Very few weapons have seen as much use and innovation as the rifle did during the American Civil War. Only two generations before the Civil War, shouldered arms were more flash than substance, a Revolutionary war era musket could get off a shot only every couple of minutes, and when the shot was taken, it neither went very far or traveled with much accuracy. But through a series of innovations, the rifle became much easier to use, by the time of the Civil War an average soldier could get off three or more shots in a minute, with much greater accuracy than ever before. The two major improvements in technology that made this possible were the development of the percussion system, which allowed for quicker gun loading, and the adding of "rifling groves" to the insides of the gun barrels, which caused bullets to spin as they exited the gun, increasing both range and accuracy. One interesting note is that the U.S. army was very slow to adopt these new innovative rifles, they had little faith in the marksmanship of the average soldier, and were afraid faster weapons would mean more ammunition costs.
One of the most popular rifles that was produced during the Civil War was the Springfield rifle, named for the armory that produced it in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 1861 model of the weapon was 55.75 inches long and weighed 8.88 pounds. It could fire it’s .58 caliber Minie bullet three times a minute and was quite accurate at 300 yards, and a lucky shot could hit a target up to ½ of a mile a way. The weapons were lighter, and kicked less when shot than the imported rifles that mainstream before the Springfield’s introduction.
The most popular gun up to the introduction in 1861 of the Springfield was the British made Enfield rifle. This rifle, which was only slightly smaller than the Springfield, about two inches smaller and several ounces lighter, fired a .577 caliber bullet. This gun was said to perform every bit as well as the Springfield, and became the de-facto official rifle of the Confederate armies.
Although Springfield and Enfield rifles were the most popular shouldered weapons during the war, they made up less than half of all those used during the war. Over 100 different styles of rifles and muskets saw service during the war of the states. At the beginning of the fighting, many regiments armed themselves, with soldiers bringing weapons from home. Old shotguns, squirrel guns, Mexican war era smoothbores, and even some old muskets from the American Revolution saw action in the first few months of fighting. Many of the guns used early in the war were European imports, and ranged widely in both quality and caliber. Some of these guns had a caliber as low as .32, while others were as large as .75 caliber. Especially disdained were the .54 caliber Belgian and Austrian rifles, which were heavy, poorly constructed, and inaccurate. Several British imports, such as the Whitworth, Brunswick, and Kerr rifles fared better, seeing a good amount of service when Springfield and Enfield models were not available.
The Civil War was a time of great innovation and experimentation with rifles, as engineers North and South tried to create better implements of destruction. Many of these attempts at new models aimed at making faster firing weapons. A breachloader system was a popular approach to increasing the number of shots a soldier could fire in a minute. This system involved a self-enclosed cartridge, made up of a powder charge in a brass or copper casing with a percussion cap and lead bullet on the ends. There were several models of these that saw service in the war, but the most popular and widely used was the Sharps rifle, several models of which became a favorite of Union snipers. Many of these new breachloader style guns were adapted in shorter lengths for cavalry soldiers. Again, the Sharps carbine was among the most popular, it was shorter and lighter than a infantryman’s rifle, with a smaller caliber, usually .54.
Most of the innovations in rifles happened in the North, because the South had a limited amount of money and raw materials, and constant invasion from the North. One of the most interesting innovations attempted by the Union gunsmiths was that of repeating rifles. Adding speed to the new, accurate weapons seemed like the next logical step, but keeping a repeating weapon from jamming presented quite a problem. The most successful model was the Spencer repeating rifle, used mainly by cavalrymen. The soldier simply pulled a lever, which doubled as a trigger guard, to expel the spent cartridge and load the next. The weapon could fire it’s seven shot load almost as quick as one could jerk the lever, the weapon was so deadly that some Confederates referred to them as "Yankee 7 Devils". Another model of repeating rifle that saw similar success, but far less use than the Spencer was the Henry rifle. This large gun, made mostly of iron and brass, weighed 9.8 pounds, part of which was the fifteen rounds of .44 caliber ammunition. A small lever below the trigger, when moved forward and back, ejected the spent cartridge and inserted the new one, making this weapon even quicker to fire than the Spencer. One soldier was clocked at firing 120 rounds in five minutes and forty five seconds, a rate of better than one shot every three seconds. Army officials didn’t take well to this weapon, though, mainly because of it’s constant jamming and the high expense for the amount of ammunition it ate up, all told only about 10,000 were issued.
