I have had the pleasure of shooting an original Smith Carbine when I was skirmishing with the N-SSA.

Thanks,Mike. As a footnote: just listened to pod cast on the James gang recounting the Northfield Raid that has a citizen medical student pulling an old Smith carbine of the nearby hotel wall with four cartridges, proceeded to second floor window and proceeded to cut up the gang with fifty cal slugs. Jim Younger's right elbow was shattered with one shot.

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

I didn't know that. Thanks for the story.

@pimpompoom93726

4 ай бұрын

@@duelist1954 Henry Wheeler grabbed a Smith Carbine during the Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery attempt and shot and killed Clell Miller-one of the outlaws. A good video is: kzread.info/dash/bejne/h41_qaqkZ7DWqNY.htmlsi=qRwKCclbAzbw-ZyD

Mr...Belaviue, welcome...back, we've...missed you. Never fear, SMITH is here!!

Thanks Mike, While I have retired from Cavalry reenacting, back in 2012, at the 150th Shiloh, our unit (normally a CS unit - 7th TN., Co. D) portrayed the 11th Illinois and I have a Smiths that I used on occasion. Good to know that they were one of the units that were issued the Smiths back in the day. While Shiloh (April '62) may have been earlier than they were issued, still cool to know.

Fascinating rifle; it's always cool to see how arms tech was evolving in that era. And even cooler to see you put it to use! Thank you for your work on this channel!

@wapiti3750

Жыл бұрын

Love your last name! It makes me get really randy. 🙂

This really seems like something that would have influenced the designs of early break action shotguns. Very cool gun.

Swingin' Sam and the Circle Gang were often holed up with the James Gang!

Buttermilk Falls is cool, why mess with it? I moved to a small rural town in Kentucky on Bacon Creek, the town used to have the same name, that's kinda cool, who doesn't like bacon. They changed it to Bonneville during the uncival war, the Confederate raider Morgan twisted up the RR tracks here, there's a sign commemorating it.

Its interesting how the use of India rubber was used for the cartridge. The french chassepot used an India rubber plug to obdurate(sic?) Their paper cartridge as the chassepot was a needle rifle. The Smith carbines used the rubber for the same purpose. I'm not saying that Smith knew about the chassepot, but its interesting that the idea happened twice on two different continents at about the same time. The same material was used for the same purpose In two very different ways. I love the way history hits ya upside the head sometimes.

My Great Great Grandfather served in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment, Company D. He came home with his pistol, carbine and saber. The pistol and carbine (type unknown) are lost to time but I have the saber. His unit was reported to have used both the Smith and the Sharps but I do not have dates or details.

I was alittle too fast with the Sharp's question. You mentioned the Sharps seconds after I asked. I think you read my mind. Thanks Mike.

The Sharps with the fully integrated cartridge including percussion charge was so clearly superior I'm surprised the Smith and Burnside were even considered. Messing around with percussion caps while in a fight-and sometimes on horseback-seems an onerous task. The Spencer was the best Civil War carbine of course, but that didn't come along until later. Thank God for Abe Lincoln giving it his blessing.

I liked the Henry rifle better than all the others mentioned here except for the Spencer. Nice historical presentation; thanks Mike. Evil Roy keeps on coming back for more; that's dedication! O R, Happy Christkwanzhanukkah Mike.

I am amazed how effective that little carbine is. Nice shootin'!

In my home town there is a location called butter factory hill. There actually was a butter factory there a century and a half ago. To get there you turn off Main Street onto Butter Factory Hill Road. Of course.

Never knew of this carbine before ! I really do learn so much from your channel ! Thanks Mr Bellevue!

Thank you for a great historical lesson!

Thanks for this great bit of history.

Been looking forward to this video. Thanks for doing it Mike.

Liked the explanation of split breech, new info for me.

I like that blue union cap.

Finally subscribed to your patreon, sorry for the delay! My wife and I love your content and always look forward to more!

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the support! I'm glad that you enjoy the channel.

That was great as usual, nice to see it operate to just seeing a picture and reading about it. Can't wait for the next one! 🤠

That’s a really nice carbine. Thanks for sharing and taking the effort to make this awesome video.

Once again, awesome weapon assessment.

another great video and history lesson. Keep 'em coming, Mike and thanks again.

I don't know when you filmed this but your weather is better than ours here in Ohio 😂. Can't wait to get out and shoot with the thaw coming today. Good video Mike, glad your having fun.

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

I filmed the day before the big storm hit over here.

Great work!! I own and shoot an original Smith, one of my favorite guns to shoot in competition.

Love it...nice shooting too!...thanks Mike

Always enjoy the historical perspective on these vintage firearms.

This is another reason I enjoy your videos that share history and detail information

Thank You sir, it's great to see You shooting with this Carbine! Greetings from Europe :)

Love this video thanks for this video.

Love the video

That you had on Yankee uniform the icing on the cake

Thank you for keeping history alive.

Great video, Mike. Entertaining and educational as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing more videos in the New Year. Thank you sir, for your dedication and commitment to the hobby.

In my home state there's a dairy company called "Highland" who definitely makes good buttermilk, among all the other kinds of milk, cheeses, and yogurt. Their cottage cheese is unbeatable.

Great video! I see you found a Good looking sack coat! The unlocking of the breach is a very simple design.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Happy New Year!

Thanks for the video Mike. The Smith is definitely on my short list of black powder rifles.

Thank You Mike, Happy New Year!

That's a really neat rifle, and it definitely has me intrigued. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and i hope you had a great Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!

thank you Mike. Very informative. happy new year.

Hey thank you mike for all your videos I just got a pietta 1860 army for Christmas and used your reloading video following all your steps. Just wanted to say thank you for getting me into a new type of way to enjoy firearms. Happy new years to you and your family

What a beautiful rifle

Good video very neat carbine ill have to keep looking

Great Video. Glad I found you as I am also a York County boy! Thanks neighbor.

Thanks Mike great video. I had an original Smith back in the late 70"s and it was a dead on shooter. I really enjoyed it, I hope you have as much fun with yours as I did with mine. Keep an eye on the brass plunger as the T can get loose over time.

Mike your authenticity and historical attention to detail is beyond reproach However a Union rifleman would be making “Evil Roy-Bob” dance🦊 Or alternately “Swinging Reb Sam”!

Well done! I like it, too.

32 Ford, you made me laugh out loud.

Very nice carbine! It is somewhat similar to a Burnside in my opinion, should be about the same ballistics and rate of fire. Lodgewood sells excellent cartridges for the Burnside, machined brass. I've yet to see a Smith carbine in the shops though I have found a nice Burnside and a Spencer reproduction which I did buy. The Spencer is in .45 Schofield, basically shortened .45 Colt rounds. The Civil War era brought in a lot of innovation in firearms, interesting firearms to collect.

Another great video Mike. You are my favorite history teacher. You have the knowledge and the skill.

@tomcurran8470

Жыл бұрын

He's a good history teacher, but he leaves out how bad America was, an important part of present day curriculum, LOL.

Another Great video Mike! Sure have a fondness for those Smith carbines. Still on the hunt for my own original. Hope you had a great Christmas! Happy New year!

Thanks. I really never knew that they existed until your last video. I loved the stats on the number sold as well as the ranking. You make it entertaining when you shoot Evil Roy, Swinging Sam and The Circle Gang. It should be fun or what's a point. Take care.

Really interesting review! Thank you, Mike. Blessed new year to you!

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

Happy New Year to you as well!

Pretty fine find, but the thing I am most amazed by is that you are still shooting at duelist den late into December Mountain man

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

we dodged a big bullet the day after I filmed this video. while a lot of the country got buried in snow, we had an awful ice storm. But, when the sun came out, even though it was only 15 degrees, the ice melted.If it had been snow, I be done with the Den for the season.

Great video, I like that carbine, have a happy New Year.

Federal blue is a good color for ya! Thanks for the great video

Impressive rifle Mike. I was wondering if you would do a video about the 1875 Lee vertical action carbine ? This is one fantastic rifle that I think your viewers would get a kick out of.

Beautiful old carbine. Thanks for posting, and thanks for keeping the world safe from Evil Roy and his henchmen.

Another fun, informative video Mike. Happy New Year to you.

I’ve got one of the reproductions made by Pietta, it works very well, I’ve used the brass cartridges as well as the plastic type & both shoot without problem although I did have to open the hole a little on the brass case to make it more reliable. Thanks for the video Mike, I’m going to look for an original one now.

hi, Mike !!! good video like everytime and more better than that make before ... Merry Christmas ... and Happy New Year ... 😉👋 🌞🌾

Thanks,Mike! Great video. Always thought that the Smith was pretty Neat-Oh.

@jason60chev

Жыл бұрын

Had bid on an original Smith, requiring some parts, this past Sunday. Bids got too high. However, am, now in talks to purchase what appears to be an older Pietta "Navy Arms" marked reproduction Smith, that has never been fired. Will be happy with that.

Love these videos Mike, I thought I knew a lot about the 19th century guns until I started watching your videos. Thanks

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy them.

Your Smith is in very good condition.

Hope you had a great Christmas as well mike.

Reloading on horse back would have been a challenge. Aside, interested to hear that the Pony Express had these carbines, I was always under the impression that the riders didn’t carry weapons to save weight. Thanks for the interesting presentation.

I love mine from Pietta

Another fascinating weapon of the Slaveholders' Rebellion. I remember hearing about a gun that used a rubber cartridge, and I thought for sure it was super rare, and like the rimfires, impossible to get ammo for. Good to know that isn't the case. These early experiments with cartridges are so cool.

@3ducs

Жыл бұрын

Slavery was the worst thing to have ever happened to this country, we will be paying for that sin in perpetuity.

@TheMrPeteChannel

10 ай бұрын

​@@3ducslet's forget that horrible past & try to make a better future

@3ducs

10 ай бұрын

@@TheMrPeteChannel We live with the bitter fruit of that time daily. 14/50.

Now I want one. I checked out the online gun auction site and they are very reasonable.

Merry Christmas and happy new year Mike! I got my kirst conversion for my uberti navy, and a 150gr double cavity heel based mold for .38 so now I have to make some ammo. Seeya soon enjoy all of your videos.

Excellent video MIke. I love hearing about the transition weapons that fall between cap N ball and cartridge rifles

fantastic video

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

I bought one of the very early Smith reproductions for mounted cavalry reenactment and I still have it. I believe the rifle was made by Pietta and although the outside fit and finish was excellent, the barrel was very poorly bored and rifled. At just about any range my bullets would go through the paper targets sideways. This was unacceptable so I contacted Navy Arms and to my amazement and deep sense of honor, I was connected to the Great Man himself where I received a very nasty string of abuse and got hung up on. I then found a gunsmith in PA who would bore my barrel out and put in a precision liner with the authentic bore, rifling and twist. It has shot extremely accurately ever since. Of course, I would lose the front sight blade when mounted on horseback, but they were easy to make. For reenactment, it is not necessary to have an accurate bore, but an important part of my goal was to get very familiar with the technology of the period and see for myself just how effective the issued firearms were in battle. My arms had to meet period standards of accuracy and reliability. I experienced a lot of misfires with the Smith at first. Through detailed examination, I came to the conclusion that the problem with misfiring was due to the very long channel that the hot gas from the primer had to go through and the brand of musket cap I was using was very important. So called "hot" caps that made a lot of noise, were absolutely useless, but good quality standard musket caps were the best. I found that it is best NOT to try to take the nipple off and clean the channel, especially with water. If the channel seems to be clogged, it should be blown out with the breech open and a cap discharging its gas directly to the atmosphere. Clean the barrel, but not the primer's channel. If you are rather anal about cleaning and "must" clean the channel, open the breech and fire three or more caps to "dirty it up" before attempting live cartridges. It is my theory that the fouling from the caps leaves a thin layer in the channel that doesn't tend to build up, but insulates the hot gas and keeps it hot enough to set off the black powder at the base of the cartridge. Without this insulating layer, the gas cools below the temperature that will set off black powder. REAL black powder must be used in the cartridge because the low temperature gas from the cap is not hot enough to set off modern substitutes unless a couple of grains of real powder is placed at the base of the cartridge and is thus it must be there to act as a "primer." Eventually the piece will wear so that it feels a bit loose when closed, but that has no effect on the accuracy or the operation of the rifle. Finally, to keep fine grain (FFF) powder from leaking out the primer hole, I would cover the back of the cartridge with Scotch Magic tape that was easily penetrated by the primer gases. Also, compressing the black powder on loading seemed to work pretty well too.

@Leutenantmike

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for that comment. That is the problem I have too. Good solution.

Always a joy to see a new video from you. Not sure I'll ever buy any more old guns myself but these civil war carbines are fascinating. Burnside, Spencer, Smith, Gallagher, Maynard, etc. The Pietta reproductions are very appealing if they ever become available again.

@normajohnson6352

Жыл бұрын

They apparently make these in special runs. I had to wait over a year for mine. The Pietta quality is superb. Love mine.

In 1974 I had a mint origional I'm talking as new and used it as a civil war reenactment firearm. 7th Fla Cavalry. This LONG BEFORE any replicas were made. I would call it as new. Traded it to my friend the reenactment unit Captain a dead ringer for Gen Stonewall Jackson. Fantastic carbine.. I will kick myself for that trade. .52 cal as I understand have a safe New Years and prosperous

Thank You Mike for doing this series on the Smith Carbine. The detail is very helpful. Sighting over the barrel always makes me wonder who was sighting over the same barrel years ago. Thank You Again for the great video. Happy New Year!

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad you liked it.

@tomcurran8470

Жыл бұрын

Yes, it is really something to think about who shot that gun originally.

Thanks Mike for a nice complete video on the Smith.Pretty good shooting, too.A 75 yd, zero would have been authentic to put some fire into the area from which an enemy troop would charge.I had a Spencer at one time but never fired it.Agree that it was more efficient but I like the Smith too.The percussion cap was more trouble than the cartridge...I cast my own .58 minnies and paper-wrapped them for my '61 Springfield

Happy New Year, Mike!!

I have a Pietta Smith repro. Superb quality. Light, sleek, handy, well-balanced, accurate. Shoots high, but a third-party vendor makes higher front sights. I shoot the red plastic cases with Eras Gone bullet. Really fun, would be a hard hitter for hunting. Only problem, takes 3 or 4 caps to fire first round, then flawless thereafter. In Civil War field use, the open-ended cartridges by written reports had huge problems sometimes taking several caps to fire. Absolutely love mine. Thanks for both videos on this.

Nice little rifle love to get that out hunting .had a friend who had his grandad's sharps .used it to hunt till he died at 96 yrs

Great show Mike! Happy Rootin, Tootin Shootin New Year!

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

Happy New Year!

Thank you

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad you liked it.

My local gun store had a new pietta version about 10 years ago for $600. At the time I had no knowledge of it. I went home and did some research and decided to go buy it a few weeks later. Of course, it was sold.

I owned a smith 60 years ago when I was a teenager,it had a broken main spring I bought a Winchester spring which was similar I installed it and it broke,I sold it for 20 bucks.i think I should have held onto it.great video thanks Mike

You have some very cool guns!

Excellent video Mike 👍👍👍The Smith was not a gun I was familiar with so thanks for the education.

hey buddy nice to see ya, hope you have a good New Year

Hi from Syracuse NY brother and Happy New Year to you and your family

There's actually multiple buttermilk falls in new york. There's two just in the Adirondack park alone.

I’ve been thinking about getting one for ages. The only percussion civil war carbine I have is the Gallagher. What is your opinion on that carbine?

It’s so difficult to find percussion caps and musket caps nowadays even if percussion guns can be found. Getting cartridge ammo is easier which is why I’m so glad I invested in a Howell .45 colt cartridge conversion cylinder for my Uberti 1858 new model army revolver because I couldn’t for the life of me find percussion caps anywhere in PA. or the 2 Virginias or anywhere in the northeast but I did manage to score a couple of boxes of HSM .45 colt 200 grain cowboy loads at the Cabela’s outlet in Hamburg PA. 4 months ago at the end of August so I at least had a chance to put 50 rounds through my new piece that I bought in August using the conversion cylinder over the course of 3 sessions during this past fall season. Idk if I will ever use the percussion cylinder it came with though

If my previous weapon had been a muzzle loader, one would have been purely delighted to have it.

I will have to check them out I have an 1855 Springfield by Chiappa that needs some work.

Great content. Wish you were on Rumble.

Happy and healthy New Year to all. India rubber fact: Samuel P. Colt, the nephew of Samuel Colt, from Bristol, Rhode Island, was a rubber mogul from what I understand. I bet he had profited from the Smith cartridge's use of rubber cases. BTW, Bristol has the oldest 4th of July parade, a park once owned by Colt on the bay, and was the last home of Anthony Quinn. Colt's white marble home and the bridge he built are something to see. Mike's channel gives me the opportunity to spread my useless facts, LOL.

@geraldtakala1721

Жыл бұрын

Facts are never useless but sometimes ignored often to our peril

Hello Mike, Just wanted to wish you a happy new year!

@duelist1954

Жыл бұрын

Happy New Year!