1841 Miss. ammo

[walter estabrook]

Re:1851 Miss. rifle, has anyone seen what ammo issued originally in Mex War. Paper ctg, of course? or do I recall reading some where of rd. ball & flask? Was .54 cal conical/ hollow base? Powder chg.? Appreciate feedback

[John Holland]

The .54 Minie Ball didn't make its appearance until after the Mexican War. At the time of the Mexican War it was loose powder measured from the big "Peace Flask", and a patched round ball.

JDH

[Phil Spaugy, 3475V]

And I believe the patches were pre cut, greased leather.

Phil

[John Holland]

Round ball samples cast from original Mississippi moulds that I have had the opportunity to measure have all been .525 and .526 caliber.

JDH

[Southron Sr.]

Over in the Washington Library in Macon, GA is a book published in the late 1840's or early 1850's written by one of the men of Jefferson Davis' 1st Mississippi Regiment.

In that book he states that when the regiment arrived in New Orleans on their way to Mexico, the Mississippi Rifles that Davis had promised them arrived there for them.

In the book he states that those Mississippi Rifles were manufactured by Whitney-which makes sense because Whitney was the first contractor to deliver Mississippi Rifles.

The author also states in that book that at one time during their service in Mexico they were accidentally issued .69 caliber, round ball ammo!

To make the ammo suitable for their .54 caliber Mississippi's they rolled the .69 caliber lead balls between two flat rocks to reduce them in diameter so that they would fit into their Mississippis bores!

IF that story is true, then accuracy must have suffered!

[John Holland]

Southron, Sr.,

There is another legend about Daniel boone cutting round balls in half for use in a Kentucky Rifle, when hunting for the Indians while their prisoner. That legend was experimented with several years ago and found to work well enough to hit game sized targets in a killing zone at the ranges of Fronteir times.

I admire your adventuresome approach to things. So, why don't you try the "rolled .69 round ball" legend and let us know how it works? It would be an interesting, historically based, article for the Skirmish Line.

I'm sincere in this suggestion.

John