Mr. Smith's carbine

[Eric Johanen]

Externally primed cartridges like the Smith, Burnside, Gallager and others did not have a extractor system and cartridges had to be removed from the chamber by hand. They were slow compared to self contained systems like the Henry and the Spencer. They were much faster than the muzzle loading muskets and carbines used the CW. I have a repro Smith, Gallager and 63 model Sharps. Just closed on the purchase of a very nice Burnside and am getting the bullet mold and cartridge cases ordered. Should be fun to shoot and test.