Jack the Ripper Tech

[Steve S]

Well,I think the Prussian Dreyse "needle gun" had a bolt with a soft cartridge...

[sdreid]

That's quite possible Steve.

[sdreid]

There were several attempts to make a cartridge before they finally figured out the modern base-fire version including the pin-fire and the rocket ball.

[sdreid]

The rocket ball worked but was underpowered. As for the pin-fire, it had a pin that stuck out the base of the cartridge for the hammer to hit. It also worked but had to be loaded just right in order to work. At any rate, this had all been sorted out before JtR came along and wouldn't have been around unless you were an antique gun collector.

[sdreid]

I think the rocket ball was the ammunition for the first lever action guns.

[sdreid]

The first lever action gun was actually a pistol if I remember correctly.

[Steve S]

The first lever action gun was actually a pistol if I remember correctly.

In modern terms,I think that's the "Volcanic" precursor to the Henry/Winchester series

[sdreid]

That's what I was thinking of Steve.

[sdreid]

In modern terms,I think that's the "Volcanic" precursor to the Henry/Winchester series

Yes, in modern terms. There was a magazine fed lever action rifle before that still required the placement of a percussion cap.

[sdreid]

In modern terms,I think that's the "Volcanic" precursor to the Henry/Winchester series

With the possible exception of the Smith and Wesson cartridge revolver, I think the Henry rifle was the first gun that could be sold today and be considered a modern gun albeit the ammunition would now be smokeless rather than black powder. When the Henry was first built, the Colt revolver was still a lever loading gun where the ball, powder and percussion caps were still separate items.

[Ginger]

When the Henry was first built, the Colt revolver was still a lever loading gun where the ball, powder and percussion caps were still separate items.

I once saw an example of a transitional type of load for a Colt revolver from the American Civil War, in which the ball had fastened (glued?) to the back of it a sort of tapering cylinder of touchpaper filled with gunpowder. The caps were fitted to the cylinder in the usual fashion. It was supposed to make the pistol easy to reload in battle. I'm guessing it didn't work very well, else it had been more popular.

[sdreid]

Hi Ginger:

Yes, my next to oldest son has a breech loading civil war rifle that uses that type of ammunition. I forgot its name but I have loaded and shot it a few times.

[sdreid]

It might be a Sharps rifle but I'll try to remember to ask him when I see him this weekend.

[Steve S]

It's one of the weirder ones...Burnside or some such...Sharps has the dropping breechblock that shears the rear off the combustable cartridge as it rises......

[sdreid]

I believe he has two Civil War Rifles, one I think is a Shapes and one is a Smith Carbine.