Before the Blakeslee?

[Preston County Rider]

A lot of great work from the various folks creating the Blakeslee boxes! Now, a question - what did our Spencer shooters do before the Blakeslee (which was pretty late in the war, right?) The photos in Baumgartner's book on Wilder show what looks like regular infantry ammo boxes strapped to the troopers' sides with the standard infantry set-up. Is there any references out there on carrying and loading ammo for the Spencer before Blakeslee? Just rounds in the standard ammo box? Do we know if cav troopers carried the standard (but smaller) ammo boxes for their Spencers?

Vince Z

[Two Flints]

Hi Preston C. R.,

I took these two photos and included information from the Roy M. Marcot book, Spencer Repeating Firearms. 

Spencer Cavalry Cartridge Box



Weight 15 ounces empty; when filled with 20 56-50 rimfire cartridges weight was 2 pounds, 7 ounces.  The 20 hole box has a leather pouch that measures 6" wide x 2" high; the pouch was designed to hold a Spencer screwdriver (as above), cleaning patches, leather thong and brush for cleaning the bore.

Spencer Cavalry Pouch



The inner pouch held six packets of Spencer 56-50 rimfire cartridges; the smaller implement pocket pouch held cleaning patches, the leather thong and brush and screwdriver.

There were several other variations of the Blakeslee "Quickloader", the Howlett Cartridge Box,
the Bryan & Bigelow Cartridge Box, and the Schneider Cartridge Box. Each of these cylindrical loading devices had two glaring negatives which prevented the Ordinance Department from considering their adoption for military use - each, when loaded, was very heavy, and they would jam very easily, because of their very intricate internal mechanism. 

Howlett Cartridge Box (drawing only)


Bryan & Bigelow Cartridge Box


Schneider Cartridge Box


Two Flints