Smith carbine

The Smith Carbine was a 0.50 caliber breech-loading rifle patented by Gilbert Smith on June 23, 1857 and successfully completed the military trials of the late 1850s. It was used by various cavalry units during the American Civil War.

Smith Carbine
Smith Carbine
TypeCarbine
Place of originUnited States
Service history
Used byUnited States, Argentina
WarsAmerican Civil War

Paraguayan War

Argentine Civil Wars
Production history
DesignerGilbert Smith
Designed1857
Unit cost$35 (1859), $32,5 (1861)[1]
No. built30,062
Specifications
Mass7.5 lb (3.4 kg)
Length39.5 in (1,000 mm)
Barrel length21.6 in (550 mm)
Cartridge.50 Smith
ActionBreak-action
SightsBlade (front); Block and single Leaf sight (rear)

The Smith Carbine was unique in that it broke apart in the middle for loading and it used rubber cartridges which sealed the gases in the breech. The downside was that these cartridges were difficult to remove.[2]

The carbines were built by Massachusetts Arms Company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts; the American Machine Works in Springfield, Massachusetts; or the American Arms Company in Chicopee Falls. The name of the distributor for the manufacturer, Poultney & Trimble of Baltimore, Maryland, is often stamped on the carbine's receivers.[3][4]

Service history

Early versions are often known to modern collectors as artillery models, but all Smiths were issued to cavalry units. Units known to have received the Smith Carbine include:

In 1865 the Argentine Armed Forces acquired through Schuyler, Hartley & Graham around 400 examples to be used by cavalry and other forces in the fight against the indians and the rebellions in the interior. A few were sent to the front in Paraguay.[6]

In 1871, 371 were issued to line forces and four to the borders. Some were used on the western frontier, .50 Smith bullets were exacated at Fort General Paz(today Carlos Casares).

They remained in use for line forces up to 1874 (the last inventory of the Artillery Park where they are mentioned dates from 1874), afterwards they were used by the Guardia National of Buenos Aires and other Buenos Aires volunteer forces until 1881.

See also

References
  1. Purchase of arms, House Documents, 1861, P. 180.
  2. Field, Ron; Smith, Robin (2005). Uniforms of the Civil War: An Illustrated Guide for Historians, Collectors, and Reenactors. Globe Pequot Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-59228-525-9.
  3. James, Garry (October 2010). "The Hated Smith Carbine" Archived 2012-07-23 at the Wayback Machine. Guns & Ammo.
  4. Graf, John F. (2009). Standard Catalog of Civil War Firearms. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4402-2696-0.
  5. 72 Days at Gettysburg: Organization of the Tenth New York Volunteer Cavalry and Assignment to the Town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (December 1861 to March 1862) /George Rummel page 151
  6. "Unidades y armas durante el sitio de Buenos Aires de 1880" (PDF).
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