Making 69 cal cartridges

[sauguszouave]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

I did a presention on cartridge rolling at the Watertown Arsenal in Watertown, MA a couple of years ago (meaning I was at the Watertown Arsenal). I used the OM, Dom Dal Bello's article, "From Round Ball to Rimfire", and the Saturday, July 20, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly (Vol V, No. 238) as my sources. The Winslow Homer illustration on the front page is a good source for the boxes and other little tools that make handling the cartridges easy. They would roll up the tubes with the balls in them, pack them in small wooden trays, and then send them to the powder room to be filled. The powder boys used a little funnel on a handle to help pour the powder in, and then they went back to the rolling room to have the pigtail folded shut. This illustration is available on-line at a number of sites including the LOC. It's amazing how a few simple tools make the process easier. I made up my cartridges for this presentation with real lead balls, but put in corn meal instead of gunpowder so I could hand them around to spectators and let them get a feel for how heavy real cartridges were.

There were, however, three questions I couldn't resolve to my satisfaction. The first one was correct paper. I started out using masking paper, like Patrick Reardon recommends, but is seemed a little thin to me. I finally ended up using kraft paper that had a nice weight and feel, but was blindingly expensive. Are folks really sure that masking paper is a good approximation of the weight of cartridge paper?

The second question was "staggering" the cartridges in the package. I ended up alternating the ball and pigtail ends both in one layer and between layers. In other words, a ball never rested against another ball in the package. This made the packages noticebly smaller, but I don't have a source for doing that. The OM says they are alternated, but doesn't explain how.

The third question was about the size of the package. I ran into the same problem that Patrick Reardon did. If I add a roll of caps, the package becomes too big to fit in a tin. Anybody have an idea what's up with that?

Regards,

Paul Kenworthy

[Campjacksonboy]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

To answer some earlier questions Mr. Schmidt and others have anwered the questions. I live close to Mike Watson and I guess you could say I was his apprentice. He has quite a collection of original cartridges.
About ten years ago there was a myth that all cartridges were paper bag brown. I hope the myth has been laid to rest by now.
As far as the color of the wrappers Mr. Schmidt answered that.

If memory serves me correctly the weight of the paper was 40 pound paper but that can be checked in the ordnance manuals.

However regarding different color cartridtges (and I did not see this while perusing the other posts...) Don't forget that .58 bundles included one Williams cartridge it was a cleaning round and was wrapped in blue paper.
That's all for now.
Frank Aufmuth

[Uncle Pig]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

I am surprised that a thread I started 3 years ago is still active.

Does anyone know if the 69 cal round balls were greased in the paper?

If so what was the grease?

Thanks,
Mark C. Foster

[Campjacksonboy]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

.69 balls were not greased.
.58 and .69 minnies were and that is why the cartriges contained a separate trapazoid for the powder.
.69's were not only needed one trapazoid to make them and that's why the balls were "choked" in the cartridge.

Regarding the grease used on the minnies I will have to defer to the ordnance manuals.
Frank Aufmuth

[sauguszouave]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

Following up on my masking paper question:

3M makes four kinds of masking paper:

3M Bold Brick (tm) Masking Paper
3M Scotchblok(tm) Masking Paper
3m White Masking Paper
Scotch(r) Steel Gray Masking Paper

Each of these is a different weight and finish, but 3M doesn't give the weight in their technical specs. Scotchblok is also polycoated, so I rule that out. Knowing the weight of original cartridge paper is only half of the equation. A lot of paper sold today doesn't tell you what its weight is.

Regards,

Paul Kenworthy

[Campjacksonboy]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

You can use what you want but based on what Ive seen the original stuff seemed to be similar to that of news print. This is the same type of paper you got in 1st or 2nd grade when your teacher wanted you to practice your letters. I got some years ago and was told it was 20 weight (about half of what the original stuff was). This is the same stuff Mike Watson uses and despite my best efforts is the best I was able to find. The stuff I'm talking about was sold in legal size sheets.
Unlike 100% cotton paper, the news print is an inferior paper very acidic and eats itself over time. It effect it becomes brown and brittle. This might explain why some original cartriges look as if they were made from brown paper.

Now while not as heavy as what the original manuals call for it news print works but the secret is to make sure the string is tied against the grain of the paper to prevent tears when you choke the cartridge. If anyone else out there has found a better source for paper I'm all ears.
Frank Aufmuth

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

The Columbia Rifles Research Compendium (Vol. 1, also out of print) had a very nice article on .58 caliber cartridges, but not .69s.

For what it's worth, the Compendium's new 2nd Edition covers 0.69-cal. cartridges. Jeff Henion's chapter on that topic has been expanded to cover more than just 0.58-cal. ammunition.

[CeeBeeRebel]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

You can use what you want but based on what Ive seen the original stuff seemed to be similar to that of news print. This is the same type of paper you got in 1st or 2nd grade when your teacher wanted you to practice your letters. I got some years ago and was told it was 20 weight (about half of what the original stuff was). This is the same stuff Mike Watson uses and despite my best efforts is the best I was able to find. The stuff I'm talking about was sold in legal size sheets.
Unlike 100% cotton paper, the news print is an inferior paper very acidic and eats itself over time. It effect it becomes brown and brittle. This might explain why some original cartriges look as if they were made from brown paper.

Now while not as heavy as what the original manuals call for it news print works but the secret is to make sure the string is tied against the grain of the paper to prevent tears when you choke the cartridge. If anyone else out there has found a better source for paper I'm all ears.
Frank Aufmuth

Frank,

We were able recently to go to the local newspaper and they were all to glad to give us several small rolls about a foot in diameter of blank newsprint. It's the end of the rolls that they change out but serves the purpose nicely. We were told the next time we needed some to call and they would save it for us.

[Andrew Keehan]

Re: Making 69 cal cartridges

.69 balls were not greased.
.58 and .69 minnies were and that is why the cartriges contained a separate trapazoid for the powder.
.69's were not only needed one trapazoid to make them and that's why the balls were "choked" in the cartridge.

Regarding the grease used on the minnies I will have to defer to the ordnance manuals.
Frank Aufmuth

Just to further what Frank said, the OM does not specifically say that round balls are not greased. However, when describing the process of greasing the balls, it refers to the "base" and the "cylindrical part" of the ball. This would seem to indicate they're referring to the conical "expanding ball." In the same section it indicates the grease to be "a melted mixture of 1 part of tallow and 8 of beeswax."