Paper Cartridges, Gettysburg PA

Paper Cartridges, Gettysburg PA Recreating history in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
(1)

06/06/2026

A safe and educational demonstration of an important historical artifact by a professional historian and highly trained nerd.

Apparently Facebook is committed to saving poor percussion caps from being harmed by old muskets. This post from a few d...
06/04/2026

Apparently Facebook is committed to saving poor percussion caps from being harmed by old muskets.

This post from a few days ago, where I jokingly said “no percussion caps were harmed” while shooting BLANKS at a reenactment historical demonstration in Gettysburg, set off Facebook’s wonderful AI system.

And now once again my page recommendations are suspended. With the help of a friend from a much much larger FB page for a longstanding firearm magazine business, we got FB to briefly unsuspend my page.

But apparently striking innocent little percussion caps with an 1860s musket lock hammer is an unacceptable promotion of violence, and Facebook won’t stand for it!

Sigh. I give up. We should all just kneel down and kiss the hands of our new AI masters.

Shortly after the start of the American Civil War, Caleb Huse was sent to Europe to obtain arms and ammunition for the C...
06/04/2026

Shortly after the start of the American Civil War, Caleb Huse was sent to Europe to obtain arms and ammunition for the Confederacy. He made several enormous contracts with Eley Brothers, which was probably the largest commercial ammunition maker in the UK at the time. Millions of Eley Brothers cartridges for Enfield rifles were imported through the blockade.

Some companies like Pursall (before their disastrous 1861 explosion) and E. & A. Ludlow, used the gummed band on Enfield cartridges as a label for their companies. Eley Brothers, on the other hand, embossed the paper of the cartridge wrapper.

I’ve been doing Ludlow cartridges for years but now it’s time to give Eley some love.

(Also, Eley Ltd., please don’t sue me)

Just in time for the 160th anniversary of the start of the Austro-Prussian War, Gábor Orbán’s fantastic book is now avai...
06/01/2026

Just in time for the 160th anniversary of the start of the Austro-Prussian War, Gábor Orbán’s fantastic book is now available in English (translated by some nerd) on my website.

If you are interested in the American Civil War, odds are you will also find the 1866 Austro-Prussian War equally fascinating. The uniforms and tactics and weapons are similar, but also different in many crucial aspects. These similarities and differences between the Civil War and Austro-Prussian War are what make it an incredibly absorbing and interesting topic to me, peraonally.

And if you’re like me, you might be experiencing a touch of Civil War “burnout” because I’ve read everything and studied everything and the 1866 campaigns in Europe are fresh new material.

Physically it is a beautiful book with full color illustrations and countless photographs, diagrams, etc. If you want a comprehensive introduction to the Austro-Prussian War, this is it!

My book “System Lorenz” is now available from my website! There is good news and bad news though. The good news is that ...
05/29/2026

My book “System Lorenz” is now available from my website!

There is good news and bad news though. The good news is that the book is available on the website… the bad news (for you) is that they are selling very quickly and I seriously underestimated the demand. I’ve already ordered another large batch from the printer but it’ll be a few weeks until I get them.

Also the Kindle/e-reader version is on the way. I have to completely reformat the document which means moving all the images and captions, to fit the digital format. When there are 120 illustrations, this can take quite a while! But the digital version should be on Amazon in a week or two.

Can anyone guess what this beast of a rifle-musket is? It is just too long to get a good photo of the whole thing. Since...
05/28/2026

Can anyone guess what this beast of a rifle-musket is? It is just too long to get a good photo of the whole thing.

Since apparently the Russian Luttich version of the Brunswick rifle was too easy for you guys, maybe this will be more of a challenge.

Some hints: it was made before the U.S. Declaration of Independence but wasn’t actually rifled until 1851. It truly is a rifled musket, but does not use a Minié ball.

Can you identify this very rare rifle that Mr. Pritchett clearly is eyeing with considerable suspicion?
05/27/2026

Can you identify this very rare rifle that Mr. Pritchett clearly is eyeing with considerable suspicion?

An extremely curious Jenks naval carbine, with a Maynard tape primer. As if a side-hammer naval rifle wasn’t bizarre eno...
05/27/2026

An extremely curious Jenks naval carbine, with a Maynard tape primer. As if a side-hammer naval rifle wasn’t bizarre enough, some were fitted to use the Maynard priming system.

Of particular interest to me is the nipple/cone which has the correct flat anvil surface and simple vent hole which was found to work better when Maynard tapes were used.

If you want to see it yourself, it’s at Horse Soldier in Gettysburg.

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while God is marching on. Glory, glory hallelujah.
05/25/2026

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, while God is marching on.

Glory, glory hallelujah.

Cold, wet, and miserable outside… but warm, dry, cozy, and full of musketry nerdery and scotch inside.If you’re in Getty...
05/23/2026

Cold, wet, and miserable outside… but warm, dry, cozy, and full of musketry nerdery and scotch inside.

If you’re in Gettysburg on this unhappy Seattle-like day, come stop by the shop for a whisky (or some Welch’s grape juice if you’re a Baptist) and buy something so the new orphans can have supper.

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Gettysburg, PA

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