American Military Shoulder Arms, Volume 3: Flintlock Alterations and Muzzleloading Percussion Shoulder Arms, 1840-1865

Sharpshooters’ Rifles

Sharpshooters’ Rifles  355. Background 355.1 Unlike military arms, the two styles of rifles described here for sharpshooters were not made to a pattern, although most rifles of each of the two general styles presented are generally similar to the others of their style. The most pronounced examples of rifles built for target competition during the percussion period were the heavy telescopic sighted rifles that came into use in the 1840s. Because of their accuracy at long ranges, they served military sharpshooters well. They were inadequate for close combat during the Civil War due to their weight, lack of bayonet attachment, and slow reloading capability. In spite of the fact that the half-stocked rifles used by the Western Sharpshooters did not have telescopic sights or bullet starters, they were very accurate . They were not suitable for close combat, however, because they were slower to load than the rifle musket and had no provision for bayonet. Similar to the sharpshooters of the American Revolution, those of the Civil War definitely served both the Union and Confederate causes well. Often they eliminated and demoralized enemy officers and infantry, and even suppressed enemy artillery, sometimes at very long ranges. The successes of the sharpshooters in battle were observed by the military personnel of several Northern states, and this information was transmitted to their state military authorities. The authorities of several states, including Michigan, New Hampshire, and Ohio, wrote to the Ordnance Department requesting issues of sharpshooters’ rifles for companies or regiments of sharpshooters being raised in their states. Most of the Ordnance Department’s correspondence regarding these requests was dated from late 1862 through 1863. The chief of ordnance generally declined these requests. After the production of Springfield Armory’s rifled muskets increased to meet immediate needs, he sometimes indicated his willingness to substitute regulation rifle muskets. The Ordnance Department correspondence contained in the National Archives has made reference to sharpshooters’ arms of the states of Wisconsin and New Hampshire, suggesting these states procured as yet unknown rifles for sharpshooters’ units that had been formed. In addition to the two styles of rifles described here, Union sharpshooter units were armed with a variety of other arms, including .58 caliber service rifled muskets, privately owned Turner rifles, and breechloading arms made by Colt and Sharps. Non-Armory-Pattern Muzzleloading Arms 429 355.3–1 William B. Billinghurst of Rochester, New York, made telescopic sighted rifles which are known to have been used by Civil War sharpshooters. 355.3–2 The Billinghurst rifle has a back-action lock behind the barrel’s breech piece. Organized target competition has been part of the history of the United States since the Colonial period. From the advent of the percussion system, in the 1830s, specialized rifles had been created for this sport that many thousands of citizens enjoyed then (and many millions of citizens enjoy today). Originally made as target rifles, several hundred of these finely made but plainly finished rifles saw service during the Civil War. The weight of these rifles, which typically ran from 18 to 24 pounds or more, resulted in their lack of portability by the individual soldier. They often had plain pine cases that were fitted for the rifle and its accessories and were transported in wagons in the sharpshooter unit’s baggage train. Because of their weight, slow loading, and lack of a bayonet, the military value of these specialized rifles was limited to long-range sniping. The great long-range accuracy of these rifles resulted from the precision rifling of their bores, their telescopic sights, and an invention attributed to Alvan Clark that increased the accurate loading of target rifles. The early cone-shaped pointed “Picket” bullets used in early target rifles had a short bearing area in the bore; it was difficult to align them when loading. It is reported that Clark was granted a U.S. patent on April 24, 1840, for a device called a “false muzzle.” During a barrel’s manufacture, after it had been rifled, four deep holes were bored into the muzzle’s face around the bore. A 1 1 /2" to 3" section was usually cut from the barrel’s muzzle; this would become the Sharpshooters’ Telescopic Rifles 355.3 Part...