamber. I have to point the barrel down for them to chamber a new round.
You think you can do a video on firing rimfire firearms? I know there are conversion casings that use a .22 blank for a primer, but those aren't really efficent pending on the action. I'd like to see what options are out there for antique rimfired firearms.
If possible? Centerfire conversions. Large caliber rimfire are not really a thing if you want to actually shoot it. Major manufacturing of these types of cartridges ended during WW2, and reloading for them is not really viable or practical.
Large caliber single shots or revolvers are doable with conversion cases as you describe, you just have to manually index the cartridge when loading so the off-centre primer mates up with the firing pin. Not really feasible in repeating rifles like the Spencer, because you have little or no control over cartridge orientation as it gets fed out the mag into the chamber.
Best bet is a conversion bolt or breech piece depending on the design. Either a modified original bolt or a new production one.
I myself shoot a Swedish military Rolling Block rifle, made in 1873, that was originally rimfire. The caliber is nearly identical to the American .50-70 except for having a smaller rim diameter, so centerfire brass can be made from either .50-110, .50 Alaskan or .348 Winchester. Or .50-70 if you have a lathe to modify the rim. I use .50-70 dies.
The centerfire conversion was done ages ago, probably way back when the rifle was originally surplused out in the 19th century. The common way to convert rimfire Rolling Blocks was to peen over the original firing pin tip so it got stuck in place, file or chisel it flat at the breech face, and drill a new centered firing pin channel through the old pin and the breechblock. Make a new firing pin, with a notch for the retainer screw, and shorten said screw since a centerfire firing pin channel intersects the middle of the screw hole on an originally rimfire block.
Yes i'm aware of both of these, but why hasnt anyone just made rimfire casings?
Demand aside, just as like a hobby or something
@@gunslingerfromwish4656 Because that requires expensive custom made tooling which cannot be used for any other purpose, and there isn't enough commercial demand to make it viable. And forget hobby level stuff, building a case drawing press with all the parts needed to make one caliber of rimfire case is something like a hundred times more difficult and laborious than converting a breechblock to centerfire. It's doable, but takes a serious amount of engineering and machining work.
And then there's the priming compound, and the handling thereof. We're talking about a shock sensitive high explosive that you cannot simply go and buy in hobbyist level quantities, and which requires special care in handling so it doesn't kill you. Historically, people working with this using older/easier priming chemistry didn't have a great life expectancy. Lots of nasty accidents, plus some of the older compounds were highly toxic. So don't make your own, it's doable but dangerous and it took industry several decades of high-risk experience to figure out how to do it safely.
Centerfire primers are fairly safe because a factory with proper safety precautions has taken care of the dangerous bit with loose priming compound in bulk for us, with known stable chemistry that won't go off on its own. The amount in each primer is low enough to not pose a major explosion hazard, but if you're going to prime even a dozen large caliber rimfire cases then you're handling at least a spoonful of loose compound. That's easily enough to blow your fingers off if you mess up.
I live Down Under and I own an original 1865 Burnside/Spencer carbine which has a US Military cartouche. I had wondered how it made its way to Australia and the information in this video seems to confirm that it was in all probability that it was US Military surplus. While it was undoubtedly too late for service in the ACW, I like to think that it may have seen service in the western campaigns.
Wish there were two gun matches near me!
Any chance we can get the full stages on video? If its not worth the time to viewership ratio i understand. Love the videos, been looking forward to something like this!
5:12 I wonder if that long round in the center is for his rifle, or if it's just to let him know he needs to switch hands to grab cartridges?
But late to the party but Giltner s "Hunting and Fishing in the New South" talks a bit about milsurp empowering the formerly enslaved post civil war, great book
When the target(s) shoot back, accuracy, reloading and the ability to clear malfunctions would all probably suffer. However the fifty yards of the controlled environment of the shooting range is close enough to the average engagement range during the American Civil War which, according to author Brent Nosworthy in his book, "Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War", was EIGHTY-FOUR yards! On the Great Plains against skilled, mobile, well-armed opponents, a mix of rapid fire Spencer rifles and carbines for long and medium ranges, respectively, supplemented by converted Remington revolvers for short range work would definitely have given the Army a firepower advantage over many of their Native opponents IF the Quartermaster Corps could supply the ammunition in sufficient quantities and Army commanders focused training on marksmanship and combat skills.
I'm on to you Karl, you're just a shill for Big Spencer!
Always appreciate the historical content!
It would've been hilarious if you revealed at the end you were sponsored by Bannnerman's Surplus Arms!
Cool video, I'd love that rifle ... I'd prefer a more modern cartidge like the ancient .38 Special. I shoot lots of those already ...
I’m curious. Would cavalrymen have kept their carbines with a chambered round while riding? Or chambered a round upon first contact?
Cool