Bright Barrels On Enfields?

[FriendOfHoke]

I remember reading somewhere that sometimes crushed brick was used to clean barrels. Does this mean that at least Enfield barrels were bright?

[Redbeard]

You have really kicked a hornetīs nest. Sometimes they were. Sometimes not. There is evidence of both bright and blued rifles in servic. My rifle is bright. Some other folks keep theirs blue.

[CJACK3723]

If you look through "A History of the Fifth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers in the American Civil War 1861-1865" it is mentioned that

"Orders came for a forced march, next day, to Lower Marlborough, Md. Each man was to have two days' cooked rations and forty rounds of ball cartridges. During the whole night the men and officers were active in making preparations in the rain and mud. They cooked and packed rations, cleaned and burnished arms and equipments. No tents were to be taken, and only three wagons."

Do they mean burnished as in struck bright? I don't know. They were issued Enfields at the time. It depends on the unit.

- Chris Jackson

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Christopher Jackson

[maillemaker]

A very old hornet's nest, at that. :) As I recall from reading about this in the past, there were also orders directing soldiers explicitly not to strike the bluing from their arms.

I can say from 10 years of heavy competition shooting of black powder arms, blued arms resist rust better than bright ones, but bright ones are easier to clean.

Steve Sheldon

[Kit Davenport]

I recently bought an 1860 2 band Enfield. It is stamped and dated and has all the original stamps still clearly on it. But it is a bright barrel and a blonde-type (lite) wood. Not sure where it fits in, but I use it for my CSA impression. I use my Euro Arms 3 band with blued barrel and nice dark walnut for my US impression. I have thought of refinishing the 2 band and putting a dark walnut stain but leaving the barrel bright. Always a struggle to be authentic while living in the 21 Century....