Accuracy Test Part IV Linen Cartridges with a Sharps Rifle feature by: William P. Mapoles

In a lifetime of reading gun books and magazines, I have never seen a test of linen cartridges, nor have I ever seen an accuracy test of an original New Model 1859 Sharps rifle. The question I will answer is, “How accurate were they?” Precision accuracy tests as we know them today, were simply not done by the government back then. We also know that linen cartridges were widely used in the Civil War, and that this type of rifle was used by Berdan’s Sharpshooters, among others. Suffice it to say that Berdan’s men killed more Confederates than any other regiment in the Union Army, mostly using linen cartridges, so let’s see how well their rifles actually performed. ...Read More >