Unburned powder

[John Farrell, Charter Member #33]

The boys at the Greasy Grass episode had the same trouble with the Springfield 45-70 and clogged chambers which made extraction and reloading a problem. And they found it out in June when it was pretty hot on the prairie.

[Double Lab]

John;
Were'nt they still using black powder in those 45-70 loads in that time period?

[John Farrell, Charter Member #33]

Exactly my point. The residue was so thick in the 7th Cav trapdoor guns it was impossible to operate the ejector and the caking in the chamber made extracting and reloading a chore. Reports from the scene in the after action reports told of dead soldiers with no fingernails from trying to extract hulls from the guns.

The caking Brian is talking about is the same problem. It has a way of finding little places to hide that eventually causes field problems.

About 20 years ago I purchased a Browning Double Auto from the estate of a local shooter. The gun showed a lack of care by the barrel pitting on the exterior. The interior of the receiver was so caked I had to use an awl to chip it away in order to be able to clean the gun.

[Dennis]

After seeing the battlefield a few times and then reading about it I would not have thought those soldiers would have even gotten off many shots compared to the amount of Indians attacking them. Not a very good day for George and his boys.