Description: Very nice .50 Smith carbine rubber cartridge. This style of cartridge was patented by Gilbert Smith of Buttermilk Falls, New York. The original Patent No. 17,702 was awarded to Gilbert Smith on June 30, 1857, for an "improvement in cartridges.” The same patent was later reissued as No. 598 on September 14, 1858.
One of the main issues with breech-loading firearms of the era was the lack of a consistent gas check. Most cartridge designers around the American Civil War attempted to create a gas check with their cartridges. The idea behind Smith’s rubberized cartridge is in the elastic property of the rubber.
Part of the original patent reads, "What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-, Making the cartridge case, or at least the cylindrical portion thereof, of India-rubber cloth or vulcanized India-rubber, so that, though entering loosely into the chamber, by confining it within the chamber it may be expanded laterally by the force of the explosion of the charge against a joint between the barrel and breech, made near the middle of the chamber, to close the same hermetically, and (unlike metal) may, after the explosion, contract itself by its own elasticity, so as to admit of its being easily withdrawn from the chamber by the fingers of the operator, substantially as described.
This cartridge is in nice condition. The bullet is firmly held in place and the rubber case has a clear, visible seam on the side and bottom. The case is mostly black with a few areas with a darker brown/reddish hue. A very nice Civil War cartridge that is close to mint!
Measures: D .664” OAL 2.008”
Reference: "Round Ball to Rimfire” Vol. 2 No. 564
Shipping Weight:
0.25 lb
Item # Z6471
(Sold)
Sorry we are not accepting orders at this time. Please check back soon. If you see something you just can't live without give us a call (304) 886-8200. Sincerely, Ian Workman
Disclaimer for Antique Firearms
and Ammunition:
Americancivilwarrelics.com
strongly recommends that these artifacts be enjoyed and appreciated for their
historical significance and not ever fired. By ordering you are acknowledging
these facts, warnings and assume full responsibility for your personal actions
with regard to them.
We DO NOT sell modern guns, all our inventory will be Pre-1898 and are
classified by the ATF as antiques and require no government paperwork to own.
All ammunition is sold as
"Collectable/Display Ammunition" and is NOT meant to be fired. By ordering you are acknowledging these facts, warnings
and assume full responsibility for your personal actions with regard to them.
