Looking for a book recommendation

[LongWalker]

I'm trying to put together a bunch of assorted info; of course, that means I need more information. 

I'm looking for (ideally) one volume or source that discusses arms issued to the various Army units in the west, and the dates they were in use, from roughly 1865-1880.  What info I've found so far is incomplete, scattered in coverage, occasionally contradictory, and drawn from more than a dozen different books. 

Thanks,
Jim

[Silver Creek Slim]

https://history.army.mil/html/museums/uniforms/survey_uwa.pdf

Slim

[Niederlander]

Good luck with that!  Honestly, that looks like the kind of info you get from lots of different sources.

[LongWalker]

thanks for the link Silver Creek Slim!

Good luck with that!  Honestly, that looks like the kind of info you get from lots of different sources.

That's the problem.  I've spent the cost of a decent revolver on references over the past 2 years, to put together less than a page of notes on who had what when.  It is an interesting question, but I'm just not interested enough to continue for much longer. 

[smoke]

Let me poke through all that I have and see if one or two of them can answer that question.  However I think the answers probably lie in some old US Army reports.

[Abilene]

Howdy Longwalker.
I have a two volume set by Douglas C. McChristian called Uniforms, Arms, and Equipment - The U.S. Army on the Western Frontier, 1880-1892.   Though I haven't delved into them much at all, they seem pretty informative.  I wondered if the same guy did the same thing for the earlier era, and see he has a book called The U.S. Army in the West, 1870–1880: Uniforms, Weapons, and Equipment Illustrated Edition.  I don't know anything else about it.  Maybe you've seen it?

[Arizona Trooper]

John McAulay's Carbines of the US Cavalry is good for mounted troops, but probably not as detailed as you are looking for. John recently left for that great ordnance depot in the sky. He was an amazing researcher and will be missed.

[Robert Swartz]

.....for general knowledge. Any of McChristians books will get you in the general vicinity. Beyond that you need returns,  reports and inventories of individual units.

[Trailrider]

Howdy Longwalker.
I have a two volume set by Douglas C. McChristian called Uniforms, Arms, and Equipment - The U.S. Army on the Western Frontier, 1880-1892.   Though I haven't delved into them much at all, they seem pretty informative.  I wondered if the same guy did the same thing for the earlier era, and see he has a book called The U.S. Army in the West, 1870–1880: Uniforms, Weapons, and Equipment Illustrated Edition.  I don't know anything else about it.  Maybe you've seen it?

Doug's book The U.S. Army in the West 1870-1880 and Vol. 2 of Uniforms, Arms and Equipment will give you a pretty good idea. Doug McChristian was a terrific researcher and writer on the subject. Sadly, he "rode across the Divide" a couple of years ago. I was privileged to have known him. Books were published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

R. Stephen Dorsey's "Guns of the Western Indian War", gives very detailed information on guns used by both the Indians and the Army, including detailed Ordnance notes on the guns and ammunition.

[DeaconKC]

Back in the 70s Time Life Books ran a series on the Old West. One is called The Soldiers, tons of very good pics in it.

[Drydock]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931464081?pf_rd_r=RPMWWE9786HVB6N9FWN3&pf_rd_p=5ae2c7f8-e0c6-4f35-9071-dc3240e894a8&pd_rd_r=f51ab6a8-c707-4ab0-a2d9-204e30e8825a&pd_rd_w=uHDJt&pd_rd_wg=7h3sd&ref_=pd_gw_unk

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0917218701/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2