| |
|
|
|
FRANKFORD ARSENAL FULL PACKETS OF EXTERNALLY
PRIMED .45/70
CARTRIDGES –
SPECIAL OFFERING:
This special offering applies to all of the boxes of
Frankford Arsenal .45-70 Trapdoor Carbine and Rifle
ammunition listed below, the result of good purchases I
have been able to make from old ammunition collections
and can therefore, in turn, pass the savings along to
you. This quality and selection is only available
in the older long established collections, and these
packets are
becoming more difficult to find.
These boxes are very displayable, are complete
with the original Frankford Arsenal cartridges (unless
otherwise noted), and all date from the middle
to late Indian Wars and into the Spanish American War. These packets would be
correct to display with your Springfield Trapdoor Rifles
and Carbines, as well as the various woven cartridge
belts and cartridge boxes.
Each of the boxes is described individually below,
followed by photographs of that particular box.
|
|
NO.
1
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45/70 CARBINE BALL CARTRIDGES –
EXCELLENT UNOPENED PACKET - LITERALLY "LIKE NEW":
This unopened packet of Frankford Arsenal .45/70 Carbine ammunition is in exceptional condition,
of the type not seen any more. In pristine
condition with no signs of handling or age, none of
the seams have split, an excellent bright label, no misshaping to the box as is often seen and the
opening string is still present. The bottom of the box is
ink stamped with a partially legible “Initial Velocity 1163 Feet,
Mar 3 1891”. While this legend is not completely
legible on this particular packet, I originally had four
of these packets, all out of the same crate, and all
bear the same ink stamped information. These
packets do not come any better than
this. Should you want more than one while they
last, I have two more of these Carbine packets in
identical condition. (0950) $265
 |
|
NO. 2
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45/70 CARBINE BALL CARTRIDGE
PACKET: This packet of Frankford Arsenal .45/70
Carbine ammunition has been opened but still retains all
20 carbine rounds. The packet is very solid with
no split seams, no misshaping to the box as is often
seen, the opening string is still present, and the the label is
95% complete. The top of the box is
ink stamped with the velocity data and date stamped
Mar 16, 1905”. In spite of being opened, this
is still a very respectable packet at a very good price. (0660) $130
  
|
|
NO. 3
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45/70 CARBINE BALL CARTRIDGE
PACKET: This packet of Frankford Arsenal .45/70
Carbine ammunition has been opened but still retains all
20 carbine rounds - all with matching headstamps “F 3
95” indicating they were manufactured in March of 1895.
All of the cartridges are in very good condition with
full form bullets, full tin plating with no corrosion,
and showing only minor surface wear. This packet
has been opened, however it is still in very good, clean
condition with solid sides and seams, no misshaping, and
the top still retains the remnants of the original
opening pull string. Some of the text was lost
from the label when the opening string was pulled
through it to open the box, but the majority of the
label is still present and legible. In spite of
being opened, this is still a very respectable packet at
a very good price. (1034) $130
  |
|
NO. 4
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45/70 MULTI
BALL CARTRIDGES – VERY NICE FULL PACKET:
One of the more under appreciated US Army cartridges,
these Multi Ball rounds were loaded with two or three
.45 caliber round balls, and were a continuation of the
army’s long standing practice of employing
multiple projectile rounds on the battlefield.
Like the early “buck and ball” paper cartridges that
predate the American Revolution, these Multi Ball
cartridges were very popular with the individual
soldiers. Several volleys of these rounds
delivered by disciplined troops into a mass of attackers
at close range would certainly reduce the inertia of the
attack. These cartridges were also issued to
guards and sentries enabling them, even in low light or
dark situations, to dissuade an intruder that might
otherwise escape a single poorly aimed round.
This
packet of 20 Multi-Ball .45/70 cartridges that
was packed at the Frankford Arsenal with cartridges
supplied under government contract from the Union
Metallic Cartridge Company and was likely packaged on or
about the date ink stamped on the cover of the box, “OCT
26 1903”.
This
box has been opened, but still retains all of the
original cartridges. The label
is partially torn due to storage and aging, and a couple of the box seams have
been nicely reinforced again due to storage wear as the
weight of the cartridges and the boxes stacked on top of
each other caused some of the seams to open.
Otherwise the box is in very nice condition, with no
misshaping to the box as is often seen and the opening
string is still present and attached to the lid.
This is a fairly scarce packet of a
special loading for the Trapdoors that is not often seen on the
market, and like so many packets, are getting harder and harder to find. (C0078) $75
       |
|
NO. 5
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45/70 RIFLE AND CARBINE BLANK
CARTRIDGES – FULL PACKET IN VERY NICE CONDITION:
This is a very nice packet of Frankford Arsenal .45-70
Blanks, very clean with a full legible label and never
having been opened.
Blank ammunition was a
regular issue item to the Cavalry troops, used to
accustom the horses to gun fire, and to the Infantry for
ceremonial occasions and funerals. Issued during the
Indian war period, this full box of .45/70 blank
cartridges was manufactured at the Frankford Arsenal.
The front label is intact and legible, however due to
the weight of other boxes stacked on top of each other,
the label has cracked along the right hand side of the
lower edge of the top lid. The pull string
is still anchored under the label wrapper, it has not been pulled and
it is apparent this packet was never opened. The
balance of the packet is in excellent condition, very solid with no open seams and no misshaping to
the box. These blanks were an integral
component of the standard issue of ammunition to the
frontier soldier and have a rightful place in any Indian
War ammunition display. (0657) $100
  |
|
NO. 6
FRANKFORD
ARSENAL 45/70 AMMUNITION CARTON – DATED 1877 – FIRST
PRODUCTION OF THE RELOADING CARTRIDGES – SCARCE BOX:
This 20 round box of .45-70 Rifle ammunition was
manufactured at the Frankford Arsenal in April of 1877,
and is from the first production run of the newly
adopted “RELOADING CARTRIDGE”. A notable specimen,
these Reloading – or externally primed – cartridges were
produced while the arsenal was still producing the
internally primed cartridges which could not be
reloaded, and which would continue to be produced by the
arsenal for another six years. Likely produced in
comparatively limited amounts, this was the army’s first
effort to provide a cartridge that could be reloaded by
the soldiers at the unit level and is a significant
milestone in the evolution of the US military
cartridge.
The box was carefully
opened and the cartridges were removed, but the label is
still fully present and legible, and the interior
dividers are intact and present. I have located one
cartridge with a copper case, externally primed
Frankford Arsenal cartridge – again, this particular
loading is quite rare – with the correct headstamp, “R 4
77 F” that is included with this carton. The box is
still in very good, clean condition with solid seams, no
misshaping, and the top is still present and attached.
The top of the rear panel is missing and one end of the
carton has been replaced with a nicely matching panel
from another carton. The label is still present and
fully legible, to include “20 U.S. SPRINGFIELD RIFLE
RELOADING CARTRIDGES, CALIBER .45”, and an explanation
of the headstamp characters on the cartridges, as well
as the powder charge and bullet weight information.
This style of label is very similar to the label on the
packets of internally primed cartridges produced during
this same period. The cartridge provided with this
carton is in excellent condition with a fully legible
headstamp, a clean cartridge case and a full form lead
bullet.
This is a very scarce,
early Indian War box and cartridge, and would be a
significant addition to a display of your early
production Trapdoor rifle or your ammunition
collection. SOLD
|
|
NO.
7
FRANKFORD ARSENAL .45/70 MORSE MODEL 1886 RIFLE CARTRIDGES –
A VERY RARE PACKET: This rare Frankford Arsenal .45/70 Morse MODEL 1886 Rifle
Cartridge Packet is in very good condition in spite of having
been opened. The Morse Cartridge is one of the
scarcer, and certainly one of, if not the most,
unusual of the Indian Wars Era Frankford Arsenal .45-70
cartridges.
Also known within the Ordnance Department as the Pattern
1886 Cartridge, this cartridge was developed and
patented by George W. Morse. The outstanding feature
was a separate base insert or plug held in place with a
pressure fit black rubber gasket. The plug included the
primer and this cartridge case was intended to be
reloaded by the soldiers at the local unit level,
employing the standard issue Frankford Arsenal reloading
set with the addition of some supplemental tools. The
cartridge was loaded with the standard 500 grain bullet
and 70 grains of powder.
Just why this design caught the attention of the
Ordnance Department, and why it was considered a viable
alternative to the standard externally primed,
reloadable cartridges being produced at Frankford at the
same time, is frankly beyond me. The fact is, the
design was adopted – concurrent with other cartridge
designs – and a considerable number were produced during
the following two years. In spite of the production,
individual Morse Cartridges are quite scarce today in
their own right, and the packets such as the one offered
here are almost unheard of, making the Morse cartridge
one of the more interesting
variants to add to your Indian War Cartridge collection.
This packet is in very good condition, with minimal
signs of handling or age, none of the seams have split,
an excellent bright label with no content loss due to
having been opened, and no misshaping to the box as is
often seen. One original Frankford Arsenal Model 1886
Morse Rifle Cartridge is included with the packet to
enhance the display.
SOLD
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
