Henry Repeater

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Henry Repeater

Hallo!

"Any way you look at it, reenactments seem to have WAY too many Henry's."

Mr. Schmidt,
Yours is an interesting comment, I've yet to see a Henry at any CA event I've attended, maybe folks hide 'em.

Ah, but it was not my comment... ;)

I would point out:

"Basically, this means, on average, that for every 1 Henry at an event, there should be 42 Spencers, 32 Burnsides, 2 Halls, 6 Joslyns, 8 Merrills, 15 Maynards, 50 Sharps and 2 Warners. Any way you look at it, reenactments seem to have WAY too many Henry's."

while an interesting mathematical "tally," IMHO, I would not say "there should be" X number of any particular type of carbine present . Historical units were armed with what units were armed with at any given place and time. And if one's impression or recreated unit was armed with a particular "make" of weapon then the numbers of other arms overall will not be an indicator of that unit's arms.

;)

No Smith carbine armed units? :-)

Curt

[RJSamp]

Re: Henry Repeater

and a bit more from my husband, not working on the eve of the holiday:D
As I sit idly here, waiting for my computer to finish, I thought I'd do some more research on Henry rifles.

This is interesting, considering that the U.S. bought only 1,731 Henry's:

Carbine Purchased Carbine Purchased
Spencer 73,196 Merrill 14,495
Ballard 1,509 Maynard 25,202
Burnsides 55,567 Remington 2,000
Cosmopolitan 1,140 Sharps 86,512
Gibbs 1,052 Starr 20,601
Hall 3,520 Warner 4,001
Joslyn 10,200
Basically, this means, on average, that for every 1 Henry at an event, there should be 42 Spencers, 32 Burnsides, 2 Halls, 6 Joslyns, 8 Merrills, 15 Maynards, 50 Sharps and 2 Warners. Any way you look at it, reenactments seem to have WAY too many Henry's.

Inquiring minds might want to know.

Henry's were largely private purchesed......Colts Revolving Rifles as well....I note a few type of carbines that were in the hands of Volunteer Cavalry and you don't mention them.... What was ISSUED by the US QM was not the same was what was used in the field. Henry Rifles were private, not US Purchased/issued....hence your number's cited are incorrect. My Great Great Great Uncle, Charles Converse, was a bugler in the horseless 27th NY Cavalry at Petersburg June 1864.....they used Smith carbines.....no horses.

One of the areas that we do not do well on is having CPH events with the correct weaponry for the unit that we are portraying......too much of a mixture of enfield's versus Springfield's.....instead of having 90%+ be one specific weapon....or having a correct mix of weapons by company to match the historical record.

You analysis/logic is faulty.....as well as your ratios.

[Bob Taylor]

Re: Henry Repeater

I agree with William. Terry has been extremely helpful and very generous with his time in helping me move to a Cavalry impression.
I wasn’t aware that Taylor’s even sold seconds. I will have to ask them about that when they open Wednesday.
And I received a very nasty private message from Civilwarcaptain that really said some very nasty and untrue things about Terry. I think that William is right and this is that Mike G. guy that got kicked off this and other boards for shady deals.
As far as the caliber of the Spencer is concerned it is true that 44-40 is not the historically correct one. But those using a Spencer in 56-50 are using blanks that are made entirely out of plastic. At least the blanks made from 410 hulls are partially made out of brass.
Also did we read the same article about the Spencers. I don’t remember him ever saying anything about using a 69 caliber box for Spencer blanks.
Bob

[csabugler]

Re: Henry Repeater

Great pic mark.Where in the world did you find that?
You should have posted a disclaimer with it, tho, somebody "authenticity challenged" might be lurking out there and consider it Documentation!! :)

[Drygoods]

Re: Henry Repeater

Mr Schmidt,
It was the any way cph I was kidding about.

[markj]

Re: Henry Repeater

Great pic mark.Where in the world did you find that?
You should have posted a disclaimer with it, tho, somebody "authenticity challenged" might be lurking out there and consider it Documentation!! :)

"Google Images" is a thing of beauty. Just type in "Wanted Dead or Alive" (Steve's old TV Western series) and you'll get lots of images.

Very truly yours, &c.,

Mark Jaeger

[Alabama Yankee]

Re: Henry Repeater

But those using a Spencer in 56-50 are using blanks that are made entirely out of plastic.

Not exactly true......

Shooting and reloading brass blanks for the 56-50 is possible. I do it. It takes a little work and a little patience, but is possible, economical, and very fun.

-Ryan Dupree

[Bob Taylor]

Re: Henry Repeater

Not exactly true......

Shooting and reloading brass blanks for the 56-50 is possible. I do it. It takes a little work and a little patience, but is possible, economical, and very fun.

-Ryan Dupree

Ryan
Then you are the exception and not the rule. I for one would be very interested in how you make economical brass blanks for the 56-50 Spencer. I am always ready to talk Spencers with anyone.
Bob

[Bob Taylor]

Re: Henry Repeater

.....I wasn’t aware that Taylor’s even sold seconds. I will have to ask them about that when they open Wednesday......
Bob

To all
I checked with Taylors and they told me that they don’t sell seconds. If they get a defective gun they try to fix it and if they can’t fix it they send it back to the factory. Every once in a wile they will have a scratch and dent sale and advertise it as such but they never sell seconds.
Bob

[Sharpshooter1]

Spencer Blanks

I actually own a spencer from Taylors, and it was a "scratch and dent"

It was missing an extractor , and it was 56-50.

Regarding blanks, I use 56-50 brass and pick them up, and reload after use.

The brass cost about 2.00 each, but last a long time.

[Bob Taylor]

Re: Spencer Blanks

I actually own a spencer from Taylors, and it was a "scratch and dent"

It was missing an extractor , and it was 56-50.

Regarding blanks, I use 56-50 brass and pick them up, and reload after use.

The brass cost about 2.00 each, but last a long time.

Tom
The nice thing about using a Spencer in 44-40 is that you can make blanks from 410 hulls and when they have been fired you don’t have to stop to pick them up. I have to applaud you adherence to the authentic caliber but how do you get them to cycle in your gun? With the Spencer being so sensitive to case length a standard size brass would not work unless you loaded as a single shot. I actually envy you. I don’t have one yet but I hope to have one by next Spring.
Bob

[Sharpshooter1]

Re: Henry Repeater

Bob,

It is a pain in the A@#... To say the least. I would be interested in using the chopped down hulls. Who do I contact?

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Henry Repeater

Hallo!

Moderator hat on...

This thread has wandered away from the "relating directly to authentic cavalry living history and reenacting" of this folder:

Discussions on a wide variety of issues relating directly to authentic cavalry living history and reenacting.

It is being closed. For those lads wishing to continue, please continue via e-mail or PM.

Thanks.

Curt Schmidt
Moderator