Custer's troopers carbines

[Dead I]

During the Battle of the Little Bighorn Custer's men were armed with 1873 "Trapdoor" Springfield carbines loaded with the 45/55 cartridge.  They were benet internally primed center fire weapons using a copper case.  When you see one they have a firing pin mark in the center of the base of what looks like a rim fire case.  Soon after the battle the army went to brass cases that could be reloaded, but it was difficult to reload an internally primed 45/55, but the Indians tried to do it.  Here is a Springfield 1879 Carbine, which is close to Custer's troopers gun.  

[Dead I]

This little carbine has some revisions from the Custer gun.  The breech trapdoor had been revised, the rear sight changed a bit and this rifle has a trapdoor in the butt plate for a cleaning rod which Custer's carbines didn't have.  However, this is pretty darn close to a Custer gun.

[Dirty Brass]

Very nice looking TDC. One thing - I was informed that the cartridges were changed to brass due to the copper causing extraction problems, being too soft. I had not heard about the priming being a factor until sometime later on when they went to CF primers. Irregardless tho, nice rifle!

[Shotgun Franklin]

I'd doubt that the Army worried about how easy it was to reload.

[Dead I]

I'd doubt that the Army worried about how easy it was to reload.

The Army did issue a reloading tool.  Here is one from 1891.  I suspect they may have issued one earlier.   

[Dead I]

Here is a 45/55 cartridge that I bought in a store in Livingston that was sold by an Indian who said the he found it at the site of the Indian encampment. He is a reservation Indian. It was not a battlefield find.  It is a Indian attempt to reload a 45/55 round.  The case is a copper one, so it's early, and may date to the BLH.  The bullet is a pick up.  Look closely you can see the rifling marks. Some Indian picked up the bullet and case and attempted to reload it.  He may have used match heads as a primer.  The case has teeth marks, so the case was bitten to hold the bullet in place.  Cost?  $3 at the antique store.  They had an entire bin of them.  I bought one.  Left the others for someone else.  

[Dead I]

I have never read about Custer's troops reloading ammo.  We all know that rounds were an issue and hard to find.  They were also expensive.  The Indian case was reloaded by an Indian and the reloading tool is army issue, so that at some time after the LBH battle I assume that GI's were doing some reloading.

I think it was impossible to reload the early 45/55 internally primed cases since the primer was inside.  Soon after the battle the army changed from a copper case to a brass one and it could be reloaded.  They were not boxer primed however, so it still wasn't easy to reload them.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Then somewhere, some place, there should be a record of who the tools were issued to. I'm kinda inclined to believe that they were issued Scouts, given to Buffalo Hunters or maybe, just maybe, used by Shooting Teams for competition. But truthfully I'm just guessing. For sure I would not want to be sent out in the field with a handful of ammo and a box of components just in case I ran out of ammo.

[Dead I]

Then somewhere, some place, there should be a record of who the tools were issued to. I'm kinda inclined to believe that they were issued Scouts, given to Buffalo Hunters or maybe, just maybe, used by Shooting Teams for competition. But truthfully I'm just guessing. For sure I would not want to be sent out in the field with a handful of ammo and a box of components just in case I ran out of ammo.

My reloading tool is marked US Gov't 1891; so it was issued after the days of buffalo hunting which ended in the Northern Plains by 1886, earlier in the Southern Plains.  By 1891 the troopers were being issued rounds that could be reloaded, thus my reloading tool.  At the time of the Custer fight the 45/55 round could not be reloaded due to the complex internal center fire priming. 

[shrapnel]

I have an inside primed cartridge from that era, found at the old Fort Custer. I also have a 50-70 casing I found on the Little Bighorn River when I was cat fishing there about 32 years ago. The casing is probably one from the battle, as it was only a couple miles from the Reno/Benteen battle sight...

[Dead I]

Shrapnel; those things are excellent!  The knife blade is amazing!  The Indians had some 50/70 Sharps rifles that day in 1876 and probably some old Allen Trapdoors too.  They found some split 45/55/70 cases split by having been fired in a 50/70.  Custer's Rolling Block may have been a 50/70, but I don't think anyone knows what caliber it was. 

[Dirty Brass]

Found this info in one of my books - maybe it will shed some light?

[Dead I]

I have an inside primed cartridge from that era, found at the old Fort Custer. I also have a 50-70 casing I found on the Little Bighorn River when I was cat fishing there about 32 years ago. The casing is probably one from the battle, as it was only a couple miles from the Reno/Benteen battle sight...

I think, Shrapnel, that the cases on the left and right are boxer primed.  The cartridge in the middle appears to be an internally primed copper case, which does place it at the Battle or at least of around the time that battle was fought.  That is a very nice piece.  Many of the cartridges and cases found at the LBH site are boxer primed.  They held their first re-enactment just ten years after the battle.  Real participants in the original battle participated in the first re-enactment. (there is that famous picture of them standing around the mass grave marker on Custer Hill.)  They would have been firing boxer primed cartridges. 

[Delmonico]

More likely Berdan primed.

[Dead I]

More likely Berdan primed.

Some ammunition was Berdan primed, but as someone mentioned here the army adopted boxer priming in 1883.  I don't know, but I do know that my reloading tool, that is also made by Franklion Armoury, is made to reload boxer primed cases.

[Dead I]

Here are some pictures of actual Custer carbines, used in the battle.  I took these at the museum there.  Sorry for the reflections, but they do make interesting pictures don't they.

[Dead I]

More Custer battel guns, some are Indians' weapons.

[Dead I]

Here's a great model of an Indian.  Most Indians, I think, fought nearly naked, not wanting to be incumbered by clothing. 
   Again, this is from the Custer Battle Field Museum.

[Dead I]

Here's a trooper:

[Dead I]

These uniforms and buckskins were actually owned by Custer.  You can see the famous black velvet Civil War uniform with the gold braid on the sleeves.  I say again; These are the actual uniforms he wore.  That's neat!