Prone Loading

[mb3]

I was wondering how soldiers during the Civil War loaded their muskets while in the prone position? I would imagine there had to be some sort of trick to get the powder seated properly.

[rachbobo]

I can only guess that bullets whizzing over their heads made them very creative.
Lift the barrel only high enough so as not to get your fingers shot off to dump the powder. Then put the paper wad over the powder, then ram the bullet while laying as low as possible.
Take your chance by lifting your head and aim and fire.
Today with the angle adapters for the modern Red Dot sights a soldier can lay prone and only put their weapon above the wall, and with their head below the line of fire, they can aim and shoot without exposing their head.
The bravery of the soldiers on both sides in the 1860's is above and beyond the call of duty.

Bill Cheek

[Southron Sr.]

Way back in the 1970's I was a "Living History" volunteer at Old Fort Jackson which is just down the Savannah River from Savannah, GA. The fort is a brickwork structure that the Confederacy held until Savannah was surrendered to Sherman in December of 1864.

We had about 30 volunteers that dressed out as members of the 22nd Georgia Heavy Artillery (the unit that garrisoned the fort) and we constantly drilled using the Hardee's Manual. By the way, in case you are wondering, "Heavy" artillerymen were also trained in infantry drill and tactics for obvious reasons. (This is one of the reasons Grant "drafted" the Heavy Artillerymen out of the forts around Washington for his "Overland Campaign" of 1864. He used them as Infantrymen.)

Now, we actually learned the "drill according to Hardee's Manual" for loading and firing in the prone position. Now, from what I remember (and my memory is fuzzy) we would be lying prone on our stomachs. On command, we would withdraw a cartridge from our cartridge boxes, then ROLL OVER on our backs.

In that position, we would elevate the muzzle of our musket about 8 to 10 inches above our chins. Then we would bite and tear the cartridge, pour the powder down the bore, then withdraw the ramrod and ram the bullet down the bore.

Then we would remove a cap from our cap box, roll over on our stomachs again and cap the musket. Then we would fire on command.

Obviously, loading and firing a musket from the prone position is not exactly easy nor conductive to "Rapid Fire." One of the stated reasons the army adopted breechloading arms for the Infantry after the war was because it was easier for troops to load and fire from the prone position with a breechloader!

I am sure there are several Skirmishers that know the Hardee Manual much better than I do and can explain better how to load and fire a musket from the prone position

[mb3]

Thank you, that was a very good discription of loading from the prone. I guess practice makes perfect?

[BerdanSharps]

I just tried loading and shooting from the prone position with my Armi Sport Enfield.
No problems at all! A proper sized bullet pushes the powder down perfectly, even after 6 shots. But I could fire just about 2 shots a minute..
I might be doing this more often although it looks very funny next to other people shooting from the prone with modern guns :D

[mb3]

I am going to the range on the 11th and I will have to give this a try. Just out of curiosity, how quickly do you normally load? With my Armisports CS Richmond I am around two shots per min, three if I push it.

[BerdanSharps]

Normally I load 2 shots in 45-50 seconds. If I load and shoot any faster I don't hit anything.
In the prone position I managed 2 shots in 62 seconds but this will surely improve with some practice!
I'm curious to hear about your experience :)

[DAVE FRANCE]

Dear Mr. Berdan Sharps,

I like your statment that "If I load and shoot any faster I don't hit anything."

I never was a fast shooter. I could load very quickly and I learned how to load quickly from other skirmishers. I ususally could shoot 3 shots in the first minute, of course, starting with a loaded musket.

Harris Opfer is a very fast shooter. I shot with him for a couple years. But, it is surprising how fast many skirmishers cans shoot a musket. Two others I shot with were Jerry Kosloski (who passed away a few years ago), Dan Greketis, and Sam Dobbin.

At one national skirmish, I fired two shots at 50 yard pots, and hit two. I loaded another round and as I started to aim at the last whole pot, it exploded. I was satisfied in how I did, in hitting 2 pots and in being close to firing a third shot when we called time. The last pot was hit by Harris and it was the forth pot he hit.

David

[mb3]

When you shoot in a skirmish how much time is allotted, number of pots and shooters?

[matt]

16 pots hanging on a wire at 50 yds in 5 minutes for an 8 person musket team.
Matt
Winslow's Battery D 1st NY LT Artillery 9775v

[mb3]

That sounds like fun. Is the 16 pot a pretty standard setup?

[Southron Sr.]

Here are some of the various 50 Yard targets for different "Events."

[1] 32 Clay pigeons on a 4' x 8' cardboard "backer board." The pigeons are arranged on the board of 4 pigeons in each vertical row. Eight vertical rows all together. Pigeons are placed at least the diameter of a pigeon APART.

[2] 16 Hanging aluminum soft drink cans all filled with water. They explode when hit. A "High" Row of 8 each and a "Low" row of 8 each.

[3] 16 Hanging, water filled, styrofoam coffee cups. The wire each one hangs from is is bent and goes thru the plastic cup top. High and Low rows as above.

[4] 16 ceramic bathroom tiles. Using a "concrete bit" in a hand drill, a small hole is drilled thru the corner of each tile. A wire is run thru that hole. The tiles are hung "diamond style" with a "High" row of 8 each and a "Low" row of 8 each.

100 Yard Targets:

8 hanging, plastic 2 Liter soft drink jugs. They are filled with water and then a couple of drops of blue or yellow Latex is dropped in the water to color it.

For a "Fun" reusable target-Using a box cutter, cut out a piece of good old fashioned "Sheet Rock" available from your local building supply store. The cut out piece should be 1' x 1' and hung "Diamond style." Everytime the sheetrock is hit, a satisfying "Puff" of white smoke appears at the target.

Well, you get the idea....

These are all "FUN" targets to shoot whether or not you are shooting them with your team or by yourself!

[Francis J. Miller Jr, 02601]

mb3,

As Mr. Southron Sr. stated, there are various targets for the different events. And as there are 13 Regions in the N-SSA, you can find some unique targets at the different regional shoots, as long as they are "legal" targets. On the Main N-SSA website you can click on the "Competitions" tab and it will show you the different events and targets for each firearm class be it Musket, Carbine, Revolver, etc. Then also click on the "Join Up" tab, scroll to the bottom of the page and watch the N-SSA Recruit Video. And if you show the location where you live, there is most likely a Regional shoot near you, that you can go and observe, and get advise from shooters there, and even shoot as a possible recruit, as N-SSA members are willing to help and introduce the sport to others to get them interested. Like I said if you give your geographic location, you will have offers coming out of the wood work from the closest region inviting you to come out.