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Black Powder Cartridge RifleThis little dissertation has been unashamedly plagiarized from those friendly folks at the Black powder mailing list. The original for this text is here. Black Powder Cartridge Rifles or BPCR are for the most part single shot, breech loading rifles. These rifles were originally designed and developed for use from the 1860's through the early 1900's. The BPCR rifle used a reloadable black powder brass or copper cartridge with primer as ammunition. The BPCR rifle was the evolutionary successor to the muzzleloading caplock and breech loaded caplock rifle. It was succeeded by the smokeless cartridge rifle. The advent of smokeless or semi-smokeless gunpowders began to close the curtain on the Black Powder Cartridge in the 1890's. Thus the BPCR rifles were redesigned to accommodate the cleaner burning and higher powered smokeless cartridges. A transition from softer iron to steel in rifle manufacture allowed the safe use of the higher pressures generated by the new smokeless gunpowders. By the early 1920's smokeless gunpowders had, for the most part, replaced the sooty and dirty burning black gunpowder. Most shooters embraced the new smokeless powders and never looked back at black powder. The majority of black powder cartridge rifles seen on the shooting lines today are modern reproductions or rebarreled original actions. The original rifles are now approximately 100 years old and although serviceable, many barrels are no longer in condition to provide high accuracy. Original makers like Sharps, Peabody, Stevens, Ballard, Winchester, Remington, Springfield, Maynard, Wesson, Phoenix, Whitney, Crescent, Ethan Allen, Davenport, H&A, Lee, Page-Lewis and Smith had a great heritage in BPCR arms development. Today, on the edge of the 21st century, the modern day replica arms makers and gunsmiths are continuing the tradition of building new and refurbishing old BPCRs for modern-day shooters. Companies like Shilo Sharps, C. Sharps Arms, S. D. Meacham, Pedersoli, Ballard Rifle, Axtell Rifle, Browning, Remington Arms, Ruger Arms, CPA Corporation, Navy Arms, Lone Star Rifle, Shawnee Rifle, E. Arthur Brown, and the Schuetzen Gun Company produce BPCR rifles in either custom, semi-custom or standard configurations. Additionally, a handful of talented gunsmiths specialize in BPCR arms. These gunsmiths can repair, rebarrel and craft one-of custom reproductions of historical BPCRs. The modern BPCR shooter is, by definition, an ammunition reloader as well as an historian of sorts. Virtually all disciplines of the shooting sport must be brought to hand in order to craft bullets and load cartridges for the appetite of the BPCR. As stated earlier, the BPCR was a transitionary rifle. It oftentimes exhibits an external side hammer which falls forward to hit the firing pin mechanism. The Trapdoor Springfield, Peabody Sidehammer and the early Sharps metallic cartridge actions are prime examples of this transitionary action style. Internal hammer rifles were also present in the BPCR era. The Remington Rolling Block, Winchester model 1885 high-wall, Peabody-Martini, Ballard, Stevens and Sharps Borchardt are examples of this action design |
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