Loading & Shooting the Burnside Carbine

[The Goose]

I posted this on a couple of other forums, but thought that you guys might enjoy this. I recently acquired a 5th Model Burnside carbine .54 and of course I wanted to make it go bang again.

The Burnside carbine was invented by Ambrose Burnside a Union general and also the first president of the NRA. Also where the term "side burns" came from as an homage to his mutton chops. The carbine was the third most prolific breech loader during the Civil War after the Sharps and Spencer rifles (some say second most popular). Breech loaders and self contained cartridges were in their infancy and there was a plethora of designs from linen or paper cartridges to metallic rimfires. I think the Burnside is quite unique and fascinating. Below is an original cartridge.

With a little research I was able to locate a source for brass and nylon cases and also bullets. The brass are very heavy and well made and will probably last for my shooting lifetime. The nylon are probably less durable, but still reloadable even if less classic in appearance. However, the brass go for $4.50 each and the nylon are .75.

You can see the ignition hole in the base. There was no primer, a percussion cap was used (much like the Sharps). The traditional load is 45 grains of black powder, I used Goex 2F. I loaded 45 grains in the brass and 40 grains in the nylon. The nylon did not seem to have as much room. The bullet is from a Rapine mold and is identical to the original. I think it weighs 360 grains. I lubed it with SPG. I did not use a drop tube for the powder but I did tap down the case several times to facilitate settling. After the powder I put in a .50 vegetable fiber wad that was .060 thick. This fit in the mouth of the case and actually completely covered the powder as the cone shape cased narrowed. There was no room for a grease cookie. The bullet fit fairly tightly, but once started I was able to push it in by hand. No seating die required.

Lastly I tried loading it in the breech block and closing the action. Both rounds were a bit snug, but I was able to completely close the breech block. I may sand down the base of the rest of the cases to fit just a little better. The case maker states that they purposely leave enough material on the base so that it can be taken down as needed. I guess there is some variance in the chamber size of different rifles.

So when the breech block is closed it swings up and seats the bullet into the barrel. There is no chamber in the barrel as the brass is completely seated in the breech block. Extraction is done by hand. Probably seems awkward today, but I guess at the time this was cutting edge. Supposedly these carbines were pretty accurate, although I suspect that the 300 and 500 yard notches on the sight were a bit optimistic.

I hit the range and gave it a try. I had 10 rounds of the brass and 20 of the Nylon. The rifle functioned flawlessly. No gas leakage, easy extraction and reloading. To my surprise it shot pretty much point of aim at 50 yards. I usually expect these old military rifles to shoot high at 50 yards. I shot 5 shot groups and then swabbed the bore. Groups ranged from 4" - 6". There was no noticeable difference between the brass and nylon. Not a tack driver, but adequate for it's purpose. Maybe I will get better with a little practice.

I have since acquired a mold from Accurate Molds. I hate buying boolits. LOL! I have also started dipping the bullet of a loaded round into melted SPG. Works well.

[Coffinmaker]

Way KOOL!!  It's always really neat when someone resurrects some of the lesser know guns from the past and finds a way to make em
roar again.  Too many of the old guns just wind up in some forlorn collection to just gather dust.  Made to shoot they were!!
WELL DONE

Coffinmaker

[Blair]

The Goose,

As one might expect the N-SSA has been shooting these for many years with great effect at 50 and 100 yds.
You may wish to go to their web site to check out what is new.

The cartridge cases are unique. I have seen them in brass, aluminum and a wide variety of man made products like plastic.
Within the time period the cases were a disposable commodity. Not so today, especially with the drawn metal cases.
My best,
Blair

[The Goose]

Blair, Thank you for the heads up. I went to that forum and there is a lot of info.

[Montana Slim]

Thanks for sharing.....Nice report & you've got a really cool piece of history there.
Glad to hear your shooting it.

I get shoot my Dad's from time to time. He supplies the gun and I supply the ammo makings.
I highly recommend the nylon cases. We continuously reloaded the same 10 cases over and over and they proved easy to use & durable, and a whole bunch less $$. For a bullet, I've been casting a .56 RB (Lee mold?). Cheap shooting, except for the musket caps. But a lot of fun to knock over steel plates.

The thin flange of the brass cases eventually fail, I didn't know the round count...but it was certainly lower than the nylon cases, which i think all are still serviceable.

The RB loads seemed more consistent in accuracy vs. the limited quantity of "correct" Burnside bullets my Dad purchased...but we didn't shoot enough groups to evaluate.

Worked well with target loads consisting of 25-35 gr. of 3F, corn meal & Crisco grease cookie (plus the round ball). Very easy and quick to assemble on the fly at the range, charging powder from a flask. We loaded a few with full cases of FF powder & RB or bullet. Swabbing between shots was needed when the full loads were used.

If I had the carbine at my full disposal, I'd definitely measure the twist of the rifling & do the math..I'd adjust the sights, too to make it easier for my son (who doesn't understand when I tell him it shoots 4" high and 4" right), I'd like to run some through the chronograph, and even shoot a few groups (while regulating sights).. Given the wild state of manufacture and array of cartridges produced during the CW, I'm betting that the bullets, velocity and twist is not optimized all the way around for many CW weapons. I believe some were horribly designed or simply mismatched to their ammunition.

Slim