RE: Doc Holliday's Final Chapter
It is hard to kill a dead Man for sure!
The major equipment difference was the gunfighters took good care of their firearms, and cleaned them with love and oil each time they were fired. The others let them rust, which greatly reduces the accuracy of the rusted barrel.
I bought a 50 cal black powder rifle, that had been left uncleaned. Modern powder is not as caustic as the old black powder, But the percussion nipple was corroded so bad it would not fire. I had to drill the nipple out and replace it completely. I did an aggressive clean, and got 95% of the rust out of her, before I rebuilt the bolt for a new type of primer.
Shooting my hunting weapon, I hold a 1 inch group at 50 yards, using this refurbished rifle, it is about 2 to 2 1/2 inch at 50 yards, with the same ammo. this would have been a lot worse with older, softer steel, and more caustic powder. So the most dangerous ones, just cleaned their equipment better.
:O
yes sir smithlabs I believe it. The old muskets they used in the Civil War, I heard they were not very accurate at all, is that true?
Civil war muskets were old, and smooth bore, and badly cleaned. Very inaccurate Especially when badly maintained. That is why they waited until the enemy was CLOSE, before they fired.
The high casuality rate was because if you shoot enough times, even with inaccurate muskets; you end up with a high rate of wounds!
:)sir smithlabs! well when you are marching toward each other you can't help but have a high kill and wound rate, it was nuts the way they fought that war, might as well have been a hundred years prior but those men were brave to walk into rifle and cannon fire!
The Miniball ammunition also added to the carnage, it was a new invention that allowed faster loading and greater velocity. The Civil War changed war forever. It moved from a battle between Men to a battle of technology, and never was the same after that.
There is a rifle in the 45th Inf Museum in OKC, that is the only Confederate Rifle that was never surrendered. He was ordered to flank the union lines and shoot their commander. When he got there, the battle was over, and the Confederates had been forced to surrender. He left to find another unit to join. By the time he got there, the war was over: so he went home.
:)