Civil War reenactment: Franklin, TN

[Sean Thornton]

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Here is additional information on the Franklin, TN event.  This is how our unit is going, we will have around 15 or more Henry rifles.  If you are interested in using your Spencer or Henry rifle and want to fall in with us let me know. Check out our webpage at http://44henryrifle.webs.com/

October 14-16, 2011 - Franklin, TN
Scenario-147th Anniversary of the Battle of Franklin
Impression-65th Indiana Infantry, Company A (NHRC Event)
Uniform-Late war infantry 1864
Primary Arm-Henry rifle
Secondary Arm-Military issue muzzle-loader

Event information
www.cleburnes-division.com/schedule.aspx

[Cannon Fodder]

spencer rifle 45lc ,henry trapper (8 rounds 44/40)-your preference!!??? + 10 tube blakeslee. I may have several other guys with henries. Best,don

[Sean Thornton]

Most of us will be armed with Henry rifles with the 24 inch barrel length since that was the length of the Civil War rifle.  We will also have a few Spencer rifles and carbines.  The Trapper length Henry rifles is basically a no no in reenacting, sorry on that one.  We should have a 15 to 20 man company.  It looks to be a good time.

spencer rifle 45lc ,henry trapper (8 rounds 44/40)-your preference!!??? + 10 tube blakeslee. I may have several other guys with henries. Best,don

[Cannon Fodder]

OK, will leave trapper at home! I missed you at Selma(I didnt make it and it looked like all of you had a great time!)  I will try to  make  this  one with spencer rifle and blakeslee. How many rounds do I need?Best,don

[Sean Thornton]

I think there will be 2 public battles.  At Selma for the 2 days of fighting I went through 350 rounds but then I was using Selma as a test to see how my blanks worked for the .56-50 and I wanted to fire as many as I could to check for cycling as well as fouling build up.  I was very much pleased with both cycling, I only had one small hang up and the fouling in the action was non existant.  I am using my Spencer Rifle next weekend at Danville, IL for the 2 days and will probably carry around 200 rounds for each battle and probably not fire more than 100 each battle but then you never want to run out.  In fact I was just reading earlier today where Civil War soldiers carried 150 to 250 depending on if they were mounted infantry or cavalry.  I will look forward to seeing you there.

OK, will leave trapper at home! I missed you at Selma(I didnt make it and it looked like all of you had a great time!)  I will try to  make  this  one with spencer rifle and blakeslee. How many rounds do I need?Best,don

[Cannon Fodder]

OK Sean, I have 350-400 rounds  and the spencer shoots slower anyway!  Keep us posted  on how the Danville  event went.Best,don

[Sean Thornton]

Well our numbers have increased.  We are now up to right at 20 Henry rifles for Franklin.  It is 2 weeks away. I think we may also have a Spencer or 2 joining us. 

[Henry4440]

Well our numbers have increased.  We are now up to right at 20 Henry rifles for Franklin.  It is 2 weeks away. I think we may also have a Spencer or 2 joining us. 

Sean, perhaps a little movie when 20 Henrys firing at the same time?
260 rounds means a lot of smoke.
 

[Cannon Fodder]

Sean  How did Danville event go!!?? Also when you got that many henries together, have you all ever platoon fired at 10 -15 second intervals?  I was only involved with it once  with about 10 henries, but it was fantastic and a crowd pleaser!

Best,Don

[Montana Slim]

I believe my G-G-Grampa would have been in the vicinity of Franklin about the time of the conflict.

He was 112th IL Infantry....K Co. I believe his Regiment was initially equipped with obsolete arms, but were refitted before battle with either Springfield or Enfield Rifle-Muskets. Unfortunately my grandmother sold the family farm & all the old stuff (includng all the family firearms) without telling the rest of the family - heck, I'd have probably showed up and at least bid on some of it.


Slim

[Sean Thornton]

Well I am ready to invade Franklin.  I have plenty of ammo and our company is at 18 or 19 all armed with Henry Repeating rifles. I have my ammo boxed in 50 round boxes and a few 100 round boxes. 

[Henry4440]

Well I am ready to invade Franklin.  I have plenty of ammo and our company is at 18 or 19 all armed with Henry Repeating rifles. I have my ammo boxed in 50 round boxes and a few 100 round boxes. 

When all your boxes are full, then you have 1900 cartridges !!!

I always loved the 100 round boxes.




 

[Sean Thornton]

yes indeed 1900 rounds and all of the boxes are full.  Nice pictures.

[Sean Thornton]

The weather was super and our Henry Company numbered 18.  It was a great time and the firepower of that many Henry rifles going off at once would have made a big difference, at least for those that were armed with them in the Civil War as well as those on the recieving end. I think most of us fired over 200 rounds on Saturday and another 200 on Sunday.  It is a good thing I load my own.  Some have told me that they have paid as much as a dollar each for blanks, now that is expensive shooting.  Mine are a lot less.  As the 150th anniversary battles get closer we will be forming a large Henry Company for Chickamauga, Atlanta Campaign, Franklin, and Bentonville and possibly other events. 

[PvtGreg]

I was fortunate to be allowed to fall in with Brother Sean's group and it was a gas!  Sadly I ran out of gas Saturday and had to recoop Sunday.  Glad my sister's a doctor and believes in pain relief!  I know what I have to work on body wise for the next one.

I wanted to second that it was a amazing sight to have 18 Henry's in a skirmish line.  We were spaced to cover the entire battle field in the beginning.   I was next to about 6 orphans that join our skirmish line shooting a mix of Sharps and Smiths and the contrast in fire power was neat to experience. 

You read about things like density of fire and the influence of fire power on tactical formations, but its a whole other level to really experience it for real, even with blanks.  I talked to some Johnny's on the receiving end and they said it was a sight to see and they wished they had Henrys!

I used plastic blanks and I was please with the boom (I really packed them up) and they cycled fine - BUT the clean up was miserable.  There was half melted plastic residue in the barrel about 6 in up from the chamber.  It took a lot of scrubbing, solvent and brushes to clean it up Sunday.  All in all I shot 170 odd rounds.

My thanks to a great bunch of guys and in particular Sean (Andrew) and Capt. Todd.  Be seeing you on the line as soon as possible.

Pvt Greg

[JimBob]

I believe my G-G-Grampa would have been in the vicinity of Franklin about the time of the conflict.

He was 112th IL Infantry....K Co. I believe his Regiment was initially equipped with obsolete arms, but were refitted before battle with either Springfield or Enfield Rifle-Muskets. Unfortunately my grandmother sold the family farm & all the old stuff (includng all the family firearms) without telling the rest of the family - heck, I'd have probably showed up and at least bid on some of it.


Slim

To get a little off the subject of the thread.LOL The 112th was initially equiped with percusion conversions of the M1816 musket.Then rifled M1842 muskets.By the 3rd quarter of 1863 the Quarterly Ordnance Stores reports show Enfield Rifled Muskets.By the time of the Battle of Franklin the Q.O.S. reports are showing U.S.M1855-63 RM and Enfield RM with Enfields in the greatest number by about 4 to 1.

[Cannon Fodder]

OK Sean , here is your report  on your 444 marlin blanks( and charlies)  in my henries and spencer.
1. henry 45 lc rifle - yours and charlies seemed to feed great even without the adapter screw. I dont think  I am going to modify
my gun if it works this well !
2. henry trapper 44/40 (the only 44/40 I have )- charlies blanks did not want to feed. Yours worked very well. Also no adapter screw on this gun.
3. spencer 45lc rifle - charlies blanks locked up gun , one round right behind first that did not eject .I had to take the gun apart  to get the rounds out. Your rounds seem to go threw the gun  fairly well  ejecting every time . About every 3rd round  would not  totally  clear the breech but by holding gun at about a 45 degree angle  and flicking the wrist  90 degrees  the round seemed to just fall out  and the gun cycled all 7 rounds several times. The 5into 1 plastic  blanks go through this gun like butter.I noticed the 5 into 1  plastic  blanks are about  1/8 inch longer than your 444 marlin brass blanks. If this could be matched, I think they would almost be perfect
Best,Don

[PvtGreg]

Hi Cannon Fodder - I bet Charlie's blanks have to short an OAL to feed in your Spencer.  Do you know what your Spencer's OAL sweet spot is?

[Cannon Fodder]

OK Pvt Greg. I think I know who you are now. Are you the "newbie"  like  me with the  45 lc henry?  I  think the old  hands made a believer out of us to use brass. I think  Sean 's blanks  worked  best because  of the more bullet like  crimp through the 45lc spencer. Based on Western Stage Props 5 into 1 plastic(which goes through this spencer like butter) the sweet  spot oal appears to be  1 9/16 inches (yard stick- all i could find!?)

I watched you all Saturday from the spectator area  and 19 henries (what I counted) in a skirmish  line looked fantastic! Then when you all cut  loose (HOT DAMN!!!!!!!!)

Best, Don

[PvtGreg]

Hi Don!

Yes I am.  My wife was with me.

I too am a believer in Sean's blanks for the Spencer and brass blanks in the Henry, particularly after cleaning the darn thing of plastic residue.

Sorry you could not join us, but you will be able to soon when you get everything worked out.  I'm in the same boat as you (I meant to tell you that Saturday) so I know its possible.  Hang in there, I'd like to see you on the line.

Pvt Greg

[Sean Thornton]

Our group of Henry riflemen represented several states.  We had men from IL, IN, OH, PA, VA, MI, TN, GA.  We fired over 5000 blanks during the 2 days of fighting.  Some had more than others.  I went though 200 Saturday and 250 on Sunday, others fired about the same while some fired less.

[Sean Thornton]

OK Sean , here is your report  on your 444 marlin blanks( and charlies)  in my henries and spencer.
1. henry 45 lc rifle - yours and charlies seemed to feed great even without the adapter screw. I dont think  I am going to modify
my gun if it works this well !
2. henry trapper 44/40 (the only 44/40 I have )- charlies blanks did not want to feed. Yours worked very well. Also no adapter screw on this gun.
3. spencer 45lc rifle - charlies blanks locked up gun , one round right behind first that did not eject .I had to take the gun apart  to get the rounds out. Your rounds seem to go threw the gun  fairly well  ejecting every time . About every 3rd round  would not  totally  clear the breech but by holding gun at about a 45 degree angle  and flicking the wrist  90 degrees  the round seemed to just fall out  and the gun cycled all 7 rounds several times. The 5into 1 plastic  blanks go through this gun like butter.I noticed the 5 into 1  plastic  blanks are about  1/8 inch longer than your 444 marlin brass blanks. If this could be matched, I think they would almost be perfect
Best,Don

Nice report Don