Improvements on Civil War Weaponry

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Civil War Weaponry

The Civil War was a bad experience for the country, but there were many improvements in weaponry during this era. Some improvements like the Henry rifle was one of the first lever action breech loading rifles. This allowed quicker reloading of the gun. Other than the Henry rifle, soldiers started using pre loaded brass shells which were also a big improvement compared to hand reloading like with the musket. Not only were guns being improved, they also made upgrades in cannons and not so much in bayonets. Because of the use of all these new weapons, the war was much bloodier than previous wars.

The Henry rifle is a rifle that has a high magazine that uses a .44 caliber rimfire with 26 or 28 grains of blackpowder (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). This gun was made in the year 1860 and used during the American Civil War through 1866. The Henry rifle can hold 16 rounds and is a breech loading lever action rifle. It can shoot an average of 28 rounds per minute (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). The length of the rifle is 44 ¾ inches (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). What makes the Henry rifle inferior to the Spencer rifle is that this gun doesn’t have a grip or anything to grab onto. Another reason is because the gun uses black powder and the barrel can overheat quickly (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia). This defect generally gave the person using it burns on the hand. The burns can get worse if used for longer time, so most of the people who used it wore a glove on their hand (Henry rifle. (2014, March 10). Retrieved from wikipedia)

The Lemat revolver, pictured above, was a popular pistol among southerners and confederates during the Civil War (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). ‘’This gun has a nine round magazine and has a barrel that holds a 20ga round birdshot’’ (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). Many of the famous generals used it, which made it more popular. ‘’They only made about 2,900 Lemat pistols’’ (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). ‘’This gun was used through 1861-65 and was made from 1856 to 1865’’ (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). After the war, they stopped production of this weapon.

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